Vyasadev
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Canto 6
As related in this chapter, Citraketu was able to talk with his dead son and hear from him the truth of life. When Citraketu was appeased, the great sage Nārada gave him a mantra, and by chanting this mantra Citraketu found shelter at the lotus feet of Sańkarṣaṇa.
The living entity is eternal. Thus he has neither birth nor death (na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]). According to the reactions of one's fruitive activities, one takes birth in various species of life among the birds, beasts, trees, human beings, demigods and so on, thus rotating through various bodies. For a certain period of time, one receives a particular type of body as a son or father in a false relationship. All our relationships in this material world with friends, relatives or enemies consist of duality, in which one feels happy and distressed on the basis of illusion. The living entity is actually a spiritual soul who is part and parcel of God and has nothing to do with relationships in the world of duality. Therefore Nārada Muni advised Citraketu not to lament for his so-called dead son.
After hearing instructions from their dead child, Citraketu and his wife could understand that all relationships in this material world are causes of misery. The queens who had administered poison to the son of Kṛtadyuti were very much ashamed. They atoned for the sinful act of killing a child and gave up their aspiration to have sons. Thereafter. Nārada Muni chanted prayers to Nārāyaṇa, who exists as catur-vyūha, and instructed Citraketu about the Supreme Lord, who creates, maintains and annihilates everything and who is the master of the material nature. After instructing King Citraketu in this way, he returned to Brahmaloka. These instructions about the Absolute Truth are called the mahā-vidyā. After being initiated by Nārada Muni, King Citraketu chanted the mahā-vidyā, and after one week he attained the presence of Lord Sańkarṣaṇa, who was surrounded by the four Kumāras. The Lord was nicely dressed in bluish garments, with a helmet and ornaments of gold. His face appeared very happy. In the presence of Lord Sańkarṣaṇa, Citraketu offered his obeisances and began to offer prayers.
In his prayers, Citraketu said that millions of universes rest in the pores of Sańkarṣaṇa, who is limitless, having no beginning and end. The Lord is well known to the devotees for His eternity. The difference between worshiping the Lord and worshiping the demigods is that the worshiper of the Lord also becomes eternal, whereas whatever benedictions one can get from the demigods are impermanent. Unless one becomes a devotee, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
After Citraketu finished his prayers, the unlimited Supreme Lord explained knowledge of Himself to Citraketu.
6.16.1
samparetaḿ nṛpātmajam
darśayitveti hovāca
(1) The son of Vyâsa said: 'The devarishi oh King, then brought the deceased son of the king [who was called Harshas'oka, or 'jubilation and lamentation'] before the mind's eye of the lamenting relatives and addressed him.
6.16.2
suhṛdo bāndhavās taptāḥ
(2) S'rî Nârada said: 'Oh living soul, all good fortune to you, behold your mother, father, friends and relatives who, lamenting over you, are greatly distressed.
6.16.3
adhitiṣṭha nṛpāsanam
(3) To complete your life you may reenter your body and in the midst of your kin enjoy all pleasures of life in accepting the award of your father's royal throne.'
6.16.4
pitaro mātaro 'bhavan
karmabhir bhrāmyamāṇasya
(4) The individual soul said: 'In which of all those births wherein I because of my karma have been wandering among the gods, the animals and the human beings, were these people here my father and mother?
This time the living entity was supposed to have been the son of Mahārāja Citraketu and Queen Kṛtadyuti because according to the laws of nature he had entered a body made by the King and Queen. Actually, however, he was not their son. The living entity is the son of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because he wants to enjoy this material world, the Supreme Lord gives him a chance to enter various bodies. The living entity has no true relationship with the material body he gets from his material father and mother. He is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, but he is allowed to go through different bodies. The body created by the so-called father and mother actually has nothing to do with its so-called creators. Therefore the living entity flatly denied that Mahārāja Citraketu and his wife were his father and mother.
6.16.5
mitrodāsīna-vidviṣaḥ
(5) In the course of time eventually all people become each other's friends, family members, enemies, neutrals, well-wishers, indifferent or envious ones [compare B.G. 3: 27].
It is our practical experience in this material world that the same person who is one's friend today becomes one's enemy tomorrow. Our relationships as friends or enemies, family men or outsiders, are actually the results of our different dealings. Citraketu Mahārāja was lamenting for his son, who was now dead, but he could have considered the situation otherwise. "This living entity," he could have thought, "was my enemy in my last life, and now, having appeared as my son, he is prematurely leaving just to give me pain and agony." Why should he not consider his dead son his former enemy and instead of lamenting be jubilant because of an enemy's death? As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27), prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ: factually everything is happening because of our association with the modes of material nature. Therefore one who is my friend today in association with the mode of goodness may be my enemy tomorrow in association with the modes of passion and ignorance. As the modes of material nature work, in illusion we accept others as friends, enemies, sons or fathers in terms of the reactions of different dealings under different conditions.
6.16.6
hemādīni tatas tataḥ
paryaṭanti nareṣv evaḿ
(6) Just as means of exchange like gold pass from one person to the other, the same way the individual soul passes through different species of life by different fathers [see also B.G. 2: 22].
6.16.7
nityasyārthasya sambandho
(7) One always sees that the ties one has in human society with matters [like money or the other sex] are temporary; as long as one relates to it one claims ownership.
Aside from the fact that the soul transmigrates from one body to another, even in this life the relationships between living entities are impermanent, as exemplified in this verse. The son of Citraketu was named Harṣaśoka, or "jubilation and lamentation." The living entity is certainly eternal, but because he is covered by a temporary dress, the body, his eternity is not observed. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraḿ yauvanaḿ jarā: [Bg. 2.13] "The embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age." Thus the bodily dress is impermanent. The living entity, however, is permanent. As an animal is transferred from one owner to another, the living entity who was the son of Citraketu lived as his son for some time, but as soon as he was transferred to another body, the affectionate relationship was broken. As stated in the example given in the previous verse, when one has a commodity in his hands he considers it his, but as soon as it is transferred it becomes someone else's commodity. Then one no longer has a relationship with it; he has no affection for it, nor does he lament for it.
