Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.1
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Delhi · 2005
Chapters
Verse recitation from Srimad Bhagavatam
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. By reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 2, chapter 9, answers by citing the Lord's version, text number one.
Sri suku wacha atmayam re te racha. Para tmanaha, gateta art, samban Swappna, Drastu, Eva Anddia Sam, Sri Sjubacha, Mriter, Passyan Batman, Pärsyanu Bhavatman, Natsa, Nakote, Samband, Sapndra, Sturiban, Svopna draw sture
band, Sri Sugar, Atmae Mritercha, Varsna Bhadman, Nagate Tarta Sambanda, Smapna Dravstoli Band, 6-2, Artmay, 3-de-Radjam, Rassia no Batman. Naga Tita Sam Bandam Swapna Draw Skuri Bandja Sam Sisu Gobach Advaya Mr.
Krishna Babatman We should watch our sound
Translation and purport reading
That's the right question. Srisju kova chā Srisuukkaade Deluvaga G Soswami
said, Atma, the Supreme Personality of God, Mayama Energy, Vit without Raja O king parasya of the pure soul Anubhava Atmana of the purely conscious. Never gateta. It can so happen. Artha meaning sambandha relation
with the material body svapna Dream Drastu of the Seer Eva Like Anjasa Completely translation
Sri Sukadeva Swami said O king unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of God there is no meaning in the relationship of the pure soul and pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing his own body working.
Proposed by His Divine Grace His Bhaktivinanda Swani Prabhupada. Maharaja Pariksha's question as to how a living entity began his material life, although he is apart from the material body and mind, is perfectly answered.
The spirit soul is distinct from the material conception of life. But he is absorbed in such a material conception because of being influenced by the external energy of the Lord called <ātmā-māyā>
<Vyāsadeva's> realization of the Supreme Lord and his external energy. The external energy is controlled by the Lord, and the living entities are controlled by the external energy, by the will of the Lord.
Therefore, all that the living entity is purely conscious in his pure state, he is subordinate to the will of the Lord in being influenced by the external energy of the Lord.
The Lord is present within the heart of every living entity and all the living entities' consciousness and forgetfulness is influenced by the Lord.
Now the next question automatically made will be: why the Lord influences the living entity to such consciousness and forgetfulness?
The answer is that the Lord clearly wishes that every living entity be in his pure consciousness as a part and parcel of the Lord, and thus be engaged in the loving service of the Lord as he is constitutionally made.
But because the living entity is partially independent also, he may not be willing to serve the Lord, but may try to become as independent as the Lord is.
Therefore, the first sinful will of the living entity is to become the Lord, and the consequent will of the Lord is that the living entity forgets his factual
The child cries to have the moon from the mother, and the mother gives the child a mirror to satisfy the crying and disturbing child with the reflection of the moon.
Similarly, the crying child of the Lord is given over to the reflection,
There is no necessity of tracing out the history of when the living entity desired this.
But in fact the fact is that as soon as he desired it, he was put under <ātmā-māyā> Therefore the living entity in his material condition is dreaming falsely by that this is mine and this is I.
The dream is that the conditioned soul thinks that his material body is I, or falsely thinks that he is the Lord, and that everything in connection with this material body is mine.
Thus, only in dream does the misconception of eye and mind persist life after life.
This continuous life after life as long as the living entity is not purely consciousness of his identity as the subordinate part and parcel of the Lord.
In his pure consciousness, however, there is no such misconceived dream.
And in that pure conscious state, the living entity does not forget that he is never the Lord, but he is eternally the servitor of the Lord in transcendental love. Sila Prabhupada.
Mamaya Mrajan Arasyanu Bhavatmanaha Nagate Tartha Sam Bandha Svaknadrastu Rivanja Sam. Translation Daswami said, O king, unless one is influenced by the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There is no meaning in the relationship of the pure soul, in pure consciousness with the material body. That relationship is just like a dreamer's seeing of his own body working.
Amagyana dimirat mesyagana janasalakaya chaksur miridamina pasmai srigurayna mah namam visnu padaya krishna prishtaya butareshi mati bhtividanta swami Prachari, Nirvi Shish Susunyavadi, Paschatya De Shayani, Manchaku
Badaru Bha Shah Kripa Sindu Vacha Paditanam Pavana Bhyovishna Vivyonawma Jasri Krishna Chaitana Prabhunitananda Sriadva Tabidata Rashivasa Devo Rubakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna
Purpose of the material body
Hare Hare Aare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Are Khamay So Shishukadev Gaswani answers the questions of Maharaja Parikshit which he asked in the previous chapter.
