Vyasadev
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 1
The Supreme Lord Is Equal unto Everyone
In this chapter, in response to a question by Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī gives his conclusions concerning how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although the Supersoul, friend and protector of everyone, killed the Daityas, the demons, for the sake of Indra, the King of heaven. In his statements, he totally refutes the arguments of people in general who accuse the Supreme Lord of partiality. Śukadeva Gosvāmī proves that because the body of the conditioned soul is infected by the three qualities of nature, dualities arise such as enmity and friendship, attachment and detachment. For the Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, there are no such dualities. Even eternal time cannot control the activities of the Lord. Eternal time is created by the Lord, and it acts under His control. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore, is always transcendental to the influence of the modes of nature, māyā, the Lord's external energy, which acts in creation and annihilation. Thus all the demons killed by the Supreme Lord attain salvation immediately.
The second question raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja concerns how Śiśupāla, although inimical toward Kṛṣṇa from his very childhood and always blaspheming Kṛṣṇa, attained salvation in oneness when Kṛṣṇa killed him. Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains that because of their offenses at the feet of devotees, two attendants of the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha named Jaya and Vijaya became Hiraṇyakaśipu and Hiraṇyākṣa in Satya-yuga, Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, and Śiśupāla and Dantavakra at the end of Dvāpara-yuga. Because of their fruitive acts, Jaya and Vijaya agreed to become the Lord's enemies, and when killed in that mentality, they attained salvation in oneness. Thus even if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in envy, he attains salvation. What then is to be said of devotees who always engage in the Lord's service with love and faith?
7.1.1
śrī-rājovāca
avadhīd viṣamo yathā
(1) The king said: 'How could the Supreme Lord beloved as an equal friend towards all living beings, o brahmin, in support of Indra kill the demons as if He were partial Himself [see also B.G. 9: 29]?
A devotee cannot accept that Lord Viṣṇu has material qualifications. Mahārāja Parīkṣit knew perfectly well that Lord Viṣṇu, being transcendental, has nothing to do with material qualities, but to confirm his conviction he wanted to hear from the authority Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, samasya kathaḿ vaiṣamyam: since the Lord is equally disposed toward everyone, how can He be partial? Priyasya katham asureṣu prīty-abhāvaḥ. The Lord, being the Supersoul, is extremely dear to everyone. Why, then, should the Lord display unsympathetic behavior toward the asuras? How is this impartial? Suhṛdaś ca kathaḿ teṣv asauhārdam. Since the Lord says that He is suhṛdaḿ sarva-bhūtānām, the well-wisher of all living entities, how could He act with partiality by killing demons? These questions arose in the heart of Parīkṣit Mahārāja, and therefore he inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
7.1.2
sākṣān niḥśreyasātmanaḥ
naivāsurebhyo vidveṣo
nodvegaś cāguṇasya hi
(2) Being of the highest bliss there is certainly no need for Him to side personally with the enlightened community and not being of any material mode, is it for certain not in His nature to fear or compete with the ones of darkness.
We should always remember the distinction between spiritual and material. That which is material is infected by material qualities, but these qualities cannot touch that which is spiritual, or transcendental. Kṛṣṇa is absolute, whether He is in the material world or spiritual world. When we see partiality in Kṛṣṇa, this vision is due to His external energy. Otherwise how could His enemies attain salvation after being killed by Him? Everyone who deals with the Supreme Personality of Godhead gradually acquires the qualities of the Lord. The more one advances in spiritual consciousness, the less he is affected by the duality of material qualities. The Supreme Lord, therefore, must certainly be freed from these qualities. His enmity and friendship are external features presented by the material energy. He is always transcendental. He is absolute, whether He kills or bestows His favor.
Envy and friendship arise in one who is imperfect. We fear our enemies because in the material world we are always in need of help.
7.1.3
saḿśayaḥ sumahāñ jātas
(3) Thus, o glorious one, is in consideration of the qualities of Nârâyana, the magnitude of the doubt that rose with us; could you please dispel it?'
7.1.4-5
ṛṣibhir nāradādibhiḥ
(4-5) The honorable rishi said: 'What an excellent question to ask o great King! From the wonderful activities of the Lord, sung by the foremost of piety, the sages headed by Nârada, are there more and more the glories and the devotion of His devotees. I will discuss all the relating topics of the Lord with you, but let me first pay homage to the great sage of Krishna [Vyâsa].
In this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī offers his respectful obeisances kṛṣṇāya munaye, which means to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. One must first offer one's respectful obeisances to one's spiritual master. Śukadeva Gosvāmī's spiritual master is his father, Vyāsadeva, and therefore he first offers his respectful obeisances to Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa and then begins describing topics of Lord Hari.
7.1.6
nirguṇo 'pi hy ajo 'vyakto
(6) Although above the modes, surely unborn and unmanifest, does the Supreme Lord transcendental to the material world by His own potency enter the material qualities accepting obligations and responsibilities [compare B.G. 9: 11].
7.1.7
prakṛter nātmano guṇāḥ
(7) The sattva, rajas and tamas to that belong to the material of nature and not to the quality of the spirit soul, o King, to the spiritual self there is not the on and off [one normally has with material things].
7.1.8
devarṣīn rajaso 'surān
tamaso yakṣa-rakṣāḿsi
tat-kālānuguṇo 'bhajat
(8) According their particular time does one when sattva [goodness] dominates find the devas and the rishis [the gods and sages], with the prominence of rajas [passion] has one the Asuras [the unenlightened] and with tamas [inertia] finds one the Yakshas and Râkshasas [the ghosts and the demons, see also B.G. 14: 11-13].
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not partial to anyone. The conditioned soul is under the influence of the various modes of material nature, and behind material nature is the Supreme Personality of Godhead; but one's victory and loss under the influence of sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa are reactions of these modes, not of the Supreme Lord's partiality. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in the Bhāgavata-sandarbha, has clearly said:
sattvādayo na santīśe
tvayy ekā sarva-saḿsthitau
According to this statement of the Bhāgavata-sandarbha, the Supreme Lord, being always transcendental to the material qualities, is never affected by the influence of these qualities. This same characteristic is also present in the living being, but because he is conditioned by material nature, even the pleasure potency of the Lord is manifested in the conditioned soul as troublesome. In the material world the pleasure enjoyed by the conditioned soul is followed by many painful conditions. For instance, we have seen that in the two great wars, which were conducted by the rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, both parties were actually ruined. The German people declared war against the English to ruin them, but the result was that both parties were ruined. Although the Allies were apparently victorious, at least on paper, actually neither of them were victorious. Therefore it should be concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not partial to anyone. Everyone works under the influence of various modes of material nature, and when the various modes are prominent, the demigods or demons appear victorious under the influence of these modes.7.1.9
jyotir-ādir ivābhāti
mathitvā kavayo 'ntataḥ
(9) To the elements of light and such that appear with the differently embodied can the ones who know from the Supersoul within distinguish who of them are of discrimination and who not [see B.G. 10: 10].
The word ātmānam in this verse means paramātmānam. The Paramātmā, or Supersoul, is situated in the core of everyone's heart (antataḥ). This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (18.61). Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāḿ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati. The īśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being situated in everyone's heart, gives directions to everyone in terms of one's capabilities in taking the instructions. The instructions of Bhagavad-gītā are open to everyone, but some people understand them properly, whereas others understand them so improperly that they cannot even believe in the existence of Kṛṣṇa, although reading Kṛṣṇa's book. Although the Gītā says śrī-bhagavān uvāca, indicating that Kṛṣṇa spoke, they cannot understand Kṛṣṇa. This is due to their misfortune or incapability, which is caused by rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the modes of passion and ignorance. It is because of these modes that they cannot even understand Kṛṣṇa, whereas an advanced devotee like Arjuna understands Him and glorifies Him, saying, paraḿ brahma paraḿ dhāma pavitraḿ paramaḿ bhavān: [Bg. 10.12] "You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode and purifier." Kṛṣṇa is open to everyone, but one needs the capability to understand Him.
By external features one cannot understand who is favored by Kṛṣṇa and who is not. According to one's attitude, Kṛṣṇa becomes one's direct adviser, or Kṛṣṇa becomes unknown. This is not Kṛṣṇa's partiality; it is His response to one's ability to understand Him. According to one's receptiveness — whether one be a devatā, asura, Yakṣa or Rākṣasa — Kṛṣṇa's quality is proportionately exhibited. This proportionate exhibition of Kṛṣṇa's power is misunderstood by less intelligent men to be Kṛṣṇa's partiality, but actually it is no such thing. Kṛṣṇa is equal to everyone, and according to one's ability to receive the favor of Kṛṣṇa, one advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives a practical example in this connection. In the sky there are many luminaries. At night, even in darkness, the moon is extremely brilliant and can be directly perceived. The sun is also extremely brilliant. When covered by clouds, however, these luminaries are not distinctly visible. Similarly, the more one advances in sattva-guṇa, the more his brilliance is exhibited by devotional service, but the more one is covered by rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, the less visible his brilliance, for he is covered by these qualities. The visibility of one's qualities does not depend on the partiality of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; it is due to various coverings in different proportions. Thus one can understand how far he has advanced in terms of sattva-guṇa and how much he is covered by rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.
7.1.10
yadā sisṛkṣuḥ pura ātmanaḥ paro
(10) When desiring to create material bodies for the living entities manifests the Supreme, He dominating in His own creation, the mode of passion; desiring to act in different forms is He in the mode of goodness and when the Controller is about to round it all up gives He as such rise to the mode of ignorance [see: B.G. 9: 10].
