VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
11.22.31
(31) Alike the independently of these existing Supersoul who constitutes the actual cause of the subjective experience [adhyâtma], nature as the source of one's perception [adhidaiva] and the phenomenon one perceives [adhibhûta], is there similarly the sun in its independent position in the sky, that is responsible for the power of sight [adhyâtma], the external of nature [adhidaiva] and the distinct, reflected image [adhibhûta] that together contribute to that what can be seen through the opening of the eye.
Form is recognized by the function of the eye, and the eye's function is understood by the presence of perceivable form. This interaction of sight and form further depends on the presence of light provided by the demigods, whose service of universal management depends on the presence of those who are to be managed, namely the living entities experiencing form with their eyes. Thus the three factors — adhyātma, represented by the senses such as the eye; adhibhūta, the sense objects such as form; and adhidaiva, the influence of the controlling deities — exist in an interdependent relationship.
The sun globe itself is said to be self-manifest, self-luminous and self-experiencing; it does not share the interdependence of the senses and sense objects although facilitating their function. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead facilitates the interdependent experiences of all living entities. For example, newspapers, radio and television reveal world events to the mass of people. Parents reveal facts about life to their children, teachers to their students, friends to friends, and so on. The government manifests its will to the people and the people to their government. The sun and moon reveal the visual forms of all objects, and the perception of sound reveals audible form. The vibrations of particular types of music or rhetoric reveal the inner feelings of other living beings, and other types of knowledge are revealed by aroma, touch and taste. In this way, through the interaction of the senses and mind with innumerable sense objects, different types of knowledge are acquired. All such informative interactions, however, depend upon the supreme illuminating power of the Personality of Godhead. As stated in Brahma-saḿhitā (5.52), yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām: "Among all the planets the sun is considered the eye of the Supreme Lord." The Personality of Godhead is eternally omniscient by His own transcendental potency, and thus no one can reveal anything to the Lord about anything. Still, Lord Kṛṣṇa humbly accepts our prayers offered in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In conclusion, Lord Kṛṣṇa clearly explains here that His sublime characteristics are completely different from those of the manifest universe. The Lord is therefore the supreme transcendental entity, free from all material influence.
11.22.32
(32) Next to the eyes the same [trinity] applies to the sense of touch and what one feels with it, the ear and what one hears, the tongue and its occupation, the nose with what is smelled and with one's consciousness and its attributes.
11.22.33
(33) The transformation effected by this agitation of the modes which rooted from the primary nature [pradhâna], leads to bewilderment and gives all kinds of trouble with the by the greater reality [the mahat-tattva] raised threefold, false ego which, subjected to change, in ignorance wants to take matters into its own hands [see also ***].
11.22.34
ātmāparijñāna-mayo vivādo
hy astīti nāstīti bhidārtha-niṣṭhaḥ
vyartho 'pi naivoparameta puḿsāḿ
(34) When there is not the full knowledge of the Supersoul one will, eager as one is in one's desire to discuss matters, get entangled in useless speculations about the fact whether or not there would be a difference [between purusha and prakriti] with statements like 'this is real and that is not', and those speculations continue as long as one has diverted one's attention away from Me, I who am [qualitatively] equal to oneself.'
11.22.35-36
(35-36) S'rî Uddhava said: 'In what way do those whose minds diverted from You by the fruitive activities they performed, o Master, accept and give up higher and lower material bodies? Please Govinda explain that to me what by those who are not so spiritual isn't understood since they, predominantly being of material knowledge, are illusioned.'
No one can be considered intelligent without understanding the science of God, which includes a description of the negative results of those who have forgotten their eternal relationship with Him. There are many so-called wise men in the world, but although considering themselves to be most intelligent, they generally do not surrender to the supreme intelligence of the Lord. Thus they concoct varieties of philosophies according to their positions within the modes of nature. However, one cannot escape the influence of material nature through philosophy generated from that same illusory nature. Liberation is achieved by perfect knowledge coming from the spiritual platform, the kingdom of God. By faithfully hearing from Lord Kṛṣṇa and His authorized representatives one can easily achieve liberation and go back home, back to Godhead.
11.22.37
indriyaiḥ pañcabhir yutam
(37) The Supreme Lord said: 'People's minds that are shaped by their fruitive labor are bound to the five senses from one world to the next. The soul, existing separately, follows that mind [see also linga, vâsanâ and B.G. 2: 22].
11.22.38
(38) The mind faithfully meditating on what is heard [from the traditions] or what is seen of the sense objects comes into being because of its being bound to the karma and dissolves again [with the vanishing of the sense objects]. As a consequence the remembrance [of past lives] is lost.