And specifically, this is the answer to the question in the verse number seven of the previous chapter. O learned Brahmanana, the transcendental spirit soul is different from the material body.
Does he acquire the body accidentally or by some cause? Will you kindly explain this? For it is known to you. So basically, Maharaja Parikshet wants to know why do we have this body? And why this particular kind of body?
Is it just some kind of accident? It so happened. You know, my mother was in love with my father. And my father was in love with somebody else, so I appeared as I am. Something like this.
But the question of Maharaja Pariksit is why? And this is the most important question which every one of us has to ask. We have to become spiritual scientists, and science answers this question: what is the cause? What is the real cause?
Because sometimes people ask uh these questions, uh, or sometimes people are bewildered and they don't know the answers to these questions. Why do I look like I look? Why do I have diseases?
Why some people are very strong and have stout bodies and are very healthy and other people they just you know sick all the time. Why? Because of some star or what is the reason?
So this is basically the question and answer of course we all know.
And the answer as Prabhupada explains in the purport is perfect. Immediately Sukadeva Goswami explains that this is because of ātma-māyā, because of the own energy of the Lord, because of his own energy.
And of course we know the answer. We know this answer many times. Certain things we know, but there is a tendency that we forget about this.
Once Prabhupada was asked by his disciples, Prabhupada, why do you repeat the same thing again and again and again? And sometimes we may even ask the same question ourselves.
Why does Prabhupada repeat the same things again and again and again?
And we can see in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also the same certain points are repeated again and again and again and the answer which Prabhupada gave was very important
for us because you forget, because you forget. Otherwise you forget. You're not this body, you're not this body, you're not this body. And if we are not reminded about this for one day, we will definitely forget about it.
Because the tendency will be there, right? This body.
Control of the illusory energy
So the question of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, why do I have this body? Is being answered by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, ātma-māyā, because of the illusory energy of the Lord.
And Prabhupada explains that the very same answer was given to Vyasadev in his dream, in his reveal revelation, in here, sorry, not in his dream, in his mystic vision, in his samadhi.
And Vyāsadeva was about to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam after being instructed by Nārada Muni. He had this mystic vision of the Lord. And he saw the Lord and he saw yayā samīhate jīvaḥ. He saw the Jiva.
He saw the Jiva, which has nothing to do with the material energy, consisting of the three modes of material nature. He saw the living entity, the pure spirit soul, which is according to the version
of Upaniṣads, uh asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ. Puruṣa spirit soul is always asaṅga. Asanga means free. Asanga means completely free from the connection with the modes of material nature. Atmakam trigunatmakam.
Atmanak trigunatmakam. But at the same time, manute, manuteatkam. He sees that he is this material modes of material nature. He identifies himself as the modes of material nature.
But the most important thing which Vyasadeva saw is that this is all being controlled by the energy of the Lord, by Maya. But Maya Himself is being controlled by the Lord. So ultimately, we are in Maya.
But we are in Maya because of the will of the Lord. Ultimately, his will.
Ultimately the answer which Śukadeva Gosvāmī gives is that we are in Maya, but this is Atma Maya, the own energy of the Lord and ultimately this is the will of the Lord. So this doesn't make our life easier.
Because you know now we have to understand why all merciful Lord put us in this miserable condition in this material world. How is that? We know that the energy of the Lord is dependent on the Lord.
Actually, Jīva Gosvāmī explains very interestingly the vision of Vyasadeva from the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is actually the primordial of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in gist will be explained in this chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the ninth chapter of the second canto, where catuḥ-ślokī of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam will be given.
And it is all words of the Lord Himself to Lord Brahma.
But in the same way, the very short description of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the germ of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the primordial Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is explained in this mystical vision of samādhi of Vyasadeva in the first canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
And there it is said that Maya is hiding away from the vision of the Lord. So Jīva Gosvāmī asks this question. He says, how is that Maya is under control of the Lord?
Because we know that usually lady or wife is controlling the husband, right? The husband is foolish enough to think that he's controlling the wife, but actually everyone knows that the real controller is the wife.
So sometimes people they have this tendency to think that yes, uh, you know, I'm in Maya and ultimately, Maya is in control.