6.16.8
sa nityo nirahańkṛtaḥ
yāvad yatropalabhyeta
(8) So too the eternal, individual soul identifies himself in a certain birth with his body for as long as he is situated in it, even though he actually has no specific material identity.
6.16.9
eṣa sarvāśrayaḥ svadṛk
ātmamāyā-guṇair viśvam
(9) This living entity is [factually] eternal, imperishable and most subtle, it constitutes the self-effulgence of all the different embodiments, the master who manifests himself as this material world by means of the gunas [see also 4.29: 29].
In this verse the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda — simultaneous oneness and difference — is described. The living entity is eternal (nitya) like the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the difference is that the Supreme Lord is the greatest, no one being equal to or greater than Him, whereas the living entity is sūkṣma, or extremely small. The śāstra describes that the magnitude of the living entity is one ten-thousandth the size of the tip of a hair. The Supreme Lord is all-pervading (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham). Relatively, if the living entity is accepted as the smallest, there should naturally be inquiry about the greatest. The greatest is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the smallest is the living entity.Another peculiar characteristic of the jīva is that he becomes covered by māyā. Ātmamāyā-guṇaiḥ: he is prone to being covered by the Supreme Lord's illusory energy. The living entity is responsible for his conditional life in the material world, and therefore he is described as prabhu ("the master"). If he likes he can come to this material world, and if he likes he can return home, back to Godhead. Because he wanted to enjoy this material world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead gave him a material body through the agency of the material energy. As the Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.61):
īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāḿ
hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati
yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy." The Supreme Lord gives the living entity a chance to enjoy in this material world as he desires, but He openly expresses His own desire that the living entity give up all material aspirations, fully surrender unto Him and return home, back to Godhead.The living entity is the smallest (sūkṣma). Jīva Gosvāmī says in this connection that the living entity within the body is extremely difficult for materialistic scientists to find, although we understand from authorities that the living entity is within the body. The body is different from the living entity.
6.16.10
(10) It is not of like and dislike or of mine and thine. It is the one witness to the different sorts of intelligence and performers of good and bad deeds [see also B.G. 9: 29].
6.16.11
udāsīnavad āsīnaḥ
(11) The [original] soul is not of the happiness and harm resulting from fruitive actions; perfectly neutral residing in the heart he is the Lord overseeing cause and effect [B.G. 2: 47].'
Mahārāja Citraketu was advised that remaining neutral in such trying circumstances as the death of one's son is impossible. Nevertheless, since the Lord knows how to adjust everything, the best course is to depend upon Him and do one's duty in devotional service to the Lord. In all circumstances, one should be undisturbed by duality. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.47):
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." One should execute one's devotional duty, and for the results of one's actions one should depend upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
6.16.12
ity udīrya gato jīvo
chittvātma-sneha-śṛńkhalām
(12) The son of Vyâsa continued: 'Thus having spoken the living soul went away. His relatives, astonished [about what he had said], then cut the bond of their affection for him and gave up their lamentation.
6.16.13
nirhṛtya jñātayo jñāter
tatyajur dustyajaḿ snehaḿ
(13) The difficult to forsake affection that leads to lamentation, illusion, fear and distress, was by the family of the son given up when they with the performance of the proper rites removed the body.
6.16.14
(14) Oh King Parîkchit, those who had killed the child were, bereft of their bodily luster, very ashamed of having murdered the boy. Remembering what the brahmin [Angirâ] had stated, they performed according to the directions of the priests at the river the Yamunâ the atonement for having killed the baby.
In this verse the word bāla-hatyā-hata-prabhāḥ is to be particularly noted. The practice of killing children has existed in human society for a long time — since time immemorial — but in the days of yore it was very rarely performed. At the present moment, however, in this age of Kali, abortion — killing of the child within the womb — has become very common, and sometimes a child is even killed after birth. If a woman performs such an abominable act, she gradually loses all her bodily luster (bāla-hatyā-hata-prabhāḥ). It is also to be noted that the ladies who had committed the sinful act of administering poison to the child were very much ashamed, and according to the directions of the brāhmaṇas, they had to undergo atonement for killing the child. Any woman who has ever performed such an infamously sinful act must atone for it, but no one now is doing that. Under the circumstances, the women responsible must suffer in this life and the next. Those who are sincere souls, after hearing this incident, should refrain from such child-killing and should atone for their sinful activities by taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness very seriously. If one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra without offenses, all of one's sinful actions are surely atoned for immediately, but one should not commit such deeds again, for that is an offense.
6.16.15
citraketur dvijoktibhiḥ
gṛhāndha-kūpān niṣkrāntaḥ
(15) Citraketu, spiritually awakened by the words of the two brahmin souls, thus emerged liberated from the dark well of his familial attachment the way an elephant emerges from a mud pool.
6.16.16
(16) After taking a bath in the Yamunâ as was prescribed and piously performing oblations of water while controlling his mind and senses with gravity, he offered the two sons of Brahmâ his obeisances.
6.16.17
bhaktāya prayatātmane
(17) Bhagavân Nârada who was very pleased with him being such a surrendered devotee in control of himself, next, as he had promised, disclosed the following knowledge [of the Lord in the form of a prayer].
6.16.18-19
pradyumnāyāniruddhāya
ātmārāmāya śāntāya
(18-19) 'Oh my Lord, my obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord Vâsudeva. Let me meditate upon Pradyumna [the Lord of intelligence], Aniruddha [the Lord of the mind] and Sankarshana [the Lord of the ego, see also 4.24: 35-37]. All my respects for the full manifestation of wisdom, the embodiment of supreme bliss who is the Self of delight and peace whose vision is turned away from the dual world.
