VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 3
Liberation from Mâyâ and Karma Knowing and Worshiping the Lord
In answer to four questions spoken by Mahārāja Nimi, this chapter describes the nature and activities of the illusory potency (māyā), the method of becoming free from māyā's insurmountable grip, the transcendental situation of the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, and the process of karma-yoga, by which one becomes free from all material activities.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original cause of all causes, created the five material elements, from which the material bodies of the conditioned souls are created so that the conditioned souls may cultivate either sense gratification or ultimate liberation. Appearing as the Supersoul, the Supreme Lord enters the material bodies of the created beings and activates the eleven senses of the conditioned souls. The conditioned soul misidentifies the created material body with his actual self and thus engages in various fruitive activities. Impelled by the reactions of his own activities, he repeatedly takes birth in various species of life and thus suffers greatly until the time of the cosmic annihilation. When the annihilation is imminent, the soul of the universal form withdraws the entire material creation within Himself, and then He Himself enters into the original cause of all causes. In this way the Lord empowers His illusory potency, consisting of the three modes of material nature, for the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material universe.
Accepting the roles of male and female in this material world, the conditioned souls unite in sexual relationships. Although these souls constantly make material endeavors to eliminate their unhappiness and unlimitedly increase their pleasure, they inevitably achieve exactly the opposite result.
Permanent happiness cannot be found in this world — either on the earthly planets or on the heavenly planets, which one can attain in the next life after performing ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices. Both on earth and in heaven the living entity is harassed by the envy and rivalry of others.
Therefore any person who seriously desires. to find permanent relief from the sufferings of material existence should take shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the Vedic scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should he understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.
Accepting the bona fide spiritual master as one's life and soul, the submissive disciple should learn from him the process of pure devotional service, which satisfies the Supreme Lord. By thus following the path of devotional service, the disciple gradually develops all good qualities.
One should hear, glorify and meditate upon the wonderful transcendental activities, appearance, qualities and holy names of the Lord. Whatever one finds pleasing or enjoyable he should immediately offer to the Supreme Lord; even his wife, children, home and very life air should all be offered at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should serve others and also accept instructions from others. Especially, one should serve and learn from those who are pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
By chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the association of devotees, one becomes satisfied and happy and develops a loving friendship with the devotees. In this way one becomes able to give up material sense gratification, which is the cause of all suffering. When a devotee attains the stage of pure love of Godhead, the hairs of his body stand on end, and he manifests various ecstatic symptoms; he personally meets the Supreme Lord and becomes full of transcendental bliss. By learning the science of devotional service and practically engaging in the devotional service of the Lord, the devotee comes to the stage of love of Godhead. When completely devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, the devotee easily crosses over the illusory energy, māyā, which is extremely difficult to cross.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe, yet He has no prior cause.
Situated within the temporary and constantly changing material world, the Supreme Lord remains eternal and unchanging. He cannot be understood by the unaided mind or senses, and He is transcendental to the manifestation of the material world, which takes place as the subtle cause and material effect visible in the appearance of gross material objects. Although He is originally one, by expanding His illusory potency (māyā) He appears in many different forms. He is always free from birth, growth, decay and death, and He is the Supersoul, the all-pervading witness who perceives the mentalities of all living entities. He is the Supreme Brahman and is known as Nārāyaṇa.
When one seriously engages in devotional service to the lotus feet of Lord Nārāyaṇa, the impure desires lodged within one's heart as a result of one's previous work within the three modes of material nature are destroyed. When the heart is thus purified, one can directly perceive both the Supreme Lord and one's self as transcendental entities.
Through authorized study of the transcendental Vedic literature, one can properly understand the meaning of prescribed duties, nonperformance of such duties, and forbidden activities. This difficult subject matter can never be understood by mundane speculation. Vedic injunctions indirectly lead one to the path of ultimate liberation by first prescribing fruitive religious activities, just as a father promises his child candy so that the child will take his medicine. If an ignorant person who has not conquered the material senses does not perform the Vedic injunctions, he will certainly engage in sinful and irreligious activities. Thus his reward will be repeated birth and death. On the other hand, if one executes the regulated activities prescribed in the Vedas, without attachment, and offers the result of such work to the Supreme Lord, one attains perfect freedom from the bondage of material work. The material fruitive results offered in the revealed scriptures are not the actual goal of Vedic knowledge, but are meant for stimulating the interest of the performer. If a conditioned soul worships the Supreme Lord Hari by following the regulations found in Vedic literatures such as the tantras, he will quickly become free from the bondage of false ego.