But it is very clearly explained in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and here that ultimately the Lord is in control. So Jīva Gosvāmī explains this transcendental loving relationship between the Lord and His energy.
How in case of the Lord Maya is not controlling the Lord. He says the only reason why Maya is not controlling the Lord is that because she is hiding behind his back.
The way of ladies to control the husband is to come in front.
When the lady comes in front of the husband and the husband looks at the lady, you know, he becomes totally enchanted by her beauty and by her glances and smile and by her sweet words. And therefore he becomes controlled.
So Jiva Gaswami explains that in the case of the Lord and his relationship with Maya, the Maya is hiding away from the Lord behind his back, and therefore he doesn't see her, and therefore she has no power to control him.
So, in other words, uh the point here is that again we are under the energy of the Lord, but the energy of the Lord is under the will of the Lord Himself. We are completely forgetful of the Lord.
And this is our problem, and this is the root cause of all our sufferings in this material world. But why? The answer is that this is the will of the Lord.
So the next question, as Prabhupada explains in his purport, is that why does the Lord want us to be in this condition? Ultimately we have to be very clear about this. This is the will of the Lord.
Everything here is under the will of the Lord, and our position here is again because of the will of the Lord. So still the question is not answered why the Lord wants us to be in this position.
And sometimes people they say, you know, the Lord wants me to be in this situation. The Lord gave me this body. And this body is for what? For my pleasure. And that's ultimately the will of the Lord.
If I want to fulfill the will of the Lord, what should I do? I should enjoy myself in this material world, right? Because this is the will of the Lord, right?
The Lord wants me to enjoy in this world, and therefore here I am and I am enjoying in this world.
But uh Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, and actually Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains in the second half of this world that this is just a dream, that this is illusion.
And the will of the Lord is to give us this dream, to give us this uh illusory world, to give us this reflection of this reality, uh not because he wants it, but because we want it.
Because we are as a naughty child, we wanted to enjoy this material world, we wanted to be the Lord, and this is not possible. So the initial problem is within us.
Distinction between dependent and independent entities
The initial problem is our desire to become the Lord.
Actually, uh this is very nicely explained by Jayādvaita, uh who is a disciple uh Param disciple or whatever, the disciple in succession, the cyclic succession of Madhvācārya.
Madhvācārya explains this and uh Vyasatirta elaborates on the same point.
The problem is that the reason why we are bhrāntimayā, the root cause of all our problems and all our sufferings is that we are dependent but we want to be independent. Madhvācārya very beautifully explains this point.
He says that there should be two categories of living entities: Svatantra and Paratantra. Svatantra means independent and paratantra means, paratantra means dependent.
So Madhvācārya he explains this very beautifully that in order to understand the world you have to understand that there are two types of living entities in this world independent and dependent.
Otherwise you cannot explain this world. Madhvācārya says that actually, there are different heresies in this world, different false conceptions of this world.
If we want to understand the reason, the cause, why I'm here and why I'm suffering, you have to understand the world in him in its entirety. And the entirety of the world is that there is me, myself, my experience.
Like here it is said that anubhava ātmā. Anubhava ātmā means I am. And I am means, uh, experience. I am experiencing something. I feel something. So this is the first reality which we have. And this is the reality.
This is a very fundamental principle. Then, uh, Madhvācārya says there is another reality which is the world of matter, which is also reality, and then there is another reality which is God.
This reality is there and the tendency in this material world would be to explain something to emphasize one of this reality and forget about others.
Like some people, uh they only experience themselves and they think this is the most important.
And the world around me is just my perception, and everything else is my perception, and the conception of the Lord is also my perception, so ultimately, only I who exist. This is one kind of philosophy.
There is another philosophy which is called materialism, and they say that only world is tangible, only matter is tangible. Everything else is kind of immaterial.
You know, you don't know really what what you are. You know, what is the soul. You don't know what it is. So this is not really important. And God, who has seen God? Nobody has seen God. Did you see God?
No, you didn't see God. So God is also immaterial. So ultimately, only matter is something substantial, therefore only matter exists. And there is a third kind of philosophy.
Please listen very carefully because it's important. Because ultimately, this is the answer to the question: why do I suffer? The most important question which we have in our mind is why do I suffer?
But in order to give the proper answer and to understand the proper answer very deeply within the heart. We have to know the philosophy. Sambandha-jñāna.
So Madhvācārya said the third kind of wrong philosophical understanding is that there is only God. Everything else is not important.