One may ask how the subtle body, or mind, gives up its connection with one physical body and enters another. Such entering and leaving of physical bodies is called birth and death by conditioned souls. One utilizes his present senses to meditate on the visible objects of this world — beautiful women, palatial estates, and so on — and similarly one daydreams about the heavenly planets described in the Vedas. As death occurs, the mind is pulled away from the objects of its immediate experience and enters another body to experience a new set of sense objects. As the mind undergoes total reorientation there is the apparent loss of one's previous mentality and creation of a new mind, though actually the same mind is experiencing, but in a different way.
The conditioned soul is overwhelmed by the constant flow of material experience consisting of direct perception and abstract contemplation of the objects of this world. One thereby loses his transcendental memory of his relationship with God. As soon as one identifies with this world he forgets his eternal identity and surrenders to the false ego created by māyā.
11.22.39
viṣayābhiniveśena
jantor vai kasyacid dhetor
mṛtyur atyanta-vismṛtiḥ
(39) This total forgetfulness of not remembering one's previous self that for this or that reason was absorbed in the objects of the senses, is what one calls death.
Depending on one's karma, or fruitive activities, one may achieve a beautiful, wealthy or powerful body or be degraded to an abominable condition of life. Taking birth in heaven or in hell, the living entity learns to completely identify his ego with the new body and thus becomes absorbed in the pleasure, fear, opulence or suffering of the new body, completely forgetting the experiences of the previous body. Death occurs when the specific karma allotted to a physical body is finished. Since that particular body's karma is used up, it can no longer act upon one's mind; in that way one forgets the previous body. The new body is created by nature so that one can experience the karma currently in effect. Consequently one's entire consciousness becomes absorbed in one's current body in order that one can fully experience the results of his previous activities. Because the living entity falsely identifies himself as the body, bodily death is experienced as death of the soul. Actually, however, the soul is eternal and is never subject to creation or annihilation.
11.22.40
viṣaya-svīkṛtiḿ prāhur
(40) O man of charity, what one calls birth is when a person completely identifies himself with the body he assumed, just like what one does when one dreams or when one has a fantasy.
Identification with one's material body surpasses the mere affection and attachment one feels for the bodies of relatives or friends. The word sarva-bhāvena here shows that one totally accepts the material body to be oneself, just as one completely accepts the experience of a dream as real. Mere imagination without practical action is called a daydream; the mental concoction that occurs in a sleeping state is called a dream. Our identification with our own body and our blind acceptance of bodily relationships as permanent constitute a prolonged form of dreaming or fantasy in which one imagines oneself to be separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The term birth, therefore, does not refer to the generation of a new entity but to the blind acceptance by the spirit soul of a new material body.
11.22.41
svapnaḿ manorathaḿ cetthaḿ
apūrvam cānupaśyati
(41) And just as one in a dream or fantasy has no remembrance of a previous dream or fantasy, one has likewise no notion of a previous existence [*4 en B.G. 4: 5].
11.22.42
indriyāyana-sṛṣṭyedaḿ
(42) Because of obtaining a new material body and a corresponding mind, the truth of the threefold reality imposes itself upon the soul, with the consequence of an inner notion that differs from the outer appearance, like one gave birth to bad natured offspring.
The wealth, beauty, strength, intelligence, fame and detachment of different bodies are considered to be excellent, normal or inferior according to the material situation. The spirit soul acquires a particular body and thus judges himself and others to be high, middle or low class according to their material situation. Actually, the eternal soul exists beyond material duality but falsely mistakes the material situation to be his own. The words asaj-jana-kṛd yathā are significant. A father may by nature be peaceful, but because his bad son gets into trouble the father is forced to defend his son and consider his son's enemies to be enemies of the entire family. Thus the bad son implicates the father in troublesome conflicts. Similarly, the spirit soul has no intrinsic problems, but by creating a false identification with the material body the soul becomes involved in the happiness and distress of the body. With this verse the Lord summarizes His discussion of the difference between the body and the soul.
11.22.43
kālenālakṣya-vegena
(43) For created bodies, by the force of time which operates invisibly, that isn't seen because of its subtlety.
11.22.44
vayo-'vasthādayaḥ kṛtāḥ
(44) The lifespan, the circumstances and such of all created beings are determined by it, just as the flame of a candle, the stream of a river and the fruit of a tree are determined by it.
11.22.45
mṛṣā gīr dhīr mṛṣāyuṣām
(45) The way one has it wrong when one says 'this light is the same as this lamp' and 'this stream of water is the same as this river' it is also wrong to say that 'this body is the same as this person', it is a way of reasoning of men who are wasting their lives [see also 6.16: 58, 7.6: 1-2]!