7.1.11
(11) O ruler of man, the true Creator, Controller in Person of the matter and Shelter for the beings is the Time that by its movements conditions [see also B.G 11: 32].
There have been many historical incidents in which the Lord killed a demon, but the demon attained a higher position by the mercy of the Lord. Pūtanā is an example. Pūtanā's purpose was to kill Kṛṣṇa. Aho bakī yaḿ stana-kāla-kūṭam. She approached the house of Nanda Mahārāja with the purpose of killing Kṛṣṇa by smearing poison on her breast, yet when she was killed she attained the highest position, achieving the status of Kṛṣṇa's mother. Kṛṣṇa is so kind and impartial that because he sucked Pūtanā's breast, He immediately accepted her as His mother. This superfluous activity of killing Pūtanā did not diminish the Lord's impartiality. He is suhṛdaḿ sama-bhūtānām, the friend of everyone. Therefore partiality cannot apply to the character of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who always maintains His position as the supreme controller. The Lord killed Pūtanā as an enemy, but because of His being the supreme controller, she attained an exalted position as His mother. Śrīla Madhva Muni therefore remarks, kāle kāla-viṣaye 'pīśitā. dehādi-kāraṇatvāt surānīkam iva sthitaḿ sattvam. Ordinarily a murderer is hanged, and in the Manu-saḿhitā it is said that a king bestows mercy upon a murderer by killing him, thus saving him from various kinds of suffering. Because of his sinful activities, such a murderer is killed by the mercy of the king. Kṛṣṇa, the supreme judge, deals with matters in a similar way because He is the supreme controller. The conclusion, therefore, is that the Lord is always impartial and always very kind to all living entities.
7.1.12
tat-pratyanīkān asurān sura-priyo
rajas-tamaskān pramiṇoty uruśravāḥ
(12) It is but with this Time that the Supreme Lord His glories are widespread, o King, by which to sattva the certainty of the numbers of gods is furthered and hence with those who are covered by rajas and tamas the inimical is found whereto He, as the friend of the enlightened, destroys the unenlightened.
7.1.13
atraivodāhṛtaḥ pūrvam
itihāsaḥ surarṣiṇā
(13) To this was earlier with great joy at the great sacrifice of Yudhishthhira upon his request by the Rishi of Enlightenment [Nârada] recounted the following story.
7.1.14-15
(14-15) The king, the son of Pându, after having seen how at the great offering called Râjasûya the King of Cedi [S'is'upâla] so wondrously had merged with the Supreme Personality of Vâsudeva, had as the ruler being struck with wonder at the sacrifice asked the following from Nârada who sat there with the sages listening.
7.1.16
durlabhaikāntinām api
prāptiś caidyasya vidviṣaḥ
(16) Yudhishthhira had said: 'Oh how wonderful and for sure difficult to attain for even the transcendentalists is the attainment of the impudent S'is'upâla to Vâsudeva, the Supreme Absolute Truth.
7.1.17
(17) We all long to know how this could happen, o sage, how from insulting the Lord [he could merge while] Vena [for his offense] was thrown in hell by the brahmins.
7.1.18
(18) That sinful son of Damaghosha fostered from his earliest prattle to his last days anger towards Govinda, just as did the evil-minded Dantavakra [his brother].
7.1.19
śapator asakṛd viṣṇuḿ
nāndhaḿ viviśatus tamaḥ
(19) Of both their repeated offenses against Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Brahman [compare B.G. 10: 12], didn't any white leprosy appear on their tongues nor landed they in the darkness of hell.
7.1.20
(20) How could they for everyone to see, so easily find absorption [sâyujya-mukti] in the Supreme Lord whose nature is so hard to attain?
Śiśupāla and Dantavakra were formerly Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. Merging into the body of Kṛṣṇa was not their final destination. For some time they remained merged, and later they received the liberations of sārūpya and sālokya, living on the same planet as the Lord in the same bodily form. The śāstras give evidence that if one blasphemes the Supreme Lord, his punishment is to remain in hellish life for many millions of years more than one suffers by killing many brāhmaṇas. Śiśupāla, however, instead of entering hellish life, immediately and very easily received sāyujya-mukti. That such a privilege had been offered to Śiśupāla was not merely a story. Everyone saw it happen; there was no scarcity of evidence. How did it happen? Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was very much surprised.
7.1.21
etad bhrāmyati me buddhir
brūhy etad adbhutatamaḿ
(21) In this matter is my intelligence as fickle as a candle flickering in the wind, please o man of all knowledge, tell us here now about the particular cause of this great wonder.'
7.1.22
(22) The son of Vyâsa said: 'After hearing the words of the king questioning him on the tale in the midst of the assembly, did Nârada the greatest of sages, being satisfied, address him.
7.1.23
nyakkārārthaḿ kalevaram
pradhāna-parayo rājann
(23) S'rî Nârada said: 'In order to experience insults, praise, honor and dishonor without discrimination has the Supreme of the Primary Nature [pradhâna] created this vehicle of time, o King [see also B.G. 2: 14, 12: 18-19].
7.1.24
(24) Suffering from the false notion of being this body is there thus the 'I' and 'mine' to which there is the rod of punishment, o earthly ruler.
7.1.25
abhimāno 'khilātmanaḥ
(25) Bound in this false conception appears the annihilation of bodies to be the same as the annihilation of living beings; not being of Him as the one without a second is one of the false notion, but how can there any harm be done by Him, the Soul of all, the Supreme One and Highest Control?
Because of being covered by material bodies, the conditioned souls, including even greatly learned scholars and falsely educated professors, all think that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This is due to their bodily conception of life. Kṛṣṇa has no such bodily conception, nor is His body different from His self. Therefore, since Kṛṣṇa has no material conception of life, how can He be affected by material prayers and accusations? Kṛṣṇa's body is described herewith as kaivalya, nondifferent from Himself. Since everyone has a material bodily conception of life, if Kṛṣṇa had such a conception what would be the difference between Kṛṣṇa and the conditioned soul? Kṛṣṇa's instructions in Bhagavad-gītā are accepted as final because He does not possess a material body. As soon as one has a material body he has four deficiencies, but since Kṛṣṇa does not possess a material body, He has no deficiencies. He is always spiritually conscious and blissful. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs. 5.1]: His form is eternal, blissful knowledge. Sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, ānanda-cinmaya-rasa and kaivalya are the same.
"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." Whenever the Lord punishes persons like demons, however, such punishment is meant for the good of the conditioned soul. The conditioned soul, being envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, may accuse Him, saying, "Kṛṣṇa is bad, Kṛṣṇa is a thief" and so on, but Kṛṣṇa, being kind to all living entities, does not consider such accusations. Instead, He takes account of the conditioned soul's chanting of "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa" so many times. He sometimes punishes such demons for one life by putting them in a lower species, but then, when they have stopped accusing Him, they are liberated in the next life because of chanting Kṛṣṇa's name constantly. Blaspheming the Supreme Lord or His devotee is not at all good for the conditioned soul, but Kṛṣṇa, being very kind, punishes the conditioned soul in one life for such sinful activities and then takes him back home, back to Godhead. The vivid example for this is Vṛtrāsura, who was formerly Citraketu Mahārāja, a great devotee. Because he derided Lord Śiva, the foremost of all devotees, he had to accept the body of a demon called Vṛtra, but then he was taken back to Godhead. Thus when Kṛṣṇa punishes a demon or conditioned soul, He stops that soul's habit of blaspheming Him, and when the soul becomes completely pure, the Lord takes him back to Godhead.
7.1.26
tasmād vairānubandhena
kathañcin nekṣate pṛthak
(26) Therefore, whether one is of constant enmity, of devotion, of fear, of affection or of lusty desires, should one, being of whatever way, concentrate oneself [on the Lord] and not look for something else.
From this verse one should not conclude that because Kṛṣṇa is unaffected by favorable prayers or unfavorable blasphemy one should therefore blaspheme the Supreme Lord. This is not the regulative principle. Bhakti-yoga means ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam: one should serve Kṛṣṇa very favorably. This is the real injunction. Here it is said that although an enemy thinks of Kṛṣṇa unfavorably, the Lord is unaffected by such antidevotional service. Thus He offers His benedictions even to Śiśupāla and similarly inimical conditioned souls. This does not mean, however, that one should be inimical toward the Lord. The stress is given to the favorable execution of devotional service, not purposeful blasphemy of the Lord. It is said:
nindāḿ bhagavataḥ śṛṇvaḿs
tato nāpaiti yaḥ so 'pi
One who hears blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotees should immediately take action or should leave. Otherwise he will be put into hellish life perpetually. There are many such injunctions. Therefore as a regulative principle one should not be unfavorable toward the Lord but always favorably inclined toward Him.Śiśupāla's achievement of oneness with the Supreme Lord was different because Jaya and Vijaya, from the very beginning of their material existence, were ordained to treat the Supreme Lord as an enemy for three lives and then return home, back to Godhead. Jaya and Vijaya inwardly knew that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they purposely became His enemies to be delivered from material life. From the very beginning of their lives they thought of Lord Kṛṣṇa as an enemy, and even though blaspheming Lord Kṛṣṇa, they chanted the holy name of Kṛṣṇa constantly along with their inimical thoughts. Thus they were purified because of chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. It is to be understood that even a blasphemer can be freed from sinful activities by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Certainly, therefore, freedom is assured for a devotee who is always favorable to the service of the Lord. This will be clear from the following verse. By rapt attention fixed upon Kṛṣṇa, one is purified, and thus one is delivered from material life.