So Madhvācārya says, no, there are these three things: myself, individual soul, with my experience, experience of pain and pleasure, which is real.
Then there is God, which is supreme power, under whose will I am here suffering in this world. And then there is world.
So to understand the answer to our suffering, I have to understand the relationship between these three fundamental truths, fundamental tatvas. There is God, there is material world, and there is myself.
So then the next point of Madhvācārya's philosophy was that the experience which you have is real because you are real, and the world is real, and God is real. So why do I suffer?
I suffer because of my wrong position in this material world. And he says there are two kinds of living entities. One is dependent and another one is independent. And who is dependent? The conditioned living entity.
I'm not independent. And who is independent? It's only one, God. And he gives a very interesting proof of this, very interesting logical description how to understand this.
He says if everyone would be independent, like sometimes people think, you know, the problem of our suffering is that we want to be independent. So Madhvācārya asked, do you really independent?
Are you really independent? And he asked this question. If everyone would be independent, then he says, then everyone will be happy. Right?
Because independent means that everything is dependent on me, right? And if everything is dependent on me, then I should make my life happy, right?
Because if I am independent, then and everything depends on me, why should I put myself into suffering? So because I suffer I have to understand that I am independent.
I have to get rid of this illusion that I will ever be independent because I'm dependent by nature. Because of my uh infinitesimal nature, because of my smallness, because of my little nature.
I'm dependent and I have to admit this fact that I'm dependent. But then he says if everyone would be dependent, everyone would be independent, everyone would be happy.
But then he says, if everyone, then some people say then there is no God. He says, no. If you are intelligent, you have to understand that there is an independent living entity.
Because without independent living entity, everything would be chaos. Why is this so?
Because you know if everyone is dependent, if everyone is dependent on somebody else, and somebody else is dependent on somebody else, and ultimately there is nobody who is independent.
There would be no order in this world. There would be no power in this world. There would be no movement in this world. There would be no life in this world.
So he says if you are intelligent enough, you have to understand that there are dependent living entities which is you. And there is independent living entity which is God.
And your proper position is to serve Him because this is your nature. But the problem is that you are being dependent, want to be independent. Everyone wants to be the Lord. Everyone wants to control.
Everyone wants to really feel that he is the Lord Himself. Yesterday I went to FRO, which is Foreign Registration Office, and I was thinking and what is going on around me.
And I really could see that everyone thinks that he is the Lord Himself.
There are different officers and different flats and they're really, really, really insignificant living beings. And their job is really insignificant.
But they really feel that they're, you know, they're really controlling themselves, you know, the surroundings.
You go to someone and he he looks at you, you know, as if you are the most insignificant conditioned living entity, and he's the Lord Himself. And you beg, you know, and he looks at you and he says, you know, he looks there and he looks here. And then he sends you to somebody else, and somebody else is looking at your paper, and he is also the Lord himself.
And you know, and there are so many different lords and everyone is trying to push you down.
And then, and if you go to somebody, and if you kind of you know diminish his position of being the Lord, this is the mahā-parādha which he can do.
This is really if you look in this material world, this is how it works in this material world. Everyone is trying to be the Lord and it is so ridiculous.
The whole show, the whole drama of this material world is totally, completely ridiculous. Because everyone uh wants to show that he's so important.
Like we went to this uh to this first we went to home ministry, and in the home ministry we went to a big boss, and the big boss being a good friend, he immediately showed something; he wrote something, you know, please give this visa extension to this guy, so um, but he cannot give the visa extension to this small guy somebody else has to do it because he's too big for this.
So I go to the small guy and he gets this visa from the big guy that he should give me the visa. But instead of doing this, he thinks, you know, how is that possible? I'm the controller.
And how this guy coming to me through him, you know, no, I have to torture him, you know, otherwise it's not proper.
And he's he's looking in this and he says, no, this is not proper, this is not, no, no, no, no, you have to wait, you know, you have to wait, you know, he has to do he has to show something he has to show that he's controlling and this is the problem.
Ultimately, we have to understand that the cause of our total bewilderment, the cause of our diseased condition, sick condition in this world, is exactly this understanding, the time and control, that I am here to control this surrounding.
And because of this, I cannot understand my real relationship with the Lord. That's the real problem which we have.
Misconception of independence and material illusion
And the cause of this is that we don't understand who we are. Ultimately, it is explained by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he gives a very interesting explanation in his Krishna Samhita.