Although one may say, "This is the light of the lamp," there are innumerable rays of light being created, transformed and destroyed at every moment; and although one may speak of the water of the river, there is an ever-new supply of different water molecules passing by. Similarly, when one meets a young child, one accepts that particular transitory phase of the body as the actual identity of the person, considering him to be a child. One also considers an old body to be an old person. In fact, however, the material body of a human being, just like the waves of a river or the radiation of a lamp, is merely a transformation of the three modes of material nature, the potency of the Supreme Lord. The real identity of a person is spirit soul, part and parcel of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but as Lord Kṛṣṇa proves in this verse, a conditioned soul is incapable of observing or understanding the subtle movements of time. With the gross vision of material consciousness one cannot ascertain the subtle segments of material manifestation, which are impelled by the Lord Himself as time. The word mṛṣāyuṣām in this verse indicates those who are uselessly wasting their time in ignorance without understanding the instructions of the Lord. Such persons gullibly accept any particular phase of the body to be the actual identity of the spirit soul within the body. Because the spirit soul is not subject to material transformation, when he engages himself in the eternal variegated pleasure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, loving service to the Supreme Lord, he will experience no further ignorance and suffering.
11.22.46
yathāgnir dāru-saḿyutaḥ
(46) A person doesn't die, nor is he born from the seed of his actions, he is immortal. It is because of illusion that one, like fire locked up in wood, is united [with one's material existence. See B.G. 2: 24].
The element fire exists perpetually within the material creation, but in connection with a particular piece of wood fire apparently comes into existence and ceases to exist. Similarly, the living entity is eternal, but in connection with a particular body apparently takes birth and dies. The reactions of karma thus impose an illusory suffering or enjoyment upon the living entity, but they do not cause the entity himself to change his eternal nature. In other words, karma represents a cycle of illusion in which each illusory activity produces another. Kṛṣṇa consciousness stops this cycle of karma by engaging the living being in spiritual activities in the loving service of the Lord. By such Kṛṣṇa consciousness one can escape the illusory chain of fruitive reactions.
11.22.47
ity avasthās tanor nava
(47) Impregnation, gestation, birth, infancy, childhood, youth, middle age, old age and death are the nine states of the body one thus has.
11.22.48
hānyasyoccāvacās tanūḥ
(48) These more or less elevated states of the body that one owes to one's own motives, are because of his being bound to the modes by a soul accepted as one's own, while the other soul [with due effort in yoga] distances himself from them [by the grace of God].
One who has received the special mercy of the Supreme Lord is able to give up the mental concoction of bodily identification. Thus there is always a chance of escaping the cycle of birth and death.
11.22.49
anumeyau bhavāpyayau
abhijño dvaya-lakṣaṇaḥ
(49) The incidence of one's own birth can be inferred from the birth of one's son and the incidence of one's death can be derived from the death of one's father [or ancestors], [but] he who remembers himself with all the things of birth and death is never subject to that what is ruled by this duality.
The Lord has described the nine stages of the material body, beginning with impregnation, gestation and birth. One may argue that a living entity cannot remember his presence in the mother's womb nor his birth and early infancy. The Lord therefore states here that one can experience these phases of bodily existence by studying one's own child. Similarly, although one may hope to live forever, by experiencing the death of one's father, grandfather or great-grandfather, one has definite proof that the material body will die. A sober person, knowing the soul to be eternal, therefore gives up false identification with the temporary, unreliable body and takes shelter of the devotional service of the Lord. By this process one can escape the artificial imposition of birth and death.
11.22.50
taror bīja-vipākābhyāḿ
taror vilakṣaṇo draṣṭā
(50) The way someone, who knows about a tree its seed and maturity, is the witness distinct from the birth and death of that tree, is one analogously the witness standing apart from the [birth and death of] the physical body.
As a reference to trees, vipāka indicates the final transformation called death. In reference to other types of plants such as rice, vipāka indicates the stage of maturity, in which death also occurs. Thus by common observation one can understand the actual position of one's material body and one's own position as the transcendental observer.
11.22.51
avivicyābudhaḥ pumān
(51) An unintelligent person who fails to distinguish this way the person from his material nature, enters, completely bewildered in taking material forms for real, the material ocean [see also B.G. 9: 21-22 and 1.7: 5].
paro 'pi manute 'narthaḿ
"Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries."