7.1.27
yathā vairānubandhena
(27) A person will in [a single-minded] constant enmity not attain the like of being absorbed one finds in being unified in devotion, that is my definite opinion.
The essential point in this connection is that one should be fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa, twenty-four hours a day. There are many devotees in rāga-mārga, which is exhibited in Vṛndāvana. Whether in dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa or mādhurya-rasa, all the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are always overwhelmed by thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa is away from Vṛndāvana tending the cows in the forest, the gopīs, in the mādhurya-rasa, are always absorbed in thoughts of how Kṛṣṇa walks in the forest. The soles of His feet are so soft that the gopīs would not dare keep His lotus feet on their soft breasts. Indeed, they consider their breasts a very hard place for the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, yet those lotus feet wander in the forest, which is full of thorny plants. The gopīs are absorbed in such thoughts at home, although Kṛṣṇa is away from them. Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa plays with His young friends, mother Yaśodā is very much disturbed by thoughts that Kṛṣṇa, because of always playing and not taking His food properly, must be getting weak. These are examples of the exalted ecstasy felt in Kṛṣṇa's service as manifested in Vṛndāvana. This service is indirectly praised by Nārada Muni in this verse. Especially for the conditioned soul, Nārada Muni recommends that one somehow or other be absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa, for that will save one from all the dangers of material existence. Full absorption in thought of Kṛṣṇa is the highest platform of bhakti-yoga.
7.1.28-29
tam āpur anucintayā
(28-29) A larva checked by a bee in a niche may be filled with anxiety and resentment, but of that bee it attains the same form; the same way may one with Krishna, who as the Supreme Lord out of His own appeared as a man, be filled with obstinacy towards the Supreme, but when one has found purification of one's sins, attains one by the constant thought of Him.
"Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he engages in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated." A devotee undoubtedly worships the Lord with rapt attention. Similarly, if an enemy (sudurācāraḥ) always thinks of Kṛṣṇa, he also becomes a purified devotee. The example given here concerns the grassworm that becomes beelike because of constantly thinking of the bee that forces it to enter a hole. By always thinking of the bee in fear, the grassworm starts to become a bee. This is a practical example. Lord Kṛṣṇa appears within this material world for two purposes — paritrāṇāya sādhūnāḿ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām: [Bg. 4.8] to protect the devotees and annihilate the demons. The sādhus and devotees certainly think of the Lord always, but duṣkṛtīs, the demons like Kaḿsa and Śiśupāla, also think of Kṛṣṇa in terms of killing Him. By thinking of Kṛṣṇa, both the demons and devotees attain liberation from the clutches of material māyā.
This verse uses the word māyā-manuje. When Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears in His original spiritual potency (sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā [Bg. 4.6]), He is not forced to accept a form made by material nature. Therefore the Lord is addressed as īśvara, the controller of māyā. He is not controlled by māyā. When a demon continuously thinks of Kṛṣṇa because of enmity toward Him, he is certainly freed from the sinful reactions of his life. To think of Kṛṣṇa in any way, in terms of His name, form, qualities, paraphernalia or anything pertaining to Him, is beneficial for everyone. Sṛṇvatāḿ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17]. Thinking of Kṛṣṇa, hearing the holy name of Kṛṣṇa or hearing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa will make one pure, and then he will become a devotee. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore trying to introduce the system of somehow or other letting everyone hear the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and take Kṛṣṇa's prasāda. Thus one will gradually become a devotee, and his life will be successful.
7.1.30
kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehād
(30) Of in lust, hatred, fear, affection and devotion having a mind absorbed in the Supreme have many given up the sin and by that attained the path of liberation.
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.39):
vikrīḍitaḿ vraja-vadhūbhir idaḿ ca viṣṇoḥ
If a bona fide listener hears of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, which seem to be lusty affairs, the lusty desires in his heart, which constitute the heart disease of the conditioned soul, will be vanquished, and he will become a most exalted devotee of the Lord. If one who hears of the gopīs' lusty behavior with Kṛṣṇa becomes free from lusty desires, certainly the gopīs who approached Kṛṣṇa became free from all such desires. Similarly, Śiśupāla and others who were very much envious of Kṛṣṇa and who constantly thought of Kṛṣṇa became free from envy. Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā were fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because of affection. When the mind is somehow or other fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, the material part is very soon vanquished, and the spiritual part — attraction to Kṛṣṇa — becomes manifest. This indirectly confirms that if one thinks of Kṛṣṇa enviously, simply because of thinking of Kṛṣṇa he becomes free from all sinful reactions and thus becomes a pure devotee. Examples of this are given in the following verse.
7.1.31
dveṣāc caidyādayo nṛpāḥ
sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād
(31) The gopîs with their lusty desires, Kamsa out of fear, S'is'upâla and others out of hatred, many Kings out of kinship, Krishna's family out of affection and you and us through bhakti did so o King.
PURPORT
Different persons achieve different types of mukti — sāyujya, sālokya, sārūpya, sāmīpya and sārṣṭi — according to their own intense desire, which is called bhāva. Thus it is described here that the gopīs, by their lusty desires, which were based upon their intense love for Kṛṣṇa, became the most beloved devotees of the Lord. Although the gopīs at Vṛndāvana expressed their lusty desires in relationship with a paramour (parakīya-rasa), they actually had no lusty desires. This is significant of spiritual advancement. Their desires appeared lusty, but actually they were not the lusty desires of the material world. Caitanya-caritāmṛta compares the desires of the spiritual and material world to gold and iron. Both gold and iron are metal, but there is a vast difference in their value. The lusty desires of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa are compared to gold, and material lusty desires are compared to iron.Kaḿsa and other enemies of Kṛṣṇa merged into the existence of Brahman, but why should Kṛṣṇa's friends and devotees have the same position? Kṛṣṇa's devotees attain the association of the Lord as His constant companions, either in Vṛndāvana or in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Similarly, although Nārada Muni wanders in the three worlds, he has exalted devotion for Nārāyaṇa (aiśvaryamān). The Vṛṣṇis and Yadus and the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana all have familial relationships with Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa's foster father and mother in Vṛndāvana, however, are more exalted than Vasudeva and Devakī.
7.1.32
(32) Not to be someone like Vena, who couldn't adopt one of these five forms of respect in regard of the Original Person, must one then fix one's mind on Krishna in any of these ways.
Impersonalists and atheists always try to circumvent the form of Kṛṣṇa. Great politicians and philosophers of the modern age even try to banish Kṛṣṇa from Bhagavad-gītā. Consequently, for them there is no salvation. But Kṛṣṇa's enemies think, "Here is Kṛṣṇa, my enemy. I have to kill Him." They think of Kṛṣṇa in His actual form, and thus they attain salvation. Devotees, therefore, who constantly think of Kṛṣṇa's form, are certainly liberated. The only business of the Māyāvādī atheists is to make Kṛṣṇa formless, and consequently, because of this severe offense at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they cannot expect salvation. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says in this connection: tena śiśupālādi-bhinnaḥ pratikūla-bhāvaḿ didhīṣur yena iva narakaḿ yātīti bhāvaḥ. Except for Śiśupāla, those who go against the regulative principles cannot attain salvation and are surely destined for hellish life. The regulative principle is that one must always think of Kṛṣṇa, whether as a friend or enemy.
7.1.33
mātṛ-ṣvasreyo vaś caidyo
(33) The sons of your mother's sister, S'is'upâla and Dantavakra, o Pândava, were the two exalted attendants of Vishnu [Jaya and Vijaya, see 3.15-16] who because of a curse of the brahmins fell away from the feet.'
7.1.34
hari-dāsābhimarśanaḥ
aśraddheya ivābhāti
(34) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'Who did that and what kind of curse was used; a servant of the Lord thus overcome seems an incredible thing to me, how can those exclusively devoted to Him take birth again [see B.G. 4: 9 and 8: 16]?
7.1.35
dehendriyāsu-hīnānāḿ
(35) Those who reside in Vaikunthha are not concerned with a material body, material senses or a material life, please describe how they then could be bound to a physical body.'
This very significant question would be difficult for an ordinary person to answer, but Nārada Muni, being an authority, could answer it. Therefore Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired from him, saying, etad ākhyātum arhasi: "only you can explain the reason." From authoritative sources it can be discerned that associates of Lord Viṣṇu who descend from Vaikuṇṭha do not actually fall. They come with the purpose of fulfilling the desire of the Lord, and their descent to this material world is comparable to that of the Lord. The Lord comes to this material world through the agency of His internal potency, and similarly, when a devotee or associate of the Lord descends to this material world, he does so through the action of the spiritual energy. Any pastime conducted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is an arrangement by yogamāyā, not mahāmāyā. Therefore it is to be understood that when Jaya and Vijaya descended to this material world, they came because there was something to be done for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Otherwise it is a fact that no one falls from Vaikuṇṭha
7.1.36
sanandanādayo jagmuś
(36) S'rî Nârada said: 'Once happened the sons of Brahmâ, Sanandana and the others, who traveled around the three worlds, to arrive at that place.
7.1.37
pañca-ṣaḍḍhāyanārbhābhāḥ
(37) Approaching like boys of five or six year old, even though they were born before the ancients of the universe [see 1.3: 6], denied the two guards them access thinking they were naked children.