When a devotee obtains the mercy of his spiritual master, who reveals to him the injunctions of Vedic scriptures, he worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the particular personal form he finds most attractive. In this way the devotee quickly becomes liberated from all material bondage.
11.3.1
śrī-rājovāca
(1) The honorable king [Nimi] said: 'My lords, please tell us about the Supreme Lord Vishnu His illusory potency [or mâyâ, see also 11.2: 48], we wish to understand that what bewilders even the great mystics.
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, in this chapter various saintly sons of Ṛṣabhadeva will speak about the illusory energy (māyā), the means for crossing beyond it, the characteristics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and prescribed duties for human beings. The forty-eighth verse of the previous chapter stated, viṣṇor māyām idaḿ paśyan: "A devotee of Kṛṣṇa should see the entire universe to be the illusory potency of the Lord." Therefore King Nimi is now pursuing this subject matter by requesting more detailed information from the saintly Yogendras.
the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, and the human beings of the earth are all driven by their particular desires for material sense gratification. Thus they direct their senses toward research for material knowledge. The subtle celestial senses of the demigods and the gross senses of human beings are all busy in ascertaining the measurements of material sense objects. To understand fully the actual nature of māyā, the illusory potency, which causes the conditioned souls to become averse to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and surrender to bewildering material manifestations, King Nimi is inquiring from another of the nine Yogendras, Śrī Antarīkṣa.
11.3.2
nānutṛpye juṣan yuṣmad-
vaco hari-kathāmṛtam
(2) Cherishing the nectar of your words about the topics of Hari, am I not yet satiated by that antidote for the pain that torments a mortal experiencing the misery of samsâra.'
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, one may argue that since the symptoms of a pure devotee of the Lord have already been elaborately described, one can perfect his life by advancing to the platform mentioned in the previous verse, and there is no need for further questions. But hari-kathāmṛtam, topics about the Lord and His devotees, are so pleasing and beautiful that one cannot give up hearing them, even after spiritual liberation. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in this connection, has quoted the following verse:
ātmārāmāś ca munayo
nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīḿ bhaktim
"Those who are self-satisfied and unattracted by external, material desires are also attracted to the loving service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose qualities are transcendental and whose activities are wonderful. Hari, the Personality of Godhead, is called Kṛṣṇa because He has such transcendentally attractive features." (Bhāg. 1.7.10) Material medicine is not desirable once a disease has been cured, but on the absolute platform the means and the end are not different. So chanting and hearing the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa are both the means and the end of transcendental bliss.King Nimi said to the sages, "You are all great saintly persons absorbed in love of Godhead. Therefore although you will speak about māyā, or illusion, the conclusion will undoubtedly be Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Please don't think that you have already explained everything to me. The intoxicating nectar of your instructions has left me more eager than ever to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
King Nimi was also a great devotee of the Lord, otherwise there would have been no question of his personally conversing with such exalted living entities as the nine Yogendras. But as a humble Vaiṣṇava he considered himself an ordinary conditioned soul covered by material designations. Thus he showed his eagerness to understand the actual nature of māyā in order to be safe from her future attempts to place him in the burning fire of material existence.
11.3.3
ebhir bhūtāni bhūtātmā
sasarjoccāvacāny ādyaḥ
sva-mātrātma-prasiddhaye
(3) S'rî Antarîksha said: 'By the elements of the greater creation evolved [conditioned] the Soul of All Creation the creatures high and low [see B.G. 13: 22 & 14: 18], o mighty armed one, so that for the Original One His own [parts and parcels] there was the [choice of] accomplishing by sense-gratification and by self-realization [see also 10.87: 2].