11.22.52
rajasāsura-mānuṣān
bhrāmito yāti karmabhiḥ
(52) Wandering around because of his karma he will, following the mode of goodness, head for the sages and the gods; following the lead of passion he will move among the common people or fall into the grip of darkness; and by the mode of ignorance he will find himself among the ghosts and spirits or reach the animal kingdom [see also B.G. 6: 41-42, 9: 25; 17: 4].
The word tiryaktvam means "the status of an animal," which includes all lower forms of life, such as beasts, birds, insects, fish and plants.
11.22.53
yathaivānukaroti tān
anīho 'py anukāryate
(53) Just as with observing dancing and singing persons one comes to imitate them, one is, even though being a silent witness who doesn't do anything, when one is placed before the qualities of matter the same way inclined towards a material intelligence [see also 11.21: 19-21].
11.22.54-55
yathāmbhasā pracalatā
viṣayṣānubhavo mṛṣā
(54-55) The way trees seem to be moving when they are seen in moving water and the world seems to spin when one's eyes are spinning around, one's mental impressions of the sense object are also not real. Just like the things one sees in a dream are but figments, also the soul's image of a material life in which he experiences sense gratification is a phantom.
Trees appear to be swaying when reflected in agitated water, and similarly, when one is sitting on a moving boat the trees on the shore appear to be moving. When the wind whips up the water, creating waves, the water appears to have movement of its own, although it is actually being moved by the wind. The conditioned soul in material life does not perform any activities, but rather the material body, with the consent of the illusioned living entity, is being moved by the modes of nature. One imposes this external movement upon oneself, considering oneself to be dancing, singing, running, dying, conquering and so on, although these are merely interactions of the external body with the modes of nature.
11.22.56
arthe hy avidyamāne 'pi
(56) For someone who meditates the objects of the senses material life will not stop, even though it is an illusory affair, just as the unpleasant things one experiences in a dream [may repeat themselves over and over *5].
One may object that if Lord Kṛṣṇa insists that material life is false, then why should one endeavor to stop it? The Lord therefore explains here that although not factual, material life stubbornly continues for one addicted to sense gratification, just as a frightening dream continues for one merged in sleep. The word avidyamāna, "not existing," means that material life is based on mental concoction, in which one thinks, "I am a man," "I am a woman," "I am a doctor," "I am a senator," "I am a street sweeper" and so on. A conditioned soul enthusiastically performs his activities based on the imaginary identification with the body. Thus although the spirit soul exists and the body exists, the false identification with the body does not exist. Material life, based on a false idea, has no factual existence.
After one awakens from a dream, the dim reflection of the dream may linger in one's memory. Similarly, one engaging in the devotional service of the Lord may be troubled sometimes by the dim reflection of sinful life. One should therefore become strong in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by hearing the Lord's instructions to Śrī Uddhava.
11.22.57
viṣayān asad-indriyaiḥ
ātmāgrahaṇa-nirbhātaḿ
(57) Therefore Uddhava, do not delight in the sense-objects that play games with the senses, just see how based upon the illusion of the material duality one fails to realize the soul.
11.22.58-59
kṣipto 'vamānito 'sadbhiḥ
pralabdho 'sūyito 'tha vā
niṣṭhyuto mūtrito vājñair
bahudhaivaḿ prakampitaḥ
ātmanātmānam uddharet
(58-59) When one is insulted, neglected, ridiculed or envied by bad people, or else chastised, held captive or deprived of his means of livelihood, or when one is repeatedly spat or urinated upon by ignorant people, someone desiring the Supreme who thus being shaken is having difficulties, should save himself by resorting to his essence [see also 5.5: 30].'
Throughout history many of the above-mentioned inconveniences have been experienced by devotees of the Lord. One who is advanced in God consciousness does not allow himself to become obsessed with the material body even in such conditions, but rather keeps the mind fixed on the spiritual platform through proper intelligence.
11.22.60
yathaivam anubudhyeyaḿ
(60) S'rî Uddhava said: 'How can I keep that in mind? Please, o Best of All Speakers, tell us that.
11.22.61
ātmany asad-atikramam
śāntāḿs te caraṇālayān
(61) The attacks of other people on my person is what I find most difficult. Except to those who fixed in Your dharma in peace reside at Your lotusfeet, even for the learned, o Soul of the Universe, no doubt the material definition constitutes the greatest burden.'
Unless one becomes advanced in the process of hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord, theoretical learning cannot make one actually saintly. One's conditioned personality, the result of long material association, is very difficult to overcome. Therefore we should humbly take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, who has so wonderfully explained to Śrī Uddhava the real meaning of knowledge.
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Twenty-second Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Enumeration of the Elements of Material Creation."
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