7.1.38
rajas-tamobhyāḿ rahite
(38) And so they were full of anger cursed by them: 'O, you two undeserving ones, at the feet of the Slayer of Madhu it is most sinful not to be free from passion and ignorance and therefore, o fools, will you soon hereafter be born from an unenlightened womb [see 3.17].
7.1.39
(39) Thus being cursed to fall down from their abode heard they from the merciful sages: 'May it be so that after three births you return again to your abode.'
7.1.40
hiraṇyakaśipur jyeṣṭho
hiraṇyākṣo 'nujas tataḥ
(40) The two were thereafter born as the sons of Diti and worshiped by all the Daityas and Danava's as Hiranyakas'ipu the older one and Hiranyâksha the younger brother.
7.1.41
hato hiraṇyakaśipur
hiraṇyākṣo dharoddhāre
(41) Hiranyakas'ipu was killed by the Lord appearing in the form of a lion [Lord Nrisimhadeva] and Hiranyâksha was killed by Him when He in the form of a boar had appeared to uplift the world [Lord Varâha, see 3.18-19].
7.1.42
jighāḿsur akaron nānā
(42) Hiranyakas'ipu desirous to kill his son Prahlâda, the beloved devotee of Kes'ava, enacted various ways of torture to cause his death.
7.1.43
nāśaknod dhantum udyamaiḥ
(43) Since his son was protected by the power of the Supreme Lord, the Soul of mercy and equality towards all, could he, with all the might he displayed, not kill him though.
7.1.44
sarva-lokopatāpanau
(44) Next were the two demons as Râvana and Kumbhakarna born from Kes'inî as the sons of Vis'ravâ, and were they the cause of a lot of misery for all the people.
7.1.45
nyahanac chāpa-muktaye
(45) In order to relieve the two from the curse, manifested thereupon Râmacandra Himself to kill them, but you better hear about the exploits of Râma [see 9: 10 & 11] from the lips of Mârkandeya, my best.
7.1.46
tāv atra kṣatriyau jātau
(46) The two in their third birth were [as S'is'upâla and Dantavakra] born in this world as kshatriya sons to your mother's sister and are now freed from the curse with their sins destroyed by Krishna's cakra.
7.1.47
vairānubandha-tīvreṇa
dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām
(47) By meditation in a bond of acute hatred getting near to Him managed the gate keepers of Vishnu again to find absorption into the essence of the infallible Lord.'
7.1.48
prahlādasyācyutātmatā
(48) S'rî Yudhishthhira said: 'How could there [with Hiranyakas'ipu] be such a hatred for his own son, that great soul, please tell me o exalted one how Prahlâda got that close to Acyuta [the Infallible Lord].
Canto 7
Chapter 2
Hiranyakas'ipu, the King of the Demons, on Bereavement
As described in this chapter, after the annihilation of Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyākṣa's sons and his brother Hiraṇyakaśipu were very much aggrieved. Hiraṇyakaśipu reacted very sinfully by trying to diminish the religious activities of people in general. However, he instructed his nephews about a history just to diminish their aggrievement.
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as the boar and killed Hiraṇyakaśipu's brother Hiraṇyākṣa, Hiraṇyakaśipu was very much aggrieved. In anger, he accused the Supreme Personality of Godhead of being partial to His devotees and derided the Lord's appearance as Varāha to kill his brother. He began to agitate all the demons and Rākṣasas and disturb the ritualistic ceremonies of the peaceful sages and other inhabitants of earth. For want of the performance of yajña, sacrifice, the demigods began wandering unseen on earth.
After finishing the ritualistic funeral ceremonies of his brother, Hiraṇyakaśipu began speaking to his nephews, quoting from the śāstras about the truth of life. To pacify them, he spoke as follows: "My dear nephews, for heroes to die before the enemy is glorious. According to their different fruitive activities, living entities come together within this material world and are again separated by the laws of nature. We should always know, however, that the spirit soul, which is different from the body, is eternal, unadjustable, pure, all-pervading and aware of everything. When bound by the material energy, the soul takes birth in higher or lower species of life according to varying association and in this way receives various types of bodies in which to suffer or enjoy. One's affliction by the conditions of material existence is the cause of happiness and distress; there are no other causes, and one should not be aggrieved upon seeing the superficial actions of karma."
Hiraṇyakaśipu then related a historical incident concerning a King Suyajña who resided in the country named Uśīnara. When the King was killed, his queens, overwhelmed with grief, received instructions, which Hiraṇyakaśipu quoted to his nephews. Hiraṇyakaśipu related an account of a kulińga bird pierced by the arrow of a hunter while lamenting for his wife, who had also been shot by the same hunter. By narrating these stories, Hiraṇyakaśipu pacified his nephews and other relatives and relieved them of lamentation. Thus having been pacified, Diti and Ruṣābhānu, Hiraṇyakaśipu's mother and sister-in-law, engaged their minds in spiritual understanding.
7.2.1
hiraṇyakaśipū rājan
(1) S'rî Nârada said: 'When the brother [Hiranyâksha] thus was killed by the Lord in the form of a boar [see 3.18-19] was Hiranyakas'ipu very afflicted with anger and grief o King.
7.2.2
kopojjvaladbhyāḿ cakṣurbhyāḿ
(2) Enraged biting his lips on this, stared he into the sky that smoked with the blazing fury of his eyes and spoke he.
7.2.3
(3) With his terrible teeth and fierce look ghastly to behold, raised he, in an assembly of the Dânavas, his trident with a frown on his face saying the following.
7.2.4-5
śatabāho hayagrīva
puloman śakunādayaḥ
śṛṇutānantaraḿ sarve
(4-5) 'O Dânavas and Daityas, Dvimûrdha ['the two headed one'], Tryaksha ['the three-eyed one'] S'ambara and S'atabâhu ['the hundred-armed one']; Hayagrîva ['the horsehead'], Namuci, Pâka, Ilvala and Vipracitti! Pulomâ, S'akuna and all others, listen to the words I have to tell you and may you thereafter all quickly, without delay, act to them.
7.2.6
sapatnair ghātitaḥ kṣudrair
samenāpy upadhāvanaiḥ
(6) My so very dear brother and well-wisher was with those powerless enemies, the godly who conspiring behind his back were of worship, killed by Hari who was supposed to treat us all equal.
7.2.7-8
ghṛṇer māyā-vanaukasaḥ
bālasyevāsthirātmanaḥ
(7-8) He has forsaken His own love for us and is now, abominable in mâyâ, behaving like a wild beast in His as a child jumping from this to that form to the like of His worshiping devotees. I will with my trident cut His neck and make Him swim in blood for the sake of indeed [Hiranyâksha,] he who was so fond of drinking it. Thus I'll please my brother and find my own peace.
7.2.9
(9) When He, that most deceitful enemy of all is finished will, like with the drying up of the branches and leaves of a tree that is cut by its roots, the same happen to those guys of God whose life belongs to Vishnu.
7.2.10
sūdayadhvaḿ tapo-yajña-
(10) Meanwhile all of you go to that world so neatly kept by the rulers of Brahmâ and see to the destruction of all those repenting and sacrificing bookworms who according to vows donate in charity.
The demigods are authorized supplying agents who act on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. Therefore, they must be satisfied by the performance of prescribed yajñas. In the Vedas, there are different kinds of yajñas prescribed for different kinds of demigods, but all are ultimately offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For one who cannot understand what the Personality of Godhead is, sacrifice to the demigods is recommended. According to the different material qualities of the persons concerned, different types of yajñas are recommended in the Vedas. Worship of different demigods is also on the same basis — namely, according to different qualities. For example, the meat-eaters are recommended to worship the goddess Kālī, the ghastly form of material nature, and before the goddess the sacrifice of animals is recommended. But for those in the mode of goodness, the transcendental worship of Viṣṇu is recommended. Ultimately, all yajñas are meant for gradual promotion to the transcendental position. For ordinary men, at least five yajñas, known as pañca-mahāyajña, are necessary.
One should know, however, that all the necessities of life that human society requires are supplied by the demigod agents of the Lord. No one can manufacture anything. Consider, for example, all the eatables of human society. These eatables include grains, fruits, vegetables, milk and sugar for persons in the mode of goodness, and also eatables for the nonvegetarians, such as meats, none of which can be manufactured by men. Then again, take for example, heat, light, water and air, which are also necessities of life — none of them can be manufactured by human society. Without the Supreme Lord, there can be no profuse sunlight, moonlight, rainfall or breeze, without which no one can live. Obviously, our life is dependent on supplies from the Lord. Even for our manufacturing enterprises, we require so many raw materials like metal, sulphur, mercury, manganese and so many essentials — all of which are supplied by the agents of the Lord, with the purpose that we should make proper use of them to keep ourselves fit and healthy for the purpose of self-realization, leading to the ultimate goal of life, namely, liberation from the material struggle for existence. This aim of life is attained by performance of yajñas. If we forget the purpose of human life and simply take supplies from the agents of the Lord for sense gratification and become more and more entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, certainly we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of material nature. A society of thieves can never be happy, for they have no aim in life. The gross materialist thieves have no ultimate goal of life. They are simply directed to sense gratification; nor do they have knowledge of how to perform yajñas. Lord Caitanya, however, inaugurated the easiest performance of yajña, namely the sańkīrtana-yajña, which can be performed by anyone in the world who accepts the principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Hiraṇyakaśipu planned to kill the inhabitants of earth so that yajña would stop and the demigods, being disturbed, would die automatically when Lord Viṣṇu, the yajñeśvara, was killed. These were the demoniac plans of Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was expert in such activities.
