VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 10
The Soul Free, the Soul Bound
(The Nature of Fruitive Activity)
In this chapter Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa refutes the philosophy of the followers of Jaimini and describes to Uddhava how the spirit soul bound within the material body can develop pure transcendental knowledge.
The Vaiṣṇava, or one who has t aken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, should observe the rules and regulations found in the Pañcarātra and other revealed scriptures. According to his own natural qualities and work, he should follow the code of varṇāśrama in a spirit free from motivation. The so-called knowledge received through one's material senses, mind and intelligence is as useless as the dreams experienced by a sleeping person attached to sense gratification. Therefore, one should give up work performed for sense gratification and accept work as a matter of duty. When one has come to understand something of the truth of the self, he should give up material work performed out of duty and simply engage himself in the service of the bona fide spiritual master, who is the manifest representative of the Personality of Godhead. The servant of the spiritual master should have very firm affection for his guru, should be anxious to receive from him knowledge of the Absolute Truth, and should be devoid of envy and the tendency to talk nonsense. The soul is distinct from the gross and subtle material bodies. The spirit soul who has entered into the material body accepts bodily functions according to the reactions of his own past activities. Therefore, only the bona fide, transcendental spiritual master is capable of demonstrating pure knowledge of the self.
The followers of Jaimini and other atheistic philosophers accept regulated material work as the purpose of life. But Kṛṣṇa refutes this by explaining that the embodied soul who has come into contact with segmented material time takes upon himself a perpetual chain of births and deaths and is therefore forced to suffer the consequent happiness and distress. In this way there is no possibility that one who is attached to the fruits of his material work can achieve any substantial goal in life. The pleasures of heaven and other destinations, which are achieved by sacrificial rituals, can be experienced for only a short time. After one's enjoyment is finished, one must return to this mortal sphere to partake of lamentation and suffering. On the path of materialism there is certainly no uninterrupted or natural happiness.
1.10.1
mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ
varṇāśrama-kulācāram
akāmātmā samācaret
(1) The Supreme Lord said: 'A soul free from desire accepting My shelter should, in caring for the personal duties to God I spoke of [see also in e.g. 10.60: 52 and B.G. 3: 35], practice the varnâs'rama system of society [B.G. 4: 13].
11.10.2
anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā
dehināḿ viṣayātmanām
sarvārambha-viparyayam
(2) A purified soul should see how of the ones embodied who self-centered take the sensual for true, all endeavors are doomed to fail [see also B.G. 13: 32].
In this verse the Lord describes the process of becoming desireless. All material sense objects, including those perceived by their form, taste, flavor, touch or sound, are temporary. We now see our family and nation, but ultimately they will disappear. Even our own body, by which we perceive them, will disappear. Thus, the inevitable result of material enjoyment is viparyaya, or great suffering. The word viśuddhātmā indicates those who have purified themselves by executing the regulative duties of devotional service. They can clearly see the hopeless frustration of material life, and thus they become akāmātmā, or great souls free from material desire.
11.10.3
suptasya viṣayāloko
dhyāyato vā manorathaḥ
nānātmakatvād viphalas
(3) What the meditator sees in the realm of sleep or in his fantasy is as futile as it is variagated. So too is one not really using one's intelligence when one is guided by the self that is separated by the modal qualities [B.G. 2: 41 & 9: 15].
11.10.4
pravṛttaḿ mat-paras tyajet
jijñāsāyāḿ sampravṛtto
(4) Devoted to Me one should perform the work that needs to be done for the detachment [nivritti] and forsake the activities in attachment [pravritti]. One shouldn't take heed of the injunctions for working for results when one is perfectly engaged in the search for spiritual truth [see 7.15: 47].
11.10.5
(5) The one devoted must always observe the basic rules [the commandments, the vidhi] and respect the co-ordinate ones at a suitable time [the niyama]. Also he must be of service to the peaceful guru who, knowing My form, does not differ from Me [see also 7.14: 41-42].
11.10.6
amāny amatsaro dakṣo
nirmamo dṛḍha-sauhṛdaḥ
asatvaro 'rtha-jijñāsur
(6) With humility, not considering oneself the doer, be industrious, non-possessive, fixed in friendship, not hasty, interested in being inquisitive and free from spite and idle talk.
11.10.7
svajana-draviṇādiṣu
sarveṣv artham ivātmanaḥ
(7) Remaining neutral concerning one's wife, children, home, land, folk and bank-account and such, should one recognize one's own interest in that of each [see B.G. 5: 18].
11.10.8
vilakṣaṇaḥ sthūla-sūkṣmād
yathāgnir dāruṇo dāhyād
dāhako 'nyaḥ prakāśakaḥ
(8) The soul is the self-enlightened seer who is different from the gross and subtle body, the same way as fire emitting light with its burning differs from the firewood [see also B.G. 2: 16-24].