As confirmed in the Brahma-saḿhitā, all these forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are advaita, nondifferent, and they are also acyuta, infallible; they do not fall down like the conditioned souls. The ordinary living entity is prone to falling into the clutches of māyā, but the Supreme Lord in His different incarnations and forms is acyuta, infallible. Therefore His body is different from the material body possessed by the conditioned soul.
The word mātrā is explained in the Medinī dictionary as follows: mātrā karṇa-vibhūṣāyāḿ vitte māne paricchade. The word mātrā, in its different imports, is used to indicate the decoration of the ear, possession, respect, and the possession of a covering. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14):
mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
āgamāpāyino 'nityās
tāḿs titikṣasva bhārata
"O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." In the conditioned state of life, the body is used as our dress, and as one needs different dresses during the summer and winter, we conditioned souls are changing bodies according to our desires. However, because the body of the Supreme Lord is full of knowledge, it needs no covering. The idea that Kṛṣṇa's body is like ours — in other words, that His body and soul are different — is a misunderstanding. There are no such differences for Kṛṣṇa, because His body is full of knowledge. Here we receive material bodies because of a lack of knowledge, but because Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, is full of knowledge, there is no difference between His body and His soul. Kṛṣṇa remembers what He said forty million years ago to the sun-god, but an ordinary being cannot remember what he said the day before yesterday. This is the difference between Kṛṣṇa's body and our body. Therefore the Lord is addressed as vijñāna-mātrāya paramānanda-mūrtaye.Because the Lord's body is full of knowledge, He always enjoys transcendental bliss. Indeed, His very form is paramānanda. This is confirmed in the Vedānta-sūtra: ānandamayo'bhyāsāt. By nature the Lord is ānandamaya. Whenever we see Kṛṣṇa, He is always full of ānanda in all circumstances. No one can make Him morose. Ātmārāmāya: He does not need to search for external enjoyment, because He is self-sufficient. Śāntāya: He has no anxiety. One who has to seek pleasure from other sources is always full of anxiety. Karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs are full of anxiety because they want something, but a devotee does not want anything; he is simply satisfied in the service of the Lord, who is fully blissful.
Nivṛtta-dvaita-dṛṣṭaye: in our conditioned life our bodies have different parts, but although Kṛṣṇa apparently has different bodily parts, no part of His body is different from any other part. Kṛṣṇa can see with His eyes, and Kṛṣṇa can see without His eyes. Therefore in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad it is said, paśyaty acakṣuḥ. He can see with His hands and legs. He does not need a particular bodily part to perform a particular action. Ańgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti: He can do anything He desires with any part of His body, and therefore He is called almighty.
6.16.20
ātmānandānubhūtyaiva
(20) The waves of the material ocean calm down by the realization of Your personal bliss. My reverences unto the Supreme Controller of the Senses; my respects for You whose expansions are unlimited.
This verse analytically differentiates the living entity from the Supreme Lord. The form of the Lord and the form of the conditioned soul are different because the Lord is always blissful whereas the conditioned soul is always under the threefold miseries of the material world. The Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. He derives ānanda, bliss, from His own self. The Lord's body is transcendental, spiritual, but because the conditioned soul has a material body, he has many bodily and mental troubles. The conditioned soul is always perturbed by attachment and detachment, whereas the Supreme Lord is always free from such dualities. The Lord is the supreme master of all the senses, whereas the conditioned soul is controlled by the senses. The Lord is the greatest, whereas the living entity is the smallest. The living entity is conditioned by the waves of material nature, but the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all actions and reactions. The expansions of the Supreme Lord's body are innumerable (advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33]), but the conditioned soul is limited to only one form. From history we learn that a conditioned soul, by mystic power, can sometimes expand into eight forms, but the Lord's bodily expansions are unlimited. This means that the bodies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead have no beginning and no end, unlike the bodies of the living entities.
6.16.21
(21) May He, the One without a second who, being completely spiritual, cannot be expressed in words, be caught in a form or be comprehended by the mind, may He who is transcendental to cause and effect, protect us.
6.16.22
yasminn idaḿ yataś cedaḿ
mṛṇmayeṣv iva mṛj-jātis
(22) The way all pottery is created from earth, consisting of earth and returning to earth, everything is born from Him, existing by Him and vanishing in Him. Him, the Supreme Brahman [the Absolute Truth] I offer my obeisances.
6.16.23
mano-buddhīndriyāsavaḥ
(23) I bow before Him who, having expanded outside and inside as vast as the sky, by the mind, the intelligence, the senses and the life airs cannot be touched or known.
6.16.24
naivānyadā lauham ivāprataptaḿ
(24) The body, the senses, the life air, the mind and intelligence are all parts that are penetrated [by the supporting, connecting and ruling principle of Brahman]; they, just like iron that [cannot be forged if it] is not heated, without that support cannot engage in activities and acquire the status of a[n independent] seer.
Red-hot iron can burn, but it cannot burn the original fire. Therefore the consciousness of the small particle of Brahman is fully dependent on the power of the Supreme Brahman. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca: [Bg. 15.15] "From Me the conditioned soul receives memory, knowledge and forgetfulness." The power for activities comes from the Supreme Lord, and when the Lord withdraws this power, the conditioned soul no longer has energy with which to act through his various senses. The body includes five knowledge-acquiring senses, five active senses and the mind, but actually these are merely lumps of matter. For example, the brain is nothing but matter, but when electrified by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the brain can act, just as iron can burn when made red-hot by the influence of fire. The brain can act while we are awake or even while we are dreaming, but when we are fast asleep or unconscious the brain is inactive. Since the brain is a lump of matter, it does not have independent power with which to act. It can act only when favored by the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Brahman or Parabrahman. This is the way to understand how the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, is present everywhere, just as the sunshine is present because of the sun-god in the sun globe. The Supreme Lord is called Hṛṣīkeśa; He is the only conductor of the senses. Unless empowered by His energy, our senses cannot act. In other words, He is the only seer, the only worker, the only listener, and the only active principle or supreme controller.