7.2.11
yajño dharmamayaḥ pumān
(11) Vishnu by the twice born exhaustingly worshiped, is sacrifice personified, the Supreme Person of the full of dharma; He is the one shelter of the religion of them gods and sages, forefathers and all the others.
Since Viṣṇu is the central point of brahminical culture, Hiraṇyakaśipu's plan was to kill Viṣṇu, for if Viṣṇu were killed, naturally the brahminical culture would also be lost. With brahminical culture lost, yajña would no longer be performed, and for want of yajña the regular distribution of rainfall would cease (yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ [Bg. 3.14]). Thus there would be disturbances all over the world, and naturally the demigods would be defeated. From this verse we get a clear indication of how human society is disturbed when the Vedic Āryan civilization is killed and the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies performed by the brāhmaṇas are stopped. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ: because the population of the modern world consists mostly of śūdras, the brahminical culture is now lost and is extremely difficult to reestablish in a proper way. Therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, which will revive brahminical culture very easily.
harer nāma harer nāma
[Adi 17.21]
Because of the increment in demoniac population, people have lost brahminical culture. Nor is there a kṣatriya government. Instead, the government is a democracy in which any śūdra can be voted into taking up the governmental reigns and capture the power to rule. Because of the poisonous effects of Kali-yuga, the śāstra (Bhāg. 12.2.13) says, dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu: the government will adopt the policies of dasyus, or plunderers. Thus there will be no instructions from the brāhmaṇas, and even if there are brahminical instructions, there will be no kṣatriya rulers who can follow them. Aside from Satya-yuga, even formerly, in the days when demons were flourishing, Hiraṇyakaśipu planned to destroy the brahminical culture and the kṣatriya government and thus create chaos all over the world. Although in Satya-yuga this plan was very difficult to execute, in Kali-yuga, which is full of śūdras and demons, the brahminical culture is lost and can be revived only by the chanting of the mahā-mantra. Therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, or the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, has been inaugurated to revive brahminical culture very easily so that people may become happy and peaceful in this life and prepare for elevation in the next. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes this verse from the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa:vipra-yajñādi-mūlaḿ tu
"O King, the demons think that Hari, Lord Viṣṇu, exists because of the brāhmaṇas and yajña, but factually Hari is the cause of everything including the brāhmaṇas and yajña." Therefore, through the popularizing of hari-kīrtana, or the sańkīrtana movement, the brahminical culture and kṣatriya government will automatically come back, and people will be extremely happy.
7.2.12
(12) Wherever the twice-born keep their cows, study their Vedas and are busy with their varnâs'rama ado, set all those towns afire or cut down all the trees of the place.'
The picture of a proper human civilization is indirectly described here. In a perfect human civilization there must be a class of men fully trained as perfect brāhmaṇas. Similarly, there must be kṣatriyas to rule the country very nicely according to the injunctions of the śāstras, and there must be vaiśyas who can protect the cows. The word gāvaḥ indicates that cows should be given protection. Because the Vedic civilization is lost, cows are not protected, but instead indiscriminately killed in slaughterhouses. Such are the acts of demons. Therefore this is a demoniac civilization. The varṇāśrama-dharma mentioned here is essential for human civilization. Unless there is a brāhmaṇa to guide, a kṣatriya to rule perfectly, and a perfect vaiśya to produce food and protect the cows, how will people live peacefully? It is impossible.
Another point is that trees also should be given protection. During its lifetime, a tree should not be cut for industrial enterprises. In Kali-yuga, trees are indiscriminately and unnecessarily cut for industry, in particular for paper mills that manufacture a profuse quantity of paper for the publication of demoniac propaganda, nonsensical literature, huge quantities of newspapers and many other paper products. This is a sign of a demoniac civilization. The cutting of trees is prohibited unless necessary for the service of Lord Viṣṇu. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo'nyatra loko'yaḿ karma-bandhanaḥ: [Bg. 3.9]) "work done as a sacrifice for Lord Viṣṇu must be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world." But if the paper mills stop producing paper, one may argue, how can our ISKCON literature be published? The answer is that the paper mills should manufacture paper only for the publication of ISKCON literature because ISKCON literature is published for the service of Lord Viṣṇu. This literature clarifies our relationship with Lord Viṣṇu, and therefore the publication of ISKCON literature is the performance of yajña. Yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaḿ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg. 3.9]). Yajña must be performed, as indicated by the superior authorities. The cutting of trees simply to manufacture paper for the publication of unwanted literature is the greatest sinful act.
7.2.13
ādāya śirasādṛtāḥ
(13) Proving him their respects took they the instructions of their master on their heads and terrorized they, the experts in destruction, all the people.
7.2.14
kṣetrārāmāśramākarān
(14) The cities and villages, pasturing grounds, orchards and gardens, fields, forests, hermitages and mines, farms and mountain places, cowherd camps and the capitals as well, they all burned down.
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it." Fruits and flowers are very much pleasing to the Lord. If one wants to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can simply offer fruits and flowers, and the Lord will be pleased to accept them. Our only duty is to please the Supreme Godhead (saḿsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam [SB 1.2.13]). Whatever we do and whatever our occupation, our main purpose should be to please the Supreme Lord. All the paraphernalia mentioned in this verse is especially meant for the satisfaction of the Lord, not the satisfaction of one's senses. The government — indeed, the entire society — should be structured in such a way that everyone can be trained to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But unfortunately, especially in this age, na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiḿ hi viṣṇum: [SB 7.5.31] people do not know that the highest goal of human life is to please Lord Viṣṇu. On the contrary, like demons, they simply plan to kill Viṣṇu and be happy by sense gratification.
7.2.15
ājīvyāḿś cicchidur vṛkṣān
prajānāḿ jvalitolmukaiḥ
(15) While others with firebrands set the dwellings ablaze, demolished some of them with picks the bridges, surrounding walls and the city gates and took some others axes to destroy the source of livelihood by cutting down the fruit trees.
The cutting of trees is generally prohibited. In particular, trees that produce nice fruit for the maintenance of human society should not be cut. In different countries there are different types of fruit trees. In India the mango and jackfruit trees are prominent, and in other places there are mango trees, jackfruit trees, coconut trees and berry trees. Any tree that produces nice fruit for the maintenance of the people should not be cut at all. This is a śāstric injunction
7.2.16
daityendrānucarair muhuḥ
bhuvi cerur alakṣitāḥ
(16) When time and again the people were thus disturbed by the followers of the king of the Daityas, gave the godly their positions up and wandered they, not seen by the demons, all over the earth.
7.2.17
hiraṇyakaśipur bhrātuḥ
kṛtvā kaṭodakādīni
(17) Hiranyakas'ipu, very distressed about the loss of his brother performed the obsequies and pacified his nephews.
7.2.18-19
hariśmaśrum athotkacam
(18-19) S'akuni, S'ambara, Dhrishthi, Bhûtasantâpana, Vrika, Kâlanâbha, Mahânâbha, Haris'mas'ru and Utkaca as also their mother Rushâbhânu and Diti, his own mother, he addressed as a well adapted person in sweet words saying this, o ruler of man.
7.2.20
(20) Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'O mother, mother, o sister in law, o nephews, you do not deserve this lamentation about our hero of enlightenment who in front of the enemy desired the most glorious death.
7.2.21
daivenaikatra nītānām
(21) Of all beings in this world living together like travelers amassing about a drinking place, o my sweet mother, are by divine ordinance the ones that were brought together in one place led apart according their own karma.
"The bewildered soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature." (Bg. 3.27) All living entities act exactly according to the directions of prakṛti, material nature, because in the material world we are fully under a higher control. All the living entities in this material world have come here only because they wanted to be equal to Kṛṣṇa in enjoyment and have thus been sent here to be conditioned by material nature in different degrees. In the material world a so-called family is a combination of several persons in one home to fulfill the terms of their imprisonment. As criminal prisoners scatter as soon as their terms are over and they are released, all of us who have temporarily assembled as family members will continue to our respective destinations. Another example given is that family members are like straws carried together by the waves of a river. Sometimes such straws mix together in whirlpools, and later, dispersed again by the same waves, they float alone in the water.
Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was a demon, he had Vedic knowledge and understanding. Thus the advice given to his family members — his sister-in-law, mother and nephews — was quite sound. The demons are considered highly elevated in knowledge, but because they do not use their good intelligence for the service of the Lord, they are called demons. The demigods, however, act very intelligently to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.13) as follows:
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā
"O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve, by discharging his prescribed duties [dharma] according to caste divisions and orders of life, is to please the Lord Hari." To become a demigod or to become godly, whatever one's occupation, one must satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
7.2.22
(22) The eternal inexhaustible soul is, free from the tinge of matter, capable of going anywhere; knowing all and transcendent takes that soul up the self of a body that under the influence of the material world gives him various qualities [see B.G. 13: 22].
7.2.23
yathāmbhasā pracalatā
(23) Just as reflected in water the trees are moving, seems it also in case of an optical illusion to be so that [with heat e.g.] the ground moves. 7.2.24
evaḿ guṇair bhrāmyamāṇe
hy alińgo lińgavān iva
(24) Likewise does the adhering mind, that is confused of the modes of matter, the same way agitate the changeless living entity, o my mother, making the entity despite of being formless believe that it belongs to that bodily form.