the illusory energy (māyā) is explained in this verse through a description of her potencies, namely the modes of material nature. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa has described māyā as guṇamayī, "consisting of the material modes of nature." The material modes of nature are alluded to in this verse by the word uccāvacāni, "high and low species of life." Various species of life become manifest, as do varieties of beauty, ugliness, strength, weakness and other characteristics within a particular species, according to the proportionate development of the modes of nature. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (13.22), kāraṇaḿ guṇa-sańgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu: "This is due to the living being's association with material nature in good and evil species." Similarly we find this statement:
ūrdhvaḿ gacchanti sattva-sthā
"Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets, those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets, and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds." (Bg. 14.18)
The three general divisions of material life are called deva, tiryak and nara — that is, demigods subhuman creatures and human beings. In the various species of life there are various facilities for material sense gratification. Different species are distinguished by differently formed senses, such as the genitals, nostrils, tongue, ears and eyes. Pigeons, for example, are given the facility for almost unlimited sex. Bears have an ample opportunity for sleeping. Tigers and lions exhibit the propensities for fighting and meat-eating, horses are distinguished by their legs for swift running, vultures and eagles have keen eyesight, and so on. The human being is distinguished by his large brain, which is meant for understanding God.
The phrase sva-mātrātma-prasiddhaye is very significant in this verse. The word sva indicates possession. All living beings belong to the Supreme Lord (mamaivāḿśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ [Bg. 15.7]). Therefore according to this verse they have two options — mātrā-prasiddhaye and ātma-prasiddhaye.
Mātrā refers to the material senses, and prasiddhaye refers to effective accomplishment. Therefore mātrā-prasiddhaye means "efficiently engaging in sense gratification."
On the other hand, ātma-prasiddhaye refers to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There are two categories of ātmā — the jīvātmā, or ordinary living entity, who is dependent, and the Paramātmā, the supreme living entity, who is independent. Some living entities desire to understand both categories of ātma, and in this verse the word ātma-prasiddhaye indicates that the material world is created to give those living entities the opportunity to achieve such an understanding and thus return to the kingdom of God, where life is eternal and full of bliss and knowledge.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī confirms this by quoting a verse from the veda-stuti of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.2):
buddhīndriya-manaḥ-prāṇān
"The Lord created the intelligence, senses, mind and vital air of the living beings for sense gratification, for performing sacrifices to attain higher births, and ultimately for offering sacrifices to the Supreme Soul."
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the actual purpose of the Lord's creation is only one: to facilitate the advancement of devotional service to the Lord Himself. Although it is stated that the Lord facilitates sense gratification, it should be understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not ultimately condone the foolishness of the conditioned souls. The Lord facilitates sense gratification (mātrā-prasiddhaye) so that the living entities will gradually understand the futility of trying to enjoy without Him. Every living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. In the Vedic literature the Lord gives a regulative program so that the living beings can gradually exhaust their tendencies to be foolish and learn the value of surrender unto Him. The Lord is undoubtedly the reservoir of all beauty, bliss and satisfaction, and it is the duty of every living entity to engage in the loving service of the Lord. Although there are apparently two purposes for creation, it should be understood that ultimately the purpose is one. The arrangement for sense gratification is ultimately meant to bring the living entities to the single purpose of going back home, back to Godhead.
11.3.4
ekadhā daśadhātmānaḿ
(4) Having entered the living beings that were thus created with the help of the five gross elements and with having divided Himself as the one [witness, the spirit, the mind] to the ten [senses of perception and action], gives He them a life with the modes.
The one Supersoul enters the gross material elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) and uses the activated material mind to subtly divide the sensory activities of the conditioned souls among the five knowledge-acquiring senses (the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) and, by a further gross division, the five working senses (the hands, legs, speech, genitals and anus). Because liberated souls have a strong tendency to serve the Lord, they are not attracted by the dualities of material good and evil. They derive their pleasure through devotion and love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who eternally enjoys His own transcendental pastimes beyond the material manifestation.
When the conditioned souls forget their loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they develop illicit desires. Therefore, unable to serve the form, taste, fragrance and other aspects of Lord Viṣṇu, these souls become bound to the bitter fruits of fruitive activities. But if their love of Godhead is somehow or other awakened, the conditioned souls can dovetail all their sensory activities in the service of the Lord's transcendental pastimes.