6.16.25
oḿ namo bhagavate mahā-puruṣāya mahānubhāvāya mahā-vibhūti-pataye sakala-sātvata-parivṛḍha-nikara-kara-kamala-kuḍmalopalālita-caraṇāravinda-yugala parama-parameṣṭhin namas te
(25) My obeisances unto You my Lord, oh Supreme Personality, most perfect Supersoul and master of all mystic powers whose feet are embraced and caressed by the multitude of lotus bud hands of the topmost devotees. All my respects for You who are situated in the highest position.'
It is said that the Absolute Truth is one, but is manifested in different features as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. The previous verses described the Brahman and Paramātmā features of the Absolute Truth. Now this prayer is offered in bhakti-yoga to the Absolute Supreme Person. The words used in this regard are sakala-sātvata-parivṛḍha. The word sātvata means "devotees," and sakala means "all together." The devotees, who also have lotus feet, serve the lotus feet of the Lord with their lotus hands. The devotees may sometimes not be competent to serve the lotus feet of the Lord, and therefore the Lord is addressed as parama-parameṣṭhin. He is the Supreme Person, yet He is very kind to the devotees. No one is competent to serve the Lord, but even if a devotee is not competent, the merciful Lord accepts the humble attempt of the devotee.
6.16.26
bhaktāyaitāḿ prapannāya
(26) S'rî S'uka said: 'After Nârada had imparted the knowledge to this fully surrendered devotee, he together with Angirâ left for the abode of Brahmâ oh King.
6.16.27
(27) Citraketu then chanted with great concentration and only drinking water, for one week the prayer that was communicated by Nârada.
6.16.28
vidyādharādhipatyaḿ ca
(28) Strictly keeping to the instructions he, by carefully practicing these prayers, after these seven days and nights achieved the mastery of the Vidyâdharas ['the ones founded in knowledge'] oh ruler of man.
6.16.29
tataḥ katipayāhobhir
śeṣasya caraṇāntikam
(29) By dint of that spiritual exercise for his mind he, having found the enlightened course, thus in a few days only reached the shelter of the lotus feet of the God of all gods, Lord S'esha [Anantadeva or Sankarshana, see 5.25].
A karmī's material opulence and a devotee's material opulence are not on the same level. Śrīla Madhvācārya comments in this way:
anyāntaryāmiṇaḿ viṣṇum
upāsyānya-samīpagaḥ
bhaved yogyatayā tasya
By worshiping Lord Viṣṇu one can get whatever he desires, but a pure devotee never asks Lord Viṣṇu for any material profit. Instead he serves Lord Viṣṇu without material desires and is therefore ultimately transferred to the spiritual kingdom. In this regard, Śrīla Vīrarāghava Ācārya comments, yatheṣṭa-gatir ity arthaḥ: by worshiping Viṣṇu, a devotee can get whatever he likes. Mahārāja Citraketu wanted only to return home, back to Godhead, and therefore he achieved success in that way.6.16.30
(30) He saw Him, his Master and Controller, with His smiling lotus face, reddish eyes and skin as fair as a white lotus. Clad in blue silk and with a glittering helmet, armlets, a belt and bangles, He was situated in the midst of His most perfect devotees.
6.16.31
svasthāmalāntaḥkaraṇo 'bhyayān muniḥ
(31) The sight of Him destroyed all his sins so that he, contented and pure at heart, could approach Him like a full-blown bhakta. Moved from within by love he with tears in his eyes and his hairs standing on end, offered the Original Personality of God his obeisances.
6.16.32
premāśru-leśair upamehayan muhuḥ
premoparuddhākhila-varṇa-nirgamo
(32) He at the lotus feet of the Lord of the Verses, wetted that resting place with his tear drops over and over and was, because his voice was choked by his love, for a long time unable to utter a single letter of the alphabet and offer prayers.
idaḿ hi puḿsas tapasaḥ śrutasya vā
avicyuto 'rthaḥ kavibhir nirūpito
yad uttamaśloka-guṇānuvarṇanam
If one has scientific, philosophical, political, economic or any other abilities and wants perfection in his knowledge, he should offer prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead by composing first-class poetry or engaging his talents in the service of the Lord. Citraketu wanted to do this, but he was unable because of loving ecstasy. Therefore he had to wait for a considerable time before be could offer prayers.6.16.33
(33) By intelligently controlling his mind and the senses that are lead by the external world, this king recovered his speech and then addressed the personification of devotional service and the scriptures, the teacher of all.
6.16.34
citraketur uvāca
(34) Citraketu said: 'Oh Unconquerable One, You are conquered by those who are of self-control. You give Yourself in utter compassion to those devotees, who as surrendered souls were conquered by You and always sing Your glories with minds free from desire.
Pure devotees are described as sama-mati, which means that they never deviate from devotional service under any circumstances. It is not that devotees worship the Supreme Lord only when happy; they worship Him even when in distress. Happiness and distress do not hamper the process of devotional service. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that devotional service is ahaituky apratihatā, unmotivated and uninterrupted. When a devotee offers devotional service to the Lord without any motive (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11], his service cannot be hampered by any material condition (apratihatā). Thus a devotee who offers service in all conditions of life can conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
A special distinction between devotees and the other transcendentalists, namely the jñānīs and yogīs, is that jñānīs and yogīs artificially try to become one with the Supreme, whereas devotees never aspire for such an impossible accomplishment. Devotees know that their position is to be eternally servants of the Supreme Lord and never to be one with Him. Therefore they are called sama-mati or jitātmā. They detest oneness with the Supreme. They have no lusty desires for oneness; instead, their desire is to be freed from all material hankering. Therefore they are called niṣkāma, desireless. A living entity cannot exist without desires, but desires that can never be fulfilled are called kāma, lusty desires. Kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ: [Bg. 7.20] because of lusty desires, nondevotees are deprived of their intelligence. Thus they are unable to conquer the Supreme Lord, whereas devotees, being freed from such unreasonable desires, can conquer the Lord. Such devotees are also conquered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they are pure, being free from all material desires, they fully surrender to the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord conquers them. Such devotees never aspire for liberation. They simply desire to serve the lotus feet of the Lord. Because they serve the Lord without desires for remuneration, they can conquer the mercy of the Lord. The Lord is by nature very merciful, and when He sees that His servant is working without desires for material profit, naturally He is conquered.