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.84.13):
yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
"A human being who identifies the body made of three elements as the self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of his birth worshipable, and who goes to a place of pilgrimage simply to bathe rather than to meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like a cow or an ass." Although Hiraṇyakaśipu was a great demon, he was not as foolish as the population of the modern world. Hiraṇyakaśipu had clear knowledge of the spirit soul and the subtle and gross bodies, but now we are so degraded that everyone, including the exalted scientists, philosophers and other leaders, is under the bodily conception of life, which is condemned in the śāstras. Sa eva go-kharaḥ: [SB 10.84.13] such persons are nothing but cows and asses.Hiraṇyakaśipu advised his family members that although the gross body of his brother Hiraṇyākṣa was dead and they were aggrieved because of this, they should not lament for the great soul of Hiraṇyākṣa, who had already attained his next destination. Ātmā, the spirit soul, is always unchanged (avikalaḥ pumān). We are spirit souls, but when carried away by mental activities (manodharma), we suffer from so-called material conditions of life. This generally happens to nondevotees. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇāḥ: nondevotees may possess exalted material qualities, but because they are foolish they have no good qualifications. The designations of the conditioned soul in the material world are decorations of the dead body. The conditioned soul has no information of the spirit and its exalted existence beyond the effects of the material condition.
7.2.25-26
eṣa priyāpriyair yogo
(25-26) This soul, confounded indeed with his formless existence, falls in love with the body and has beloved ones and enemies, allies and strangers in his karma about the material affair. Faced with births and dying, lamenting different ways and lacking in discrimination as to what the scriptures say, is he full of anxiety and forgetful about the right discrimination.
In his bewildered state, the living entity, accepting the body and mind to be the self, considers some people to be his kinsmen and others to be outsiders. Because of this misconception, he suffers. Indeed, the accumulation of such concocted material ideas is the cause of suffering and so-called happiness in the material world. The conditioned soul thus situated must take birth in different species and work in various types of consciousness, thus creating new bodies. This continued material life is called saḿsāra. Birth, death, lamentation, foolishness and anxiety are due to such material considerations. Thus we sometimes come to a proper understanding and sometimes fall again to a wrong conception of life.
7.2.27
atrāpy udāharantīmam
(27) Concerning this one often recites an ancient story about Yamarâja in discussion with the friends of a deceased one. Listen closely.
The words itihāsaḿ purātanam mean "an old history." The Purāṇas are not chronologically recorded, but the incidents mentioned in the Purāṇas are actual histories of bygone ages. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the Mahā-Purāṇa, the essence of all the Purāṇas. The Māyāvādī scholars do not accept the Purāṇas, but Śrīla Madhvācārya and all other authorities accept them as the authoritative histories of the world.
7.2.28
uśīnareṣv abhūd rājā
sapatnair nihato yuddhe
(28) Once there was a king in Us'înara known as Suyajña who was killed by his enemies in a war. His kinsmen sat around him.
7.2.29-31
vibhraṣṭābharaṇa-srajam
(29-31) With his jeweled armor scattered here and there and his ornaments and garlands fallen down, lay he there in his blood pierced by the arrows through his heart. With his hair loose and his eyes obscured, had he of anger bitten lips, was his lotus face covered with dust and lay his arms and weapons cut off on the battlefield. When the queens ascertained that the master of Us'înara thus hacked up by providence had been killed, were they in tears and pounded they their breast constantly with their hands, crying over and over again 'O, husband', falling down at his feet.
7.2.32
sṛjantya ākrandanayā vilepire
(32) Wailing out aloud for their beloved husband moistened they the lotusfeet with the tears red of the kunkum of their breasts and with their ornaments and hair loosened lamented they heart-rending, sobbing pitiably:
7.2.33
kṛto 'dhunā yena śucāḿ vivardhanaḥ
(33) 'Alas by the merciless providence o Lord of us, have you, o beloved one, been taken away beyond the range of our sight; the state and the inhabitants of Us'înara you formerly provided their livelihood, but now that you're finished are you the cause of an increase in their lamentation.
7.2.34
(34) You were such a grateful husband to us o King, how can we and your retinue live without you; you who art our best friend, tell us where those, who were of service at your lotus feet, have to follow you now you've left us.'
Formerly, a kṣatriya king was generally the husband of many wives, and after the death of the king, especially in the battlefield, all the queens would agree to accept saha-māraṇa, dying with the husband who was their life. When Pāṇḍu Mahārāja, the father of the Pāṇḍavas, died, his two wives — namely, the mother of Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna and the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva — were both ready to die in the fire with their husband. Later, after a compromise was arranged, Kuntī stayed alive to care for the little children, and the other wife, Mādrī, was allowed to die with her husband. This system of saha-māraṇa continued in India even until the time of British rule, but later it was discouraged, since the attitude of wives gradually changed with the advancement of Kali-yuga. Thus the system of saha-māraṇa has practically been abolished. Nevertheless, within the past fifty years I have seen the wife of a medical practitioner voluntarily accept death immediately when her husband died. Both the husband and wife were taken in procession in the mourning cart. Such intense love of a chaste wife for her husband is a special case.
7.2.35
arko 'staḿ sannyavartata
(35) The queens thus lamenting had taken the dead husband on their lap, not wishing the corpse to be buried. In the meantime was the sun setting in the west.
According to the Vedic system, if a person dies during the daytime it is customary for his funeral ceremony to be performed before the sun sets, regardless of whether he is burned or buried, and if he dies at night the funeral must be completed before the next sunrise. Apparently the queens continued lamenting for the dead body, the lump of matter, and would not allow it to be taken away for burning. This illustrates the strong grip of illusion among foolish persons who consider the body the self. Women are generally considered less intelligent. Because of ignorance only, the queens thought of the dead body as their husband and somehow or other thought that if the body were kept their husband would remain with them. Such a conception of the self is certainly for go-khara — cows and asses. We have actually seen that sometimes when a cow's calf has died the milkman cheats the cow by presenting before her the dead body of her calf. Thus the cow, who would not otherwise allow milking, licks the dead body of the calf and allows herself to be milked. This substantiates the description of the śāstra that a foolish man in the bodily concept of life is like a cow. Not only do foolish men and women consider the body the self, but we have even seen that the dead body of a so-called yogī was kept for days by his disciples, who thought that their guru was in samādhi. When decomposition began and a bad smell unfortunately began to overwhelm the yogic power, the disciples allowed the dead body of the so-called yogī to be burned. Thus the bodily concept of life is extremely strong among foolish persons, who are compared to cows and asses. Nowadays, great scientists are trying to freeze dead bodies so that in the future these frozen bodies may again be brought to life. The incident narrated by Hiraṇyakaśipu from history must have taken place millions of years ago because Hiraṇyakaśipu lived millions of years ago and was even then quoting from history. Thus the incident occurred before Hiraṇyakaśipu's lifetime, but the same ignorance in the bodily concept of life is still prevalent, not only among laymen but even among scientists who think they will be able to revive frozen corpses.
Apparently the queens did not want to deliver the dead body for burning because they were afraid of dying with the dead body of their husband.
7.2.36
(36) Hearing the kith and kin of the ruler lamenting so loudly came Yamarâja in person in the form of a boy to them and spoke he.Sometimes the living entity is forced to give up his body and enter another one according to the judgment of Yamarāja. It is difficult, however, for the conditioned soul to enter another body unless the present dead body is annihilated through cremation or some other means. The living being has attachment for the present body and does not want to enter another, and thus in the interim he remains a ghost. If a living being who has already left his body has been pious, Yamarāja, just to give him relief, will give him another body. Since the living being in the body of the King had some attachment to his body, he was hovering as a ghost, and therefore Yamarāja, as a special consideration, approached the lamenting relatives to instruct them personally. Yamarāja approached them as a child because a child is not restricted but is granted admittance anywhere, even to the palace of a king. Besides this, the child was speaking philosophy. People are very much interested in hearing philosophy when it is spoken by a child.
7.2.37
yatrāgatas tatra gataḿ manuṣyaḿ
(37) S'rî Yamarâja said: 'How regretful to see this bewilderment of these elderly people. Don't they see the law of nature ruling every day? To the same nature as to where this man returned will they themselves return, nevertheless they meaninglessly weep! [compare B.G. 2: 28].
"All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when they are annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?"
Accepting that there are two classes of philosophers, one believing in the existence of the soul and the other not believing in its existence, there is no cause for lamentation in either case. Nonbelievers in the existence of the soul are called atheists by followers of Vedic wisdom. Yet even if for argument's sake we accept the atheistic theory, there is still no cause for lamentation. Apart from the separate existence of the soul, the material elements remain unmanifested before creation. From this subtle state of unmanifestation comes manifestation, just as from ether, air is generated; from air, fire is generated; from fire, water is generated; and from water, earth becomes manifested. From the earth, many varieties of manifestations take place. For example, a big skyscraper is manifested from the earth. When it is dismantled, the manifestation becomes again unmanifested and remains as atoms in the ultimate stage. The law of conservation of energy remains, but in the course of time things are manifested and unmanifested — that is the difference. Then what cause is there for lamentation, in either manifestation or unmanifestation? Somehow or other, even in the unmanifested stage, things are not lost. Both at the beginning and at the end, all elements remain unmanifested, and this does not make any real material difference.
If we accept the Vedic conclusion as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (antavanta ime dehāḥ) that these material bodies are perishable in due course of time (nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ) but that the soul is eternal, then we must remember always that the body is like a dress; therefore why lament the changing of a dress? The material body has no factual existence in relation to the eternal soul. It is something like a dream. In a dream we may think of flying in the sky or sitting on a chariot as a king, but when we wake up we can see that we are neither in the sky nor seated on the chariot. The Vedic wisdom encourages self-realization on the basis of the nonexistence of the material body. Therefore, in either case, whether one believes in the existence of the soul or one does not believe in the existence of the soul, there is no cause for lamentation for loss of the body.