He says when the living entity is serving the Lord in the spiritual world, is totally absorbed in the service of the Lord and he wants to serve the Lord and the Lord is so beautiful and the service is his natural inclination.
But as soon as he puts himself into this taṭastha position. Taṭastha means indifferent. For the split second, he doesn't want to look at the Lord. He wants to look around.
Before, to be the servant means I want to look at the Lord. To be the servant means I do not want to experience something myself. I want the Lord to experience the pleasure.
You know, to be the Lord here, it's very I mean it's not so easy to give up this conception. Because we're used to it, we're programmed to it, and we think this is the real essence of life.
The real essence of life is to experience something. I'm here, I have to see, I have to hear. And this means to control and this means to be the Lord.
So to be the servant means it's not that I'm the experiencer, the Lord is the experiencer, He has to experience something.
So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that, you know, in the spiritual world, in our original position, by serving, and serving means by seeing for the Lord's pleasure.
But then at one point, the living entity wants to see around. She doesn't want to see the Lord anymore. She just wants to look around. What else is going on?
She is a little, you know, tired of her service to the Lord, and she wants to look around.
And then immediately when she turns around, she sees this beautiful reflection. And this beautiful reflection is the reflection of this material energy.
And this reflection, this reflected energy, which is the reflection of the original energy of the Lord, is seemingly what we want to control or we can control. So the comparison which Prabhupada gives is very appropriate.
Ultimately, when we turn away from the Lord, we see this reflection. And in this reflection, we can imagine ourselves as being the Lord. We see this material creation and we think this is good. There is no God there.
Here you cannot really be God. Because He is there. And He is so prominent. His presence is so so you know so prominent, so obvious. But there is a reflection, and this reflection you can pretend to be God.
And you see, this is a good, this is a very good idea, this is a very good chance for me. And this reflection is glistening and glittering and it's so blazing, you know, so nice, so funny.
And you go there and you control this material world, this reflectory world, reflection world, this material illusory energy, and you think you're happy.
But the real uh uh result of this is that you're not happy. You cannot be happy because this is unnatural.
The natural is a natural position is you should serve the Lord. The natural position is that you're here to see for the happiness of the Lord.
And this is ultimately also being explained in many places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, like in the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Maitreya Muni is answering the questions of the dhīra.
And he says that actually the sufferings which the living entity undergoes are illusory. And it is as if you see how your head is being cut off in a dream. You know like sometimes we see the nightmare.
And in this nightmare you know, all of a sudden something happens with us and we see our own body and our body is working and you know all of a sudden we see that our head is being cut off or the tiger is eating our body and that's suffering and suffering because the tiger is eating our body.
But this is illusory.
This is only because you made this illusory world, this conception of illusory world, this cage of illusory world and your suffering in the same cage which you yourself created by your crazy imagination.
And ultimately, this is being explained by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And in the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked the
question in connection with uh Brahmā-vimohana-līlā. In Brahmā-vimohana-līlā we know for one year Kṛṣṇa has become the son of all the gopīs of Vṛndāvana. He has become the calf of all the cows of Vṛndāvana and everything.
But even before that, Śukadeva Gosvāmī mentioned to Mahārāja Parīkṣit that even before that, all the ladies of Vṛndāvana, they liked Kṛṣṇa more than their own sons.
But then he says that when Krishna became their own sons, they loved their own sons even more than they loved them before, thousands and thousands of times more.
So, uh, Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked this question, how is that possible? We never see in this material world that somebody likes somebody else's children more than his own. It doesn't happen.
You know, your own son may be ugly and maybe sick and maybe you know ill-behaved and maybe stupid.
And the neighbor's son may be very intelligent, very handsome, and very well behaved, and still you will hate the neighbor's son and you will love your own.
So the Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked this question of Śukadeva Gosvāmī. How is that possible? You said that in Vrindavan everyone liked Krishna more than his own sons.
And answering this question, Śukadeva Gosvāmī explained to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Yes, that's true. But why do you love your own sons more than the sons of your neighbors? Ultimately, because they are related to you.
And Maharaja Pariksha explained this. He said that you love your sons because they serve your body.
You love your body because your body serves your soul. Ultimately, because your body helps your soul to experience something in this world. But you love your soul. Why?
Because ultimately there is super soul, there is Krishna. The reason, the cause of all love and all the attachment in this world is because of Krishna.