Actually, all materialistic activities are most undesirable. But the conditioned soul, under the influence of illusion, sees apparent distinctions between good and bad, pleasing and displeasing, and so on. The Lord, the Supersoul, having entered the collective and individual consciousness of the living entities, knows the heart of everyone. Therefore when a sincere soul aspires for spiritual perfection, the Lord frees him from material bondage and arouses his propensity to serve the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha. Love of Godhead flourishes in the variegated flavors of transcendental enjoyment. In ignorance, however, the conditioned soul considers himself the proper object of service and thus misunderstands the entire existential situation.
11.3.5
(5) The living being, that enlivened by the Suprme Soul with the modes enjoys those modes, thinks that this created body is the true self and that it is the master and thus becomes entangled [see also B.G. 15: 8, compare 11.2: 37].
ln this verse the living entity is called prabhuḥ, or "master," because he is a minute part and parcel of the supreme master, Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, in Bhagavad-gītā (15.8) the Lord has described the living entity as īśvaraḥ, "the controller."
śarīraḿ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saḿyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt
"The living entity in the material world carries his various conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas." Śrīla Prabhupāda has commented in his purport, "Here the living entity is described as īśvaraḥ, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him." This statement confirms the words sva-mātrā and ātma-prasiddhaye in text 3 of this chapter. If the Supreme Lord were to interfere with the minute independence of the living entity, there would be no question of the living entity's engaging in the loving service of the Lord, since love implies a spontaneous free choice by the lover. Here the word prabhuḥ indicates that just as a child, having received a toy car from his father, pedals on the sidewalk, imitating the father, who drives an actual car, the living entity pedals around the material universe in the innumerable material bodies selected for him by the Supreme Lord from an assortment of 8,400,000 species. Thus the living entity, infatuated with the false ego of the material body, creates a fearful situation in which he undergoes repeated birth and death, as described in the statement bhayaḿ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt (Bhāg. 11.2.37).Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has given another explanation for this verse. If the word prabhuḥ is taken to mean the Supreme Lord, the word guṇaiḥ can be understood to mean "good qualities," since guṇa can refer to the material modes of nature or to admirable qualities (as in the verse yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ). This verse would then mean that the Lord, by His transcendental qualities (guṇaiḥ), such as mercy, is able to relish the transcendental qualities (guṇān) of His pure devotees. Ātma-pratyoditaiḥ would then indicate that by surrendering unto the Lord, who is the reservoir of all good qualities, the pure devotees become similarly endowed with godly qualities. The words manyamāna idaḿ sṛṣṭam ātmānam would indicate that the Lord accepts the body of His pure devotee to be on the same spiritual level as He Himself, as indicated in the verse ācāryaḿ māḿ vijānīyān nāvamanyeta karhicit [SB 11.17.27]. The Lord is attracted by the loving devotional service of His pure devotees and thus becomes entangled in the network of their loving relationship with Him. For example, after the Battle of Kurukṣetra, when Kṛṣṇa was leaving for His own city, Dvārakā, the loving appeal of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira forced the Lord to remain for several more weeks in Hastināpura. Similarly, when the elderly gopīs of Vṛndāvana clapped their hands, Kṛṣṇa would dance like a puppet, keeping time to their rhythm. In relation to this subject matter, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (9.4.68):
sādhavo hṛdayaḿ mahyaḿ
nāhaḿ tebhyo manāg api
"The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything but Me, and I do not know anyone but them."According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura the word prabhuḥ may also be understood as follows. The word pra indicates prakarṣeṇa, or "excessively," and bhū indicates bhavati, or "taking birth." Thus prabhuḥ indicates prakarṣeṇa deva-tiryag-ādiṣu bhavatīti saḥ, or repeatedly taking birth among the demigods, animals, human beings and other forms of life.
Confirming the statement by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī concerning the Lord's attachment to the spiritualized body of a pure devotee, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has quoted the following verses from Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya 4.192-93):
dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa
"At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Kṛṣṇa accepts him to be as good as Himself."
sei deha kare tāra cid-ānanda-maya
"When the devotee's body is thus transformed into spiritual existence, the devotee, in that transcendental body, renders service to the lotus feet of the Lord."