6.16.35
(35) Supposing their separate existence the creators of this universe who are [only] a part of a part of You, in vain compete with each other for Your dominion that consists of the creation, maintenance and dissolution of this cosmic manifestation, oh Supreme Lord.
6.16.36
(36) Without Yourself having a beginning, an in between or an end, You from the smallest material unit to the complete of the universal manifestation have Your existence in the beginning, in the end and in between; that which is constant in the beginning and in the end is there also in the middle of the existence of all.
advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
"I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Kṛṣṇa], who is the original person — absolute, infallible, without beginning, although expanded into unlimited forms, still the same original, the oldest, and the person always appearing as a fresh youth. Such eternal, blissful, all-knowing forms of the Lord cannot be understood even by the best Vedic scholars, but they are always manifest to pure, unalloyed devotees." The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no cause, for He is the cause of everything. The Lord is beyond the workings of cause and effect. He is eternally existing. In another verse the Brahma-saḿhitā says, aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham: the Lord exists within the gigantic universe and within the atom. The descent of the Lord into the atom and the universe indicates that without His presence, nothing could factually exist. Scientists say that water is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, but when they see a vast ocean they are puzzled about where such a quantity of hydrogen and oxygen could have come from. They think that everything evolved from chemicals, but where did the chemicals come from? That they do not know. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of all causes, He can produce immense quantities of chemicals to create a situation for chemical evolution. We actually see that chemicals are produced from living entities. For example, a lemon tree produces many tons of citric acid. The citric acid is not the cause of the tree; rather, the tree is the cause of the acid. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of everything. He is the cause of the tree that produces the citric acid (bījaḿ māḿ sarva-bhūtānām). Devotees can see that the original potencies causing the cosmic manifestation are not in chemicals but in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He is the cause of the chemicals.
Everything is caused or manifested by the energy of the Supreme Lord, and when everything is annihilated or dissolved, the original potency enters the body of the Supreme Lord. Therefore this verse says, ādāv ante 'pi ca sattvānāḿ yad dhruvaḿ tad evāntarāle 'pi. The word dhruvam means "permanent." The permanent reality is Kṛṣṇa, not this cosmic manifestation. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, aham ādir hi devānām and mattaḥ sarvaḿ pravartate: Kṛṣṇa is the original cause of everything. Arjuna recognized Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the original person (puruṣaḿ śāśvataḿ divyam ādi-devam ajaḿ vibhum), and the Brahma-saḿhitā describes Him as the original person (govindam ādi-puruṣam). He is the cause of all causes, whether at the beginning, at the end or in the middle.
6.16.37
(37) This egg shaped universe consisting of the seven layers of the earth element and the rest, each of which measures the tenfold of the preceding one [see 3.26: 52], is but insignificant compared to the millions of such universes that exist in the cosmos. Therefore You are [called] unlimited.
6.16.38
(38) Eager to enjoy like animals, man worships only parts of You [the demigods] but not the Supreme of You, oh Controller. The benedictions they bring are finished when their end is reached, just as it is with politicians [B.G. 7: 20-23, S.B. 2.3: 10].
The Brahma-saḿhitā (5.48) says:yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
The origin of the material creation is Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies in the Causal Ocean. While He sleeps in that ocean, millions of universes are generated as He exhales, and they are all annihilated when He inhales. This Mahā-Viṣṇu is a plenary portion of a portion of Viṣṇu, Govinda (yasya kalā-viśeṣaḥ). The word kalā refers to a plenary portion of a plenary portion. From Kṛṣṇa, or Govinda, comes Balarāma; from Balarāma comes Sańkarṣaṇa; from Sańkarṣaṇa, Nārāyaṇa; from Nārāyaṇa, the second Sańkarṣaṇa; from the second Sańkarṣaṇa, Mahā-Viṣṇu; from Mahā-Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu; and from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu controls every universe. This gives an idea of the meaning of ananta, unlimited. What is to be said of the unlimited potency and existence of the Lord? This verse describes the coverings of the universe (saptabhir daśa-guṇottarair aṇḍa-kośaḥ). The first covering is earth, the second is water, the third is fire, the fourth is air, the fifth is sky, the sixth is the total material energy, and the seventh is the false ego. Beginning with the covering of earth, each covering is ten times greater than the previous one. Thus we can only imagine how great each universe is, and there are many millions of universes.
6.16.39
jñānātmany aguṇamaye
(39) A mind ruled by lust [the lesser god] does, just like fried seed, not lead to growth and healing in You oh Supreme One. But in the full knowledge of Your Supreme Self a person is not affected by the network of the modes and the duality of their material qualities [compare B.G. 4: 9].
6.16.40
niṣkiñcanā ye munaya
(40) They who on the path of liberation are of worship were conquered by You, oh Unconquerable One, when You [as their teacher] spoke about the process of devotional service. They are the faultless ones who do not crave for material happiness, they are the great sages satisfied from within [see also 1.2: 6].
6.16.41
(41) Engaged a different way [in demigod worship] one lacks in consciousness and arrives in human society thus at the 'I' and 'mine' and the 'me' and 'you' [of the false ego]. In approaches other than Yours one is as a result of the deviating vision impure in one's conduct, time bound and full of adharma [compare B.G. 18: 66].