11.10.9
nirodhotpatty-aṇu-bṛhan-
(9) Lodged within [the wood] assumes fire [upon ignition] its various dormant qualities that manifest as tiny or large etc. The same way assumes the spirit soul the qualities belonging to the body [see also 3.24: 6, 4.9: 7, 10.37: 10-11, 10.46: 36].
11.10.10
yo 'sau guṇair viracito
deho 'yaḿ puruṣasya hi
(10) That what, with this body that was formed by the modes, is tied to the samsâra ocean of matter which belongs to the Original Person [see B.G. 8: 4], is what is called the living entity of which the ties of attachment are cut by the knowledge of the Soul.
11.10.11
tasmāj jijñāsayātmānam
sańgamya nirased etad
(11) Therefore should one, by cultivating the knowledge of the Soul as being situated in oneself [2.2 and B.G. 9: 5], pure in one's approach with the realization of the Supreme, gradually let go of this concept of the material affair [as being an independent reality].
11.10.12
ācāryo 'raṇir ādyaḥ syād
ante-vāsy uttarāraṇiḥ
(12) The âcârya can be compared to the lower piece of kindling wood, the disciple to the top piece and the instructions to the stick used in between, while the knowledge is there as the fire that brings happiness [compare 9.14: 44-46].
When the darkness of ignorance is burned to ashes, the dangerous life of ignorance is also eradicated, and one can work for his true self-interest in full knowledge. In this verse the word ādyaḥ means "original" and it indicates the spiritual master, who is compared to the sacred kindling stick held below. From the spiritual master transcendental knowledge, like fire, is spread to the disciple. Just as friction between two sticks of firewood produces fire, similarly, bona fide contact between the spiritual master, who is the representative of Kṛṣṇa, and a sincere disciple produces the fire of knowledge. When the disciple takes shelter of the lotus feet of the spiritual master, he automatically acquires perfect knowledge of his original, spiritual form.
11.10.13
(13) This purest intelligence that is transmitted by the experienced [the âcâryas], repels the illusion stemming from the gunas and is, in completely burning up what was established by the modes, itself pacified the way fire pacifies when it runs out of fuel [see also 11.3: 12].
11.10.14-16
athaiṣām karma-kartṝṇāḿ
loka-kālāgamātmanām
evam apy ańga sarveṣāḿ
kālāvayavataḥ santi
(14-16) When you with this in mind think of the variegatedness of the different ways of making a living, when you think of those enjoyers of happiness and distress; if you keep in mind the perpetual existence of the material world, the time, the revealed scriptures and the soul; when you face the fact that all knowledge is subject to change because it is based upon the difference created by all the forms of existence and the changes of the sense objects; then, o Uddhava, [you must admit from merely that material vision * that] one thus always has the states of existence of being born [of being old and being diseased] and so on. For everyone embodied happens to have a body [which found its order] by the different limbs of time [knowing the divisions according the sun and moon, see 3.11].
"According to the followers of Jaimini, the living entity is originally and naturally a performer of fruitive activities, and his happiness and distress are derived from the fruits of his own work. The world in which the living entities find their enjoyment, the time during which they enjoy, the revealed scriptures that explain the means for achieving enjoyment, and the subtle bodies through which the living entities experience enjoyment all exist not only in manifold variety but also eternally.
"The living entity need not develop detachment from material sense gratification, either by seeing the temporariness of individual material objects and situations or by seeing the material world as an illusory creation (māyā). According to such materialistic philosophy, material objects such as garlands, sandalwood or beautiful women are temporary in specific manifestations but perpetually exist through the natural flow of creation and destruction. In other words, although a particular woman's form is temporary, there will eternally be beautiful women within the material world. Thus, by carefully executing fruitive rituals according to religious scriptures, one can maintain enjoyable contact with women and wealth life after life. In this way one's sense gratification will be eternal.
"The Jaimini philosophers further say that there never was a time when the world did not exist as it does today, which implies that there is no supreme controller who has created it. They claim that the arrangement of this world is real and appropriate and thus is not illusory. Moreover, they say that there is no eternal knowledge of an original perpetual form of the soul. In fact, they say, knowledge arises not from some absolute truth but from the differences among material objects. Knowledge therefore is not eternal and is subject to change. The assumption hidden in this statement is that there is no spirit soul who possesses eternal, constant knowledge of a single, unchanging reality. Rather, the nature of consciousness or knowledge is that it undergoes constant transformation. They state, however, that eternality is not refuted by the perpetually transforming nature of consciousness. Consciousness perpetually exists, they say, but not in the same form.