11.3.6
bhramatīha sukhetaram
(6) Because of the sense-motivated actions is the proprietor of the body because of his desires engaged in different karmic - fruitive - actions and reaps he the different types of fruit therefrom. And thus moves he through this world in as well a state of happiness as the contrary of it [see B.G. 2: 62].
The argument may be given that if a living entity were subject to the results of his previous activities there would be no scope for free will; once having committed a sinful action, the living entity would be bound in an endless chain of suffering, being perpetually subject to previous reactions. According to this speculation there cannot be a just and omniscient God, since the living entity is forced to commit sinful activities by the reactions of his previous activities, which were reactions to still previous activities. Since even an ordinary gentleman will not unfairly punish an innocent person, how could there be a God witnessing the helpless suffering of the conditioned souls within this world?
This foolish argument can easily be refuted by a practical example. If I purchase a ticket for an airline flight, board the plane and commence the flight, once the plane has taken off my decision to board the plane forces me to continue flying until the plane lands. But although I am forced to accept the reaction of this decision, on board the plane I have many new decisions I can make. I may accept the food and drink from the stewardesses or reject it, I may read a magazine or newspaper, I may sleep, walk up and down the aisle, converse with other passengers and so on. In other words, although the general context — flying to a particular city — is forcibly imposed upon me as a reaction to my previous decision to board the plane, even within that situation I am constantly making new decisions and creating new reactions. For example, if I cause a disturbance on the airplane I may be arrested when the plane lands. On the other hand, if I make friends with a businessman sitting next to me on the plane, such a contact may lead to a favorable business transaction in the future.
Similarly, although the living entity is forced to accept a particular body by the laws of karma, within the human form of life there is always scope for free will and decision-making. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be considered unjust for holding the living entity in human life responsible for his present activities despite the living entity's undergoing the reactions of his previous work.
11.3.7
(7) This way by his karma reaching destinations that bring him a lot of things that are not so good, experiences the living being till the end of time birth and death helplessly.
11.3.8
dhātūpaplava āsanne
hy avyaktāyāpakarṣati
(8) When the dissolution of the material elements is at hand withdraws the [Lord in the form of] Time that is Without a Beginning or an End, the manifest universe consisting of the gross objects and subtle modes [back] into the unmanifest [see also 3.29: 40-45, 3.26: 51].
In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Lord Kapiladeva teaches that the material nature originally exists in an inert state of equilibrium called pradhāna. When Lord Viṣṇu casts His potent glance in the form of kāla, or time, material interactions take place, culminating in the variegated creation of the material cosmos. In this verse it is stated that at the end of universal time the same kāla that originally incited the female nature into manifestation again withdraws the cosmos into its original state of inert nonmanifestation. According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, the time potency itself, kāla, is then withdrawn, and it merges into the Supreme Soul, who manifests Himself as the original cause of material nature (anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]).
Such technical arrangements for creation and annihilation, birth and death, do not exist in the eternal spiritual kingdom of God. In the spiritual sky the variegated spiritual enjoyment of the Lord and His devotees is not hampered by the inferior cycles of birth, maintenance and destruction found in the material world.
11.3.9
tat-kālopacitoṣṇārko
lokāḿs trīn pratapiṣyati
(9) Most assuredly will there be a terrible drought on the earth lasting for a hundred years during which the accumulated heat of the sun will seriously scorch the three worlds.
11.3.10
sańkarṣaṇa-mukhānalaḥ
dahann ūrdhva-śikho viṣvag
vardhate vāyuneritaḥ
(10) Beginning from the lower regions [Pâtâla], will the fire from the mouth of Sankarshana with its flames driven by the winds shooting upwards, burn all directions.
11.3.11
saḿvartako megha-gaṇo
dhārābhir hasti-hastābhir
(11) Great masses of clouds will rain for a hundred years with torrents massive as elephant trunks and because of that will everything be inundated.