6.16.42
(42) In what sense is it beneficial for oneself, for others, or for whatever purpose to be turned against oneself [one's own body] or against others in one's religiosity? Such a practice of human self-betrayal raises Your anger, torments one's fellow man and contravenes the dharma [see B.G. 16: 17, 17: 19 and S.B. 1.2: 8].
ahańkāraḿ balaḿ darpaḿ
pradviṣanto 'bhyasūyakāḥ
saḿsāreṣu narādhamān
"Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demon becomes envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in his own body and in the bodies of others, and blasphemes against the real religion. Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life." (Bg. 16.18-19) These persons are condemned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as indicated by the words tava kopaḥ. A person who commits murder is envious of himself and also the person he has killed, for the result of committing murder is that he will be arrested and hanged. If one transgresses the laws of a man-made government, he may escape being killed by the state, but one cannot escape the laws of God. A killer of any animal must be killed in his next life by the same animal. This is the law of nature. One must follow the instructions of the Supreme Lord: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja [Bg. 18.66]. If one follows any other system of religion, he is subject to punishment by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in many different ways. Therefore if one follows a concocted system of religion, he is envious not only of others but also of himself. Consequently his system of religion is useless.Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8) says:
dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puḿsāḿ
"Duties (dharma) executed by men, regardless of occupation, are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Supreme Lord." Following a system of religion that does not awaken one's Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or God consciousness, is merely a waste of time and labor.
6.16.43
na vyabhicarati tavekṣā
(43) Your view defining the process of devotional service is free from inconsistencies. They who following that course are equal towards all living beings whether they move or not move, is certainly a civilized person [an Âryan].
kaumāra ācaret prājño
(Bhāg. 7.6.1)
Prahlāda Mahārāja preached bhāgavata-dharma among his classmates as soon as an opportunity was afforded by the absence of his teachers from the classroom. He said that from the very beginning of life, from the age of five, children should be instructed about bhāgavata-dharma because the human form of life, which is very rarely obtained, is meant for understanding this subject.
Bhāgavata-dharma means living according to the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gītā we find that the Supreme Lord has arranged human society in four social divisions, namely brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. Again, the Purāṇas and other Vedic literatures set forth four āśramas, which are the divisions of spiritual life. Therefore bhāgavata-dharma means the varṇāśrama-dharma of the four social and four spiritual divisions.
The members of human society who strictly follow the principles of bhāgavata-dharma and live according to the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called Āryans or ārya. A civilization of Āryans who strictly follow the instructions of the Lord and never deviate from those instructions is perfect. Such civilized men do not discriminate between trees, animals, human beings and other living entities. paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ: [Bg. 5.18] because they are completely educated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they see all living beings equally. Āryans do not kill even a small plant unnecessarily, not to speak of cutting trees for sense gratification. At the present moment, throughout the world, killing is prominent. Men are killing trees, they are killing animals, and they are killing other human beings also, all for sense gratification. This is not an Āryan civilization. As stated here, sthira-cara-sattva-kadambeṣv apṛthag-dhiyaḥ. The word apṛthag-dhiyaḥ indicates that Āryans do not distinguish between lower and higher grades of life. All life should be protected. All living beings have a right to live, even the trees and plants. This is the basic principle of an Āryan civilization. Apart from the lower living entities, those who have come to the platform of human civilization should be divided into a society of brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras. The brāhmaṇas should follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as stated in Bhagavad-gītā and other Vedic literatures. The criterion must be guṇa and karma. In other words, one should acquire the qualities of a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra and act accordingly. This is the civilization accepted by the Āryans. Why do they accept it? They accept it because they are very much eager to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. This is perfect civilization.
Āryans do not deviate from the instructions of Kṛṣṇa, nor do they have doubts about Kṛṣṇa, but non-Āryans and other demoniac people fail to follow the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is because they have been trained in sense gratification at the cost of all other living entities. Nūnaḿ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma: [SB 5.5.4] their only business is to indulge in all kinds of forbidden activities for sense gratification. Yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti: they deviate in this way because they want to gratify their senses. They have no other occupation or ambition. Their method of civilization is condemned in the previous verse. Kaḥ kṣemo nija-parayoḥ kiyān vārthaḥ sva-para-druhā dharmeṇa: "What is the meaning of a civilization that kills oneself and others?"
This verse, therefore, advises that everyone become a member of the Āryan civilization and accept the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should conduct his social, political and religious affairs according to His instructions. We are spreading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to try to establish a society the way that Kṛṣṇa wants it. This is the meaning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are therefore presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is and kicking out all kinds of mental concoction. Fools and rascals interpret Bhagavad-gītā in their own way. When Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māḿ namaskuru [Bg. 18.65] — "Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me" — they comment that it is not Kṛṣṇa to whom we must surrender. Thus they derive imaginary meanings from Bhagavad-gītā. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, however, strictly follows bhāgavata-dharma, the instructions of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the complete welfare of human society. One who misinterprets Bhagavad-gītā, twisting out some meaning for his sense gratification, is a non-Āryan.
6.16.44
(44) This absence of internal conflict in You oh my Lord, puts an end to the sins of anyone who sees You [Your devotees and Your book] before his eyes. Only but once hearing Your name forthwith delivers even the lowest among man from the misery of material existence.
harer nāma harer nāma
[Adi 17.21]
"In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way." (Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu introduced this chanting of the holy name five hundred years ago, and now through the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, we are actually seeing that men who are considered to belong to the lowest class are being delivered from all sinful activities simply by hearing the holy name of the Lord. Saḿsāra, material existence, is a result of sinful actions. Everyone in this material world is condemned, yet as there are different grades of prisoners, there are different grades of men. All of them, in all statuses of life, are suffering. To stop the suffering of material existence, one must take to the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement of sańkīrtana or Kṛṣṇa conscious life.Herein it is said, yan-nāma sakṛc chravaṇāt: the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so powerful that if once heard without offenses, it can purify the lowest of men (kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśāḥ). Such men, who are called caṇḍālas, are less than śūdras, but they also can be purified simply by hearing the holy name of the Lord, not to speak of personally seeing the Lord. From our present position, the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be personally seen as the Deity in the temple. The Deity of the Lord is not different from the Supreme Lord. Because we cannot see the Supreme Lord with our present blunt eyes, the Lord has kindly consented to come before us in a form we can see. Therefore the Deity in the temple should not be considered material. By offering food to the Deity and by decorating and serving the Deity, one gets the same result that one derives from serving the Lord personally in Vaikuṇṭha.