And he says, because in Vṛndāvana nobody is in mind, because in Vṛndāvana everyone knows that the most dear object in this world is the Lord, is Krishna Himself, therefore only they love everyone else and therefore they have the true identity.
In other words, what Śukadeva Gosvāmī is explaining is that our problems is because of our mistake. We don't know that the most dear thing to us is not even ourselves.
True happiness in devotional service
The most dear thing which is there for us is God. He is the object of all love. He is the object of all our attachment and the object of all our service.
And as soon as we understand this, that our existence is dependent on Him and our happiness is dependent on His happiness. We cannot be happy independently.
The whole drama of material life, the whole disease of material life, the whole problem of material life is because we want to be happy independently of Him.
As soon as we get rid of this mistake, as soon as we understand that I can only be happy if He's happy. And He's always happy, therefore I'm also always happy.
As soon as I stop trying to be happy on my own, I become happy. This is what Prahlāda Mahārāja says that everyone else everyone in this world is unhappy, is miserable. Why? Because we are what trying to be happy.
So to become happy, what you should do? Yeah. To give up this crazy idea. You should give up this idea that you can be happy independently of the Lord.
And you should think about the happiness of the Lord and serve the Lord and serve the happiness of the Lord.
And as soon as you absorb your consciousness into this service, as soon as you understand that you are totally dependent in all states of life on the Lord, then you become happy immediately.
But as long as you have this crazy mistaken idea that you can be happy, that you should be happy, you should be the Lord of all your purview, all all all your survey, then you will be miserable again and again and again.
Like recently somebody wrote me a question and he was struggling with the same issue, exactly the same issue.
He said, you know, yes, I understand that I want to be the Lord. And I understand that the Lord is all powerful. But if he is all-powerful, why cannot he make me the Lord?
Yes, I want it, yes, I I know. I know I love the Lord. I know I want to be the Lord. Why couldn't He make me the Lord? Why couldn't He give me the whole universe to be the Lord in this universe?
And Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this. He says that, you know the Lord gave us this universe. Ultimately, He gave us the universe where we can be the Lord.
This universe is called our apartment in the in the you know uh our little heart somewhere. This is our universe, this is our capacity, where our capacity really goes.
But ultimately the problem with that is not that the Lord, you know, there cannot be independent there cannot be, you know, many lots. The Lord is only one. There cannot be many, many, many independent lots, because there will be chaos again. There will be competition and strife, you know there will be absurd.
The point is that we are always dependent. We cannot change our status and nobody can change our status.
And we have this foolish idea: being independently conscious, being having this independent will, then the Lord gives us the facility to imagine ourselves the Lord. But He also says there is a price which you have to pay.
And this price is birth, old age, disease, and death. This is the price. And if you want to pay the price, no problem. You can be the Lord. You can be the Lord. And it's very interesting to this world.
You can be this Lord and this Lord and you know this Īśvara and that Īśvara, you know, so many Īśvaras. You can be the temple commander, you can be the temple president, you can be GBC, you can be just so many interesting positions in this world.
But the point is that it's all false. And ultimately you will end up suffering miserably.
Our only natural position, original position in this world, is to be the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. This is our nature and we should not have any other ambitions.
Our only ambition should be, I want to be dasa, dasa, dasa, dasa, no dasa and nothing else. And if this is very firmly established within our heart, then there's no problem. Then we're happy.
And if this is not there, we will suffer again and again and again, life after life after life. And this is basically the whole teaching of our philosophy. So thank you very much.
Śyāmasundara Prabhu is supposed to speak about Gorakhnath's philosophy.
Role of free will in marginal nature
Maybe there are some questions. Uh in the spiritual world giving energy because everything is purity, how come then the activity is uh that's the lab be the law. It's simple.
Sometimes people struggle with this understanding, but it's actually very simple. By nature we are conscious. We are little particles of cit-śakti. And cit means consciousness.
And consciousness means we are conscious about our own existence. I exist. And we are conscious about the existence of the world around us. This is what I means.
We are actually the little particles of the energy of I-ness, you know, this I can, I exist, I am, is there, and this is the very essence of our nature. So because we are exist, we're free. Consciousness means freedom.
Because consciousness means will. And will means free will. Right? And since I have this consciousness, I have the free will.
And because I have the free will, uh I I may desire something uh which uh doesn't really you know uh in accordance with my nature so ultimately in the beginning it's not even contamination, it's kind of it's kind of experience which we have.