In the Mahābhārata it is said, adarśanād ihāyātaḥ punaś cādarśanaḿ gataḥ. This statement could support the theory of the atheistic scientist that the child in the womb of the mother has no life but is simply a lump of matter. To follow this theory, if the lump of matter is aborted by a surgical operation, no life is killed; the body of a child is like a tumor, and if a tumor is operated upon and thrown away, no sin is involved. The same argument could be put forward in regard to the King and his queens. The body of the King was manifested from an unmanifested source, and again it became unmanifested from manifestation. Since the manifestation exists only in the middle — between the two points of unmanifestation — why should one cry for the body manifested in the interim?
7.2.38
abhakṣyamāṇā abalā vṛkādibhiḥ
(38) We, alas, think that, because we at present are without the protection of our parents, we thus, weak as we are, don't have to worry that we'd be eaten by the predators, supposing that He who has protected us in the womb would also protect us thereafter.
7.2.39
ya icchayeśaḥ sṛjatīdam avyayo
ya eva rakṣaty avalumpate ca yaḥ
tasyābalāḥ krīḍanam āhur īśituś
(39) O poor women, the Supreme Controller by His own will creates all of this, while He Himself remains the same, and it is Him who no doubt also maintains and destroys; all that moves and does not move, is, so one says, the plaything of the Lord who at all times is able to give protection or to annihilate.
In this regard the queens might argue, "If our husband was protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead when in the womb, why has he not been given protection now?" To this question the answer is, ya icchayeśaḥ sṛjatīdam avyayo ya eva rakṣaty avalumpate ca yaḥ. One cannot argue with the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is always free, and therefore He can protect and can also annihilate. He is not our order carrier; whatever He likes He will do. Therefore He is the Supreme Lord. The Lord does not create this material world at anyone's request, and therefore He can annihilate everything merely by His will. That is His supremacy. If one argues, "Why does He act in this way?" the answer is that He can do so because He is supreme. No one can question His activities. If one argues, "What is the purpose of this sinful creation and annihilation?" the answer is that to prove His omnipotence He can do anything, and no one can question Him. If He were answerable to us concerning why He does something and why He does not, His supremacy would be curtailed.
7.2.40
(40) Something lost in the street can, protected by destiny, be preserved despite of the fact that one stays home, or just the same, God willing, be lost; despite of being unprotected can one under His protection remain alive whether one is at home or in the forest, but this one struck down did, well protected, not survive.
These are examples of the supremacy of the Lord. Our plans to protect or annihilate do not act, but whatever He thinks of doing actually happens. The examples given in this regard are practical. Everyone has had such practical experiences, and there are also many other clear examples. For instance, Prahlāda Mahārāja said that a child is certainly dependent on his father and mother, but in spite of their presence, the child is harassed in many ways. Sometimes, in spite of a supply of good medicine and an experienced physician, a patient does not survive. Therefore, since everything is dependent on the free will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, our only duty is to surrender unto Him and seek His protection.
7.2.41
(41) All that are embodied have their own type of birth according their karma and disappear also in due course of time therefrom; but all this does not apply to the soul, even though he, situated within this material world, in various forms is bound to her different modes.
Here it is very plainly explained that God is not responsible for the living entity's accepting different types of bodies. One has to accept a body according to the laws of nature and one's own karma. Therefore the Vedic injunction is that a person engaged in material activities should be given directions by which he can intelligently apply his activities to the service of the Lord to become free from the material bondage of repeated birth and death (sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiḿ vindati mānavaḥ). The Lord is always ready to give directions. Indeed, His directions are elaborately given in Bhagavad-gītā. If we take advantage of these directions, then in spite of our being conditioned by the laws of material nature, we shall become free to attain our original constitution (mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāḿ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]). We should have firm faith that the Lord is supreme and that if we surrender to Him, He will take charge of us and indicate how we can get out of material life and return home, back to Godhead. Without such surrender, one is obliged to accept a certain type of body according to his karma, sometimes as an animal, sometimes a demigod and so on. Although the body is obtained and lost in due course of time, the spirit soul does not actually mix with the body, but is subjugated by the particular modes of nature with which he is sinfully associated. Spiritual education changes one's consciousness so that one simply carries out the orders of the Supreme Lord and becomes free from the influence of the modes of material nature.
7.2.42
idaḿ śarīraḿ puruṣasya mohajaḿ
(42) This body of the person born of ignorance is just as separate from him as the material of a house is separate from its indweller; the same way is man separate from the body in which he with water, earth and fire took birth, and which, transforming in time, is vanquished again.
7.2.43
(43) Just as fire in wood is observed separately, just as the air within the body has its separate position, just as the all pervading ether stays with itself, so too stands the living entity apart from its material encasement with its modes.
In Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead has explained that the material energy and spiritual energy both emanate from Him. The material energy is described as me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā, the eight separated energies of the Lord. But although the eight gross and subtle material energies — namely, earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — are stated to be bhinnā, separate from the Lord, actually they are not. As fire appears separate from wood and as the air flowing through the nostrils and mouth of the body appear separate from the body, so the Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears separate from the living being but is actually separate and not separate simultaneously. This is the philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva propounded by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. According to the reactions of karma, the living being appears separate from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but actually he is very intimately related with the Lord. Consequently, even though we now seem neglected by the Lord, He is actually always alert to our activities. Under all circumstances, therefore, we should simply depend on the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus revive our intimate relationship with Him. We must depend upon the authority and control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
7.2.44
(44) [The body of] this one [called] Suyajña is there right before you and you, o foolish people, now cry for him, but he who heard and spoke with it in this world, could never be seen by you!
This instruction by Yamarāja in the form of a boy is understandable even for a common man. A common man who considers the body the self is certainly comparable to an animal (yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke. .. sa eva go-kharaḥ [SB 10.84.13]). But even a common man can understand that after death a person is gone. Although the body is still there, a dead man's relatives lament that the person has gone away, for a common man sees the body but cannot see the soul. As described in Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe: [Bg. 2.13] the soul, the proprietor of the body, is within. After death, when the breath within the nostrils has stopped, one can understand that the person within the body, who was hearing and replying, has now gone. Therefore, in effect, the common man concludes that actually the spirit soul was different from the body and has now gone away. Thus even a common man, coming to his senses, can know that the real person who was within the body and was hearing and replying was never seen. For that which was never seen, what is the need of lamentation?
7.2.45
yas tv ihendriyavān ātmā
(45) Although residing within this body is the great ruler of the body, the life air, not the listener, nor the speaker; the soul stands apart from him, the life air, that is locked up within the body with all its sense organs.
7.2.46
bhajaty utsṛjati hy anyas
(46) The soul in control achieves and gives up again high and low-class bodies that are characterized by the five elements, the senses and the mind, and in doing so differs he [as the so-called linga, the subtle body] by dint of his own spiritual potency indeed from that what he assumes [see also 4.29].
"Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me."
The human form of body is valuable. One can use this body to go to the higher planetary systems, to Pitṛloka, or he can remain in this lower planetary system, but if one tries he can also return home, back to Godhead. This prowess is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the Supersoul. Therefore the Lord says, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca: [Bg. 15.15] "From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." If one wants to receive real knowledge from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can become free from bondage to repeated acceptance of material bodies. If one takes to the devotional service of the Lord and surrenders unto Him, the Lord is prepared to give one directions by which to return home, back to Godhead, but if one foolishly wants to keep himself in darkness, he can continue in a life of material existence.
7.2.47
yāval lińgānvito hy ātmā
tato viparyayaḥ kleśo
māyā-yogo 'nuvartate
(47) As long as one is of fruitive activity is one covered by the subtle body [consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego]; from that bondage is there the reversal [of the control from the soul to the one by the body] and the misery which follows the being identified with the illusory of matter [B.G. 8: 6].
7.2.48
vitathābhiniveśo 'yaḿ
(48) Just like with the seeing and talking in a daydream is it useless to cling to the factual of the modes of nature: everything that the senses produce in a dream is false.
The happiness and distress derived from the activities of the material senses are not actual happiness and distress. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā speaks of happiness that is transcendental to the material conception of life (sukham ātyantikaḿ yat tad buddhi-grāhyam atīndriyam). When our senses are purified of material contamination, they become atīndriya, transcendental senses, and when the transcendental senses are engaged in the service of the master of the senses, Hṛṣīkeśa, one can derive real transcendental pleasure. Whatever distress or happiness we manufacture by mental concoction through the subtle mind has no reality, but is simply a mental concoction. One should therefore not imagine so-called happiness through mental concoction. Rather, the best course is to engage the mind in the service of the Lord, Hṛṣīkeśa, and thus feel real blissful life.
There is a Vedic statement apāma-somam amṛtā abhūma apsarobhir viharāma. With reference to such a conception, one wants to go to the heavenly planets to enjoy with the young girls there and drink soma-rasa. Such imaginary pleasure, however, has no value. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.23), antavat tu phalaḿ teṣāḿ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām: "Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary." Even if by fruitive activity or worship of the demigods one is elevated to the higher planetary systems for sense enjoyment, his situation is condemned in Bhagavad-gītā as antavat, perishable. The happiness one enjoys in this way is like the pleasure of embracing a young woman in a dream; for some time it may be pleasing, but actually the basic principle is false. The mental concoctions of happiness and distress in this material world are compared to dreams because of their falseness. All thoughts of obtaining happiness by using the material senses have a false background and therefore have no meaning.