6.16.45
(45) Seeing You now here before us oh Supreme Lord, has removed the contaminations from our mind. Why would it be different from what the great rishi of enlightenment [Nârada], Your devotee has said?
6.16.46
tava jagad-ātmano janair ihācaritam
(46) O Unlimited one, You as the Supersoul of all the world, know everything that each living entity does out here. What we know compares to the light of fireflies relative to the sun of You as our teacher of transcendence.
6.16.47
duravasitātma-gataye
kuyogināḿ bhidā paramahaḿsāya
(47) All obeisances unto You oh Lordship of the persistence, the ending and creation of the universe. The position of You as the transcendental swan, the ascetic of the highest order, is beyond the ken of those who unify in a false notion, a material notion of independence.
6.16.48
(48) The senses gathering knowledge perceive in pursuance of Your perception and they who endeavor to rule the universe do so to the example of Your endeavoring. Let there be my obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord with the thousands of hoods, by whom the gigantic universe You carry on a single hood, appears [as insignificant as] a mustard seed.'
6.16.49
vidyādhara-patiḿ prītaś
(49) S'rî S'ukadeva said: 'Oh best of the Kurus, the Supreme Lord Ananta Deva very pleased about thus being worshiped by Citraketu the king of the Vidyâdharas, then replied.
6.16.50
vyāhṛtaḿ me 'nuśāsanam
(50) The Supreme Lord said: 'From directly seeing Me and from the worship with the prayer that Nârada and Angirâ have disclosed to you, you now have attained perfection oh King.
The perfection of life is to be spiritually educated and to understand the existence of the Lord and how He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic manifestation. When one is perfect in knowledge, he can develop his love of Godhead through the association of such perfect persons as Nārada and Ańgirā and the members of their disciplic succession. Then one is able to see the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Although the Lord is unlimited, by His causeless mercy He becomes visible to the devotee, who is then able to see Him. In our present position of conditioned life we cannot see or understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
"No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him." (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234) If one takes to spiritual life under the direction of Nārada Muni or his representative and thus engages himself in the service of the Lord, he qualifies himself to see the Lord face to face. The Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38) states:premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
"I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara situated within the heart of the devotee." One must follow the instructions of the spiritual master. Thus one becomes qualified and later sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as evinced by Mahārāja Citraketu.
6.16.51
(51) I as the Supersoul of all, as the cause of the manifestation, have expanded in different forms and exist in both the eternal forms of the spiritual sound vibrations and the Supreme Brahman [compare B.G. 7: 4-5].
The essence of knowledge is that there are two kinds of vastu, or substances, One is real, and the other, being illusory or temporary, is sometimes called nonfactual. One must consider these two kinds of existence. The real tattva, or truth, consists of Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.11):
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
brahmeti paramātmeti
"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān." The Absolute Truth exists eternally in three features. Therefore, Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān combined are the substance.The categories of emanations from the nonsubstance are two — activities and forbidden activities (karma and vikarma). Karma refers to the pious life or material activities performed during the day and the mental activities of dreams at night. These are more or less desired activities. Vikarma, however, refers to illusory activities, which are something like the will-o'-the-wisp. These are activities that have no meaning. For example, modern scientists imagine that life can be produced from chemical combinations, and they are very busy trying to prove this in laboratories throughout the world, although no one in history has been able to produce the substance of life from material combinations. Such activities are called vikarma.
6.16.52
(52) The living entity expanded into the world and the world expanded within the living entity. These two [the world and the living entity] are pervaded by Me as also made by Me [compare B.G. 9: 4].
The Māyāvāda philosophy sees everything as being equal in quality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the Supreme Brahman, and therefore sees everything as worshipable. This dangerous theory of the Māyāvāda school has turned people in general toward atheism. On the strength of this theory, one thinks that he is God, but this is not a fact. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (mayā tatam idaḿ sarvaḿ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā), the fact is that the entire cosmic manifestation is an expansion of the Supreme Lord's energies, which are manifested in the physical elements and the living entities. The living entities wrongly consider the physical elements to be resources meant for their enjoyment, and they think themselves to be the enjoyers. However, neither of them is independent; they are both energies of the Lord. The original cause for the material energy and spiritual energy is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, although the expansion of the Lord's energies is the original cause, one should not think that the Lord Himself has expanded in different ways. To condemn the theories of the Māyāvādīs, the Lord clearly says in Bhagavad-gītā, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaḿ teṣv avasthitaḥ: "All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." Everything rests upon Him, and everything is but an expansion of His energies, but this does not mean that everything is as worshipable as the Lord Himself. The material expansion is temporary, but the Lord is not temporary. The living entities are parts of the Lord, but they are not the Lord Himself. The living entities in this material world are not inconceivable, but the Lord is. The theory that the Lord's energies, being expansions of the Lord, are as good as the Lord is mistaken.
6.16.53-54
yathā suṣuptaḥ puruṣo
evaḿ jāgaraṇādīni
(53-54) A person sleeping sees in his dream the entire world within himself, but upon awaking he finds himself lying down somewhere. Likewise one must consider the different states of consciousness and conditions of life of the living entities as manifestations of the illusory potency of the Self, knowing which one should always remember their Supreme Creator and Witness [see bhajan Radha Krishna Bol].