"Thus, the followers of Jaimini conclude that the transformation of knowledge does not negate its eternality; rather, they state that knowledge eternally exists within the perpetual nature of its transformation. They therefore naturally come to the path of regulated sense gratification rather than the path of renunciation, for in the state of mukti, or liberation, the living entity would not have any material senses, and thus the transformation of material understanding would not be possible. Such philosophers consider that the achievement of an unchanging state of mukti would stunt or paralyze the natural activity of the living entity and thus would not be in his self-interest. The path of nivṛtti (aiming toward renunciation and transcendence of the material world) is naturally not interesting to such materialistic philosophers. Accepting for argument's sake the validity of such materialistic philosophy, one can easily demonstrate that the path of regulated sense gratification brings many unwanted and miserable results to the living entity. Therefore even from a materialistic viewpoint, detachment is desirable. Material time is divided into different sections such as days, weeks, months and years, and by material time the living entity is repeatedly forced to undergo the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. That such real miseries occur everywhere throughout the universe is well known." In this way, states Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Lord Kṛṣṇa has pointed out the defect of materialistic philosophy to Uddhava.
We may further elaborate that if one falsely accepts the atheistic philosophy of Jaimini and his innumerable modern followers. then the living entity perpetually remains entangled in the anguish of birth, death, old age and disease. This bogus, atheistic philosophy encourages material gratification as the only logical goal of life, but the living entity will inevitably commit mistakes in the execution of regulated sense gratification and eventually go to hell. The Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa, personally tells Uddhava that this materialistic philosophy is false and irrelevant to the actual self-interest of the living entity.
11.10.17
tatrāpi karmaṇāḿ kartur
(17) Of the performer who as the enjoyer therein furthermore is of fruitive activities, is the lack of independence clearly visible and can the happiness and unhappiness be observed; what value indeed can be derived from not [really for lasting happiness, see B.G. 9: 3 and 11.9: 1] being in control?
11.10.18
vṛthāhańkaraṇaḿ param
(18) Among the embodied the foolish are not always happy and similarly even the ones intelligent are not always happy. The desire to be happy always is useless and in fact something most egotistical [see also B.G. 2: 15 and 11.9: 4].
11.10.19
(19) Even if they know how to achieve happiness and escape distress, they still do not know the uniting of consciousness [the yoga process] by which death will not be able to exert its power [compare B.G. 10: 34].
11.10.20
(20) What certainty of happiness or lust a material object would provide the person? With death never pleasing standing nearby is he like someone condemned who is led to the place of execution.
11.10.21
spardhāsūyātyaya-vyayaiḥ
kṛṣi-vac cāpi niṣphalam
(21) What we heard about [heaven] as well as what we know from our own experience [earth] is spoilt by rivalry, fault-finding, lapse and decay. Just like with agriculture many obstacles are in the way of a happy result, it is also useless to desire for perfect material happiness [see also 11.3: 20].
11.10.22
antarāyair avihito
(22) When one in one's righteousness not is troubled by hindrances and one manages to excell in practice, even the status one thus acquired will not last forever. Please, listen therefore to the following [see also B.G. 2: 14].
11.10.23
(23) Out here having worshiped the gods with sacrifices the performer goes to the heavenly worlds where he like a god may enjoy the celestial pleasures he achieved [see B.G. 3: 11 and 4: 12].
11.10.24
(24) He shines in the temple [the 'vimâna'] because of his accumulated merit and he is, surrounded by goddesses who wear charming clothes, on his way [leaving this earth] by the singers of heaven glorified with songs.
11.10.25
surākrīḍeṣu nirvṛtaḥ
(25) While he with the women of heaven fares to his desire he with that notion of order is framed by the sounds of bells. In delight he forgets about the downfall he experienced [on earth] as he relaxes comfortably in the pleasure gardens of the God-conscious [see e.g. 7.15: 69-73].
11.10.26
(26) He, for long enjoying the heavens until his pious credit is used up and his piety is exhausted, against his will falls down from heaven, because he turned away from time [and thus was unsteady, compare B.G. 9: 20-22].
11.10.27-29
asatāḿ vājitendriyaḥ
kāmātmā kṛpaṇo lubdhaḥ
straiṇo bhūta-vihiḿsakaḥ
paśūn avidhinālabhya
narakān avaśo jantur
karmāṇi duḥkhodarkāṇi
(27-29) If he, due to his material involvement, is engaged in actions against the dharma or, not having conquered his senses, lives wantonly as a miserable, greedy philanderer, is of violence against other living beings, kills animals against the rules and worships hordes of ghosts and spirits [compare 7.12: 12], a living being will, once he passed on, helplessly thereupon land in the deepest darkness of the hellish worlds. He will, because of what he did, again accept a material body to perform activities that [again] cause him great grief in the future. What happiness would one find in swearing by activities that invariably lead to death [see also 5.26: 37 and B.G. 16: 19-21]?