7.2.49
(49) It is for this reason that having the eternal as well as the temporal in this world is something that is not lamented by those who are of knowledge, otherwise, as you'll understand, wouldn't it be possible to deal with those who do like to sob over things [see also B.G. 2: 11].
According to the mīmāḿsā philosophers, everything is eternal, nitya, and according to the Sāńkhya philosophers everything is mithyā, or anitya — impermanent. Nonetheless, without real knowledge of ātma-, the soul, such philosophers must be bewildered and must continue to lament as śūdras. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī therefore said to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:
śrotavyādīni rājendra
"Those who are materially engrossed, being blind to knowledge of the ultimate truth, have many subjects for hearing in human society, O Emperor." (Bhāg. 2.1.2) For ordinary persons engaged in material activities there are many, many subject matters to understand because such persons do not understand self-realization. One must therefore be educated in self-realization so that under any circumstances in life he will remain steady in his vows.
7.2.50
pakṣiṇāḿ nirmito 'ntakaḥ
(50) Some hunter in the forest who was directed to decimate the number of birds, spread a net and luring with food here and there he captured them.
7.2.51
(51) He saw there a pair of kulinga birds foraging and as the hunter allured the female bird was it killed by surprise.
7.2.52
sāsajjata sicas tantryāḿ
kulińgas tāḿ tathāpannāḿ
snehād akalpaḥ kṛpaṇaḥ
(52) O queens, the male seeing how the female bird caught in the ropes of the net was seized, was very aggrieved and not knowing what to do began the poor thing out of affection to lament for its mate:
7.2.53
striyākaruṇayā vibhuḥ
(53) 'Alas how cruel providence is, the Almighty of Mercy, to my wife; how awkward, what else can I do but lament over the poor one?
7.2.54
anena vidhurāyuṣā
(54) As He likes He may take my life too, what, for God, is the use of my half of the body really, what a poor life it is to suffer that pain for a lifetime!
7.2.55
(55) How unfortunate are my babies waiting for their mother in their nest. How can I without the mother maintain the young that can't fly as yet?'
The bird is lamenting for the mother of his children because the mother naturally maintains and cares for the children. Yamarāja, however, in the guise of a small boy, has already explained that although his mother left him uncared for and wandering in the forest, the tigers and other ferocious animals had not eaten him. The real fact is that if the Supreme Personality of Godhead protects one, even though one be motherless and fatherless, one can be maintained by the good will of the Lord. Otherwise, if the Supreme Lord does not give one protection, one must suffer in spite of the presence of his father and mother. Another example is that sometimes a patient dies in spite of a good physician and good medicine. Thus without the protection of the Lord one cannot live, with or without parents.
Another point in this verse is that fathers and mothers have protective feelings for their children even in bird and beast society, not to speak of human society. Kali-yuga, however, is so degraded that a father and mother even kill their children in the womb on the plea of their scientific knowledge that within the womb the child has no life. Prestigious medical practitioners give this opinion, and therefore the father and mother of this day kill their children within the womb. How degraded human society has become! Their scientific knowledge is so advanced that they think that within the egg and the embryo there is no life. Now these so-called scientists are receiving Nobel Prizes for advancing the theory of chemical evolution. But if chemical combinations are the source of life, why don't the scientists manufacture something like an egg through chemistry and put it in an incubator so that a chicken will come out? What is their answer? With their scientific knowledge they are unable to create even an egg. Such scientists are described in Bhagavad-gītā as māyayāpahṛta jñānāḥ, fools whose real knowledge has been taken away. They are not men of knowledge, but they pose as scientists and philosophers, although their so-called theoretical knowledge cannot produce practical results.
7.2.56
(56) With the bird with wet eyes thus very sad lamenting at a distance over the loss of his beloved, managed the relentless hunter to sneak upon him and take him down by piercing him with an arrow.
7.2.57
ātmāpāyam abuddhayaḥ
nainaḿ prāpsyatha śocantyaḥ
(57) And so, o ignorant ones, is it with you not facing the finality of your existence; lamenting over your husband won't bring him back, not even in a hundred years.'
Yamarāja once asked Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, "What is the most wonderful thing within this world?" Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira replied (Mahābhārata, Vana-parva 313.116):
ahany ahani bhūtāni
gacchantīha yamālayam
Hundreds and thousands of living entities meet death at every moment, but a foolish living being nonetheless thinks himself deathless and does not prepare for death. This is the most wonderful thing in this world. Everyone has to die because everyone is fully under the control of material nature, yet everyone thinks that he is independent, that whatever he likes he can do, that he will never meet death but live forever, and so on. So-called scientists are making various plans by which living entities in the future can live forever, but while they are thus pursuing such scientific knowledge, Yamarāja, in due course of time, will take them away from their business of so-called research.7.2.58
anityam ayathotthitam
(58) S'rî Hiranyakas'ipu said: 'The boy thus expounding philosophically astounded the hearts of all the relatives and they thought everything that the eye could meet was just temporary [see also B.G. 2: 18].
7.2.59
tatraivāntaradhīyata
jñātayo hi suyajñasya
cakrur yat sāmparāyikam
(59) Yamarâja in this form having given instruction then disappeared, whereupon the relatives of King Suyajña did what needed to be done for the funeral.
7.2.60
sva-parābhiniveśena
vinājñānena dehinām
(60) So what would there for you be to lament about? Whether it belongs to you or to someone else, whether it concerns yourself or someone else, in this material world is the idea one has of oneself and of others the result of being preoccupied with the body in combination with a lack of knowledge about that what is embodied.'
In this material world, the conception of self-preservation is the first law of nature. According to this conception, one should be interested in his personal safety and should then consider society, friendship, love, nationality, community and so on, which have all developed because of the bodily conception of life and a lack of knowledge of the spirit soul. This is called ajñāna. As long as human society is in darkness and ignorance, men will continue to make huge arrangements in the bodily conception of life. This is described by Prahlāda Mahārāja as bharam. In the materialistic conception, modern civilization makes enormous arrangements for huge roads, houses, mills and factories, and this is man's conception of the advancement of civilization. People do not know, however, that at any time they themselves may be kicked out of the scene and forced to accept bodies that have nothing to do with these enormous houses, palaces, roads and automobiles. Therefore when Arjuna was thinking in terms of his bodily relationships with his kinsmen, Kṛṣṇa immediately chastised him, saying, kutas tvā kaśmalam idaḿ viṣame samupasthitam anārya juṣṭam: "This bodily conception of life is befitting the anāryas, the non-Āryans, who are not advanced in knowledge." An Āryan civilization is a civilization advanced in spiritual knowledge. Not merely by stamping oneself an Āryan does one become an Āryan. To keep oneself in the deepest darkness concerning spiritual knowledge and at the same time claim to be an Āryan is a non-Āryan position. In this connection, Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes as follows from the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa:
ka ātmā kaḥ para iti dehādy-apekṣayā
dehādi-vyatiriktau tu
jīveśau pratijānatā
śatru-nāśas tathājñāna-
nāśo nānyaḥ kathañcana
The purport is that as long as we are in this human form of body, our duty is to understand the soul within the body. The body is not the self; we are different from the body, and therefore there is no question of friends, enemies or responsibilities in terms of the bodily conception of life. One should not be very anxious about the body's changing from childhood to boyhood, from boyhood to old age and then to apparent annihilation. Rather, one should be very seriously concerned about the soul within the body and how to release the soul from the material clutches. The living entity within the body is never annihilated; therefore one should surely know that whether one has many friends or many enemies, his friends cannot help him, and his enemies cannot do him any harm. One should know that he is a spirit soul (ahaḿ brahmāsmi) and that the constitutional position of the soul is unaffected by the changes of the body. In all circumstances, everyone, as a spirit soul, must be a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu and should not be concerned with bodily relationships, whether with friends or with enemies. One should know that neither we ourselves nor our enemies in the bodily conception of life are ever killed.7.2.61
ditir ākarṇya sasnuṣā
(61) S'rî Nârada said: 'Diti and [Rushâbhânu,] the wife of the deceased brother, hearing the speech of the king of the Daityas promptly gave up their great bereavement and engaged their hearts in the real philosophy of life.'
When a relative dies one certainly becomes very much interested in philosophy, but when the funeral ceremony is over one again becomes attentive to materialism. Even Daityas, who are materialistic persons, sometimes think of philosophy when some relative meets death. The technical term for this attitude of the materialistic person is śmaśāna-vairāgya, or detachment in a cemetery or place of cremation. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, four classes of men receive an understanding of spiritual life and God — ārta (the distressed), jijñāsu (the inquisitive), arthārthī (one who desires material gains) and jñānī (one who is searching for knowledge). Especially when one is very much distressed by material conditions, one becomes interested in God. Therefore Kuntīdevī said in her prayers to Kṛṣṇa that she preferred distress to a happy mood of life. In the material world, one who is happy forgets Kṛṣṇa, or God, but sometimes, if one is actually pious but in distress, he remembers Kṛṣṇa. Queen Kuntīdevī therefore preferred distress because it is an opportunity for remembering Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was leaving Kuntīdevī for His own country, Kuntīdevī regretfully said that she was better off in distress because Kṛṣṇa was always present, whereas now that the Pāṇḍavas were situated in their kingdom, Kṛṣṇa was going away. For a devotee, distress is an opportunity to remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly.
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