None of these conditions of the living entities — namely, deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness — is substantial. They are simply displays of various phases of conditional life. There may be many mountains, rivers, trees, bees, tigers and snakes that are situated far away, but in a dream one may imagine them to be nearby. Similarly, as one has subtle dreams at night, when the living entity is awake he lives in gross dreams of nation, community, society, possessions, skyscrapers, bank balance, position and honor. Under the circumstances, one should know that his position is due to his contact with the material world. One is situated in different positions in various forms of life that are all but creations of the illusory energy, which works under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate actor, and the conditioned living entity should simply remember this original actor, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As living entities, we are being carried away by the waves of prakṛti, or nature, which works under the Lord's direction (mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg. 9.10]). Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, (miche) māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese', khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi: "Why are you being carried away by the waves of the illusory energy in various phases of dreaming and wakefulness? These are all creations of māyā." Our only duty is to remember the supreme director of this illusory energy — Kṛṣṇa. For us to do this, the śāstra advises us, harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam [Adi 17.21]: one should constantly chant the holy name of the Lord
For self-realization, one should always remember Kṛṣṇa. As stated in Padma Purāṇa, smartavyaḥ satataḿ viṣṇuḥ: we should always remember Lord Viṣṇu. Vismartavyo na jātucit: we should never forget the Lord. This is the perfection of life.
6.16.55
(55) Know Me as that [all-pervading] Soul, as the Supreme Spirit free from the modes of matter by whom the sleeping [bewildered] person at that time is able to recognize what belongs to the dream and what to his happiness.
6.16.56
(56) When the person remembers [himself, his spirit soul, his jîva, as the one] joining both the states of consciousness of being asleep and being awake, he may reach beyond that spiritual knowledge and arrive at the Supreme Brahman [the knowing principle] that is transcendental.
6.16.57
yad etad vismṛtaḿ puḿso
dehād deho mṛter mṛtiḥ
(57) The living entity having forgotten about this spiritual nature of My position, leads because of that a materially conditioned life in separation from the Supersoul, because of which it wanders from one body to the next, from one death to another.
As soon as a living entity forgets his constitutional position and endeavors to become one with the Supreme, his conditional life begins. The conception that the Supreme Brahman and the living entity are equal not only in quality but also in quantity is the cause of conditional life. If one forgets the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entity, his conditional life begins. Conditional life means giving up one body to accept another and undergoing death to accept death again. The Māyāvādī philosopher teaches the philosophy of tat tvam asi, saying, "You are the same as God." He forgets that tat tvam asi applies in terms of the marginal position of the living entity, who is like sunshine. There is heat and light in the sun, and there is heat and light in the sunshine, and thus they are qualitatively one. But one should not forget that the sunshine rests on the sun. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham [Bg. 14.27]: "I am the original source of Brahman." The sunshine is important because of the presence of the sun globe. It is not that the sun globe is important because of the all-pervasiveness of the sunshine. Forgetfulness and misunderstanding of this fact is called māyā. Because of forgetfulness of one's constitutional position and that of the Supreme Lord, one comes into māyā, or saḿsāra
6.16.58
(58) Achieving in this world a human birth offers one the chance to arrive at self-realization with the [support of this] spiritual knowledge and wisdom, but they who fail to pick up that knowledge will never find peace and happiness.
6.16.59
smṛtvehāyāḿ parikleśaḿ
(59) Thinking of the trouble of toiling in this world and then achieving the opposite of what was intended - and then remembering how one is freed from fear by ridding oneself of one's desire for material things, one should, thus knowing better, desist from that [karmic] desire.
6.16.60
tato 'nivṛttir aprāptir
(60) Husband and wife [being materially motivated] perform activities for the sake of their happiness and to be free from misery, but these actions have no effect because they do not put an end to the [material] happiness and distress [that follow one another, see also B.G. 2: 14, 4: 20, 9: 31].
6.16.61-62
nṛṇāḿ vijñābhimāninām
dṛṣṭa-śrutābhir mātrābhir
(61-62) Those who consider themselves very smart but realize this way the opposite of what they wanted, find it extremely difficult to understand [too 'subtle' or hard to grasp] what it means to be of progress with the soul and [as a soul] to exist apart from the three states [of unconsciousness, sleep and waking]. Someone who personally experienced it or has understood it from listening to others, should, now he by dint of his own power of judgment in spiritual knowledge and wisdom has freed himself from materialism, with the resulting full satisfaction, become My devotee [*].
6.16.63
svārthaḥ sarvātmanā jñeyo
(63) The realization of the insight of this qualitative notion of the oneness of the [individual] soul and the transcendence [of the Lord], constitutes - all things considered - the ultimate goal of life for capable and intelligent human beings who unite in [bhakti-]yoga.
6.16.64
tvam etac chraddhayā rājann
apramatto vaco mama
(64) If you with faith, not concluding differently, accept these words of Mine oh King, you will soon find your perfection in the full [awareness] of spiritual knowledge and its wisdom [its practical application].'
6.16.65
citraketuḿ jagad-guruḥ
tataś cāntardadhe hariḥ
(65) S'rî S'uka said: 'After the Supreme Lord, the Teacher of the Universe, thus had assured Citraketu, He, Lord Hari, the Soul of All, disappeared from sight.'
*: The verse says that one, with the full satisfaction that is found in the realization one's independence as a soul, should become His devotee. This is the natural consequence of the connectedness of the jîva with the Supersoul, the continuity of Him as the Original Person of all divine qualities. In denial of this necessity to acknowledge His integrity, the load of the responsibility associated with it will be too big to carry alone, so that one will lose this full satisfaction again. One then falls back into the false pride and dividedness of the ego resulting from such a denial. In other words, without the Lord as your lightening rod, you will be struck by lightening.
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