11.10.30
brahmaṇo 'pi bhayaḿ matto
(30) In all the worlds and among all their leaders there is fear of Me; the individual souls living for a kalpa fear Me and even the one supreme, Brahmâ who lives for two parârdhas, fears Me [see also 1.13: 17-20, 3.8: 20, 3.11: 33, 3.25: 42, 3.26: 16, 3.29: 37, 3.29: 40-45, 5.24: 15, 5.24: 28].
There are many statements throughout Vedic literature proving that even the great demigods fear the time potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even in the heavenly planets there is no relief from the miseries of material life. No conditioned soul can live eternally, as clearly demonstrated by the deaths of Hiraṇyakaśipu and other demons. Since even the demigods fear the time potency of the Personality of Godhead, one may easily conclude that Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth and that He is eternally the supreme controller of everything and everyone. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only real shelter.
11.10.31
guṇo 'nusṛjate guṇān
(31) The material senses stimulated by the modes of nature give rise to activities and the individual soul, the jîva, who is fully engaged by the materially oriented senses and the gunas, experiences the various karmic consequences [see also 3.32 and B.G. 3: 27].
11.10.32
yāvat syād guṇa-vaiṣamyaḿ
pāratantryaḿ tadaiva hi
(32) As long as there are the separate existences of the modes of nature will there be the different states of existence of the soul, and as long as there are the different states of existence of the soul, there for sure thus will be [the karmic] dependence [see also B.G. 17: 2].
11.10.33
yāvad asyāsvatantratvaḿ
tāvad īśvarato bhayam
(33) As long as one is not free from the dependence will there be fear of the Controller [the Time]. They who devote themselves to this [dependence] will, being bewildered, always be full of sorrow.
The living entity is bound in the network of illusion, but although he can understand that he is dependent upon superior powers, he does not want to serve the Supreme Lord. He thus becomes filled with fear of life itself. Desiring material sense gratification, the living entity, like the demon Kaḿsa, always fears destruction of his material arrangement. Remaining addicted to the flavors of material nature, one gradually sinks down into an irrational form of life.
Māyā has two potencies — the first covers the living entity, and the second throws him down into a hellish condition of life. When one is covered by māyā, one loses all power of discrimination, and māyā then throws such a fool into the darkness of ignorance. When one wrongly considers oneself to be independent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, one becomes a worshiper of temporary material objects, hoping to enjoy material sense gratification, and as one grows older, one's life becomes filled with fear and anxiety. A conditioned soul considers himself to be in control of his life, but since he does not have any actual controlling potency, his situation is contradictory and not at all pleasing. As all of one's material possessions are taken away by time, one becomes filled with lamentation. All in all, material life is truly abominable, and it is only because of dense illusion that we accept it as satisfactory.
11.10.34
(34) With the agitation by the modes of nature, one calls Me variously the Time, the Self, the Vedic Knowledge, the World, Nature, as also Dharma.'
11.10.35
guṇeṣu vartamāno 'pi
deha-jeṣv anapāvṛtaḥ
(35) S'rî Uddhava said: 'Even though the one embodied is present in the midst of the modes of nature he is not necessarily bound to what forces itself upon him from the material body [the happiness and distress]. In other words, how can it happen that one as a free soul is bound by the modes, o Almighty One?
11.10.36-37
kair vā jñāyeta lakṣaṇaiḥ
kiḿ bhuñjītota visṛjec
(36-37) How is he situated, how does he enjoy, or by what symptoms can he be known? What would he eat or how would he evacuate, lie down or sit [compare B.G. 14: 21]? Explain to me what I ask You, o Infallible One, o Best of All who Know to Answer Questions. This at the same time being eternally bound and eternally being liberated is something that confounds me.'
In previous verses Lord Kṛṣṇa has explained to Uddhava that an eternally liberated soul is beyond the three modes of material nature. Since a liberated soul is considered to be beyond even the superior mode of goodness, how can he be recognized? By false identification with the modes of nature, which produce one's own material body, one is bound by illusion. On the other hand, by transcending the modes of nature, one is liberated. However, in ordinary activities — such as eating, evacuating, relaxing, sitting and sleeping — a liberated soul and a conditioned soul appear to be the same. Therefore Uddhava is inquiring, "By what symptoms can I recognize that one living entity is performing such external activities without false ego, and by what symptoms can I recognize one who is working under the illusory bondage of material identification? This is difficult, because the ordinary bodily functions of liberated and conditioned personalities appear similar." Uddhava has approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, taking Him as his personal spiritual master, and wants to be enlightened about how to understand the differences between material and spiritual life.
Since the living entity is sometimes called eternally conditioned, how could he ever be considered eternally liberated, or vice versa? This is an apparent contradiction, which will be cleared up by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Tenth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Nature of Fruitive Activity."
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