11.3.12
tato virājam utsṛjy
nirindhana ivānalaḥ
(12) O King, like a fire running out of fuel, will thereafter the universe, the Original Form of the Supreme Lord, be given up by Him [in the form of Brahmâ] as He enters the subtle reality of the unseen [see also B.G. 8: 19, 3.32: 12-15].
the word vairājaḥ in this verse indicates the totality of the individual conditioned souls who originally take birth from Brahmā and are amalgamated back into him at the time of annihilation. By the manifestation of the virāṭ-puruṣa, the universal form of the Lord, there is a temporary display of forms, qualities and activities within the material creation. But the entire cosmic scene reverts to inert formlessness when the creation is withdrawn by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord's universal form cannot be accepted as an eternal form of the Lord. It is merely the temporary imaginary resemblance of His personal form within the kingdom of māyā. In the First Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as well as in the Second Canto, the universal form of the Lord is clearly explained to be an imaginary form offered to the neophyte for meditation on God. Those who are excessively materialistic are totally unable to understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], or the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, transcendental to the exhibition of material energy. Therefore to encourage such gross materialists to become faithful theists, the Vedic literature instructs them to meditate upon the physical universe as the gigantic body of the Supreme Lord. This pantheistic conception does not reflect the ultimate reality of the Supreme Lord but is a technique to bring the mind gradually toward God.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has quoted the following verse as evidence that Lord Brahmā is supposed to go back to Godhead at the time of annihilation:
brahmaṇā saha te sarve
samprāpte pratisañcare
parasyānte kṛtātmānaḥ
"At the time of final annihilation all self-realized souls enter with Brahmā into the supreme abode." Since Brahmā is sometimes considered the best devotee of the Supreme Lord, he surely should obtain liberation rather than merely entering into the unmanifest state of material nature called avyakta. In this connection Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that there is a class of nondevotees who attain the planet of Brahmā by performing aśvamedha-yajñas and other sacrifices, and in certain cases Brahmā himself may not be a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So the words avyaktaḿ viśate sūkṣmam can be understood to indicate that such a nondevotee Brahmā cannot enter the spiritual sky, despite having achieved the ultimate universal status of material expertise. But when Brahmā is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the word avyaktam can be taken to indicate the spiritual sky; since the spiritual sky is not manifest to the conditioned souls, it may also be considered avyakta. If even Lord Brahmā cannot enter the kingdom of God without surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then what to speak of other so-called pious or expert nondevotees.In this regard Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has pointed out that there are three categories within the status of Brahmā, namely those of karmī, jñānī and devotee. A Brahmā who is the most exalted karmī of the universe will have to come back to the material world; a living entity who has achieved the post of Brahmā by being the greatest speculative philosopher within the universe may attain impersonal liberation; and a living entity who has been awarded the post of Brahma due to being a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters into the personal abode of the Lord. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.32.15) yet another case is described: a Brahmā who is a devotee of the Lord but who has the tendency to think himself independent of or equal to the Lord may achieve Mahā-Viṣṇu's abode at the time of annihilation, but when creation begins again he has to return and again take the post of Brahma. The word used in this case is bheda-dṛṣṭyā, which refers to the tendency to think oneself independently powerful. The various destinations possible for such an exalted living entity as a Lord Brahmā definitely prove that any material position is worthless for guaranteeing an eternal life of bliss and knowledge. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa promises that if one gives up all other so-called obligations and surrenders to the devotional service of the Lord, the Lord will personally protect him and bring him back to the supreme abode in the spiritual sky. It is futile and foolish to try to achieve perfection by one's own strenuous endeavor and not surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Such a blind attempt is described in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā as bahulāyāsam, indicating that it is work in the material mode of passion. Brahmā is the lord of passion, and his creation and management of the entire universe are certainly bahulāyāsam, or strenuous endeavor, in the most exalted sense. But all such passionate work, even that of Lord Brahmā, is ultimately useless without surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
11.3.13
jyotiṣṭvāyopakalpate
(13) The earth by the wind deprived of its aroma changes back into water and the water by the same process deprived of its taste becomes fire [again, see *].
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives several descriptions of the material creation, by which air is expanded from ether, fire from air, water from fire, and earth from water. Now, in the reverse order, the creation is wound up. Thus earth merges back into the water from which it came, and water similarly merges into fire.
11.3.14
hṛta-sparśo 'vakāśena
(14) Fire, by darkness deprived of its form, inevitably turns into air and the air, losing its touch, dissolves into the ether. The ether by the Supreme Soul of Time no longer being tangible then merges into the ego [of not-knowing].
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