I want to experience, you know, I want to experience Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he says that the Siddhanta Saraswati Tapur Prabhupada, he says that the
original situation of the living entity is taṭasthā. We belong to this taṭasthā energy. Taṭasthā means taṭa means bank, right? In between the two energies.
I'm the little particle of cit-śakti, but the rest there is this material energy and there is this spiritual energy. So basically it's a question where I want to look at. Whether I want to look at the material energy.
And if I want to look at the material energy, yes, I'm conditioned. If I want to look at the spiritual energy, yes, I'm liberated and I'm there, I'm absorbing.
So basically, it's not a contamination in reality, it's a manifestation of our free will. Again, our nature is that we are in between. And in between means we can be either here or there.
We can be either in the kingdom in the realm of material energy or we can be in the kingdom of the spiritual energy.
But to be in the kingdom of spiritual energy means to be the servant, to be the in the kingdom of material energy means to be the Lord. And it's basically uh the choice which you have.
It's it's not a continuation, it's really the free will which is the nature of the living entity. Again we can have that same thing. Now Kṛṣṇa says, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama.
Whoever goes to the spiritual world he never comes there. And that's what Krishna says. In in my spiritual abode, because everyone is so you know blissful
there, usually when you have this experience of being the Lord and kind of being frustrated, you don't want to be īśa anymore. You want to be dasa dasa and dasa.
But you know, if this desire is very strong in your heart, don't worry, you'll be there. But uh of course, Prabhupāda once he was asked this question and he said yes, because the free will is there.
So Prabhupāda, he always wanted to stress to emphasize this point of freedom of our you know will.
He said yes if you want if you're stupid enough you can go but usually people are you know when they have this experience of being here they don't want to come here anymore. They had it enough.
But sometimes maybe you you you will feel that you know something is missing is in your heart. You will come to enjoy Hawaii somewhere else. Somewhere. Like this year.
We see devotees who are serving God for so many years, maybe like twenty years very high position. They also then all found the positions.
This is because of free will or because they have the conditioned contamination which could No, this is not because of the Yeah, it ultimately it's because of the free will, but it's because of the high position.
Because when you serve in a high position, you ultimately forget that you serve. See, any position in this world has two sides. One is the side of service, and another the side of enjoyment of privileges which you have.
Any position. So whether in the material world and in the spiritual world there are two sides of our position, of our situation.
And in any situation we can forget about the service attitude and we can try to enjoy or to experience the privileges which are attached to the service. You know, you become a servant.
Like all these people who become the presidents. Why do they become the presidents? Why do I elect why do people elect them? Because they say I'm your servant. You know, I'm such a good servant. Please elect me.
You know, I will serve you so nicely. And all the foolish people say, yes, yes, yes. We will vote for you. And then for a couple of days he's still in the mood of serving the nation.
But then uh gradually, gradually, gradually he gets into this, you know, mood of being the controller and enjoying the privileges attached to this service position, so to speak, so-called service position.
So, in the same way, it can happen in the service to the Lord.
You know, you big you become big, big servant, and you get so much you know facilities and you enjoy this and you forget about the service itself and we try this is a this is a very good position we try here.
And as soon as this happens you fall down. Actually, you fall down even before when you forgot.
For everyone else it may happen a little later, but in reality, in the world's eyes, you already fallen and you have forgotten about this condition and then it's just a matter of time when it will become obvious for everyone else.
Cultivating awareness of ultimate dependence
You said about uh being dependent many times we have a knowledge. After becoming devotees, also many, many years, we know that we are completely dependent on that.
But many times we act as if actually we are completely independent. And we are actually automatic over the continuing danger.
So how do we work towards this that okay all the time in 24 hours? I'm just dependent on the mercy of my guru and Krishna.
You know the tendency to forget that we are dependent comes when everything is fine and good when they are happy. An ability to forget.
Because when everything is nice, there is a temptation to think that it is nice because of me, right? I'm so intelligent and I'm so you know powerful that I arranged everything around me that it's all perfect.
And I am just here at the center. So and therefore Lord Krishna he mercifully arranged this world in such a way that this illusion doesn't last long. Usually when the sun is shining and everything is fine and everything
is working just perfectly, then you know the next moment everything just falls apart and you know and starts raining and thundering and you know everything is just totally miserable as useless.
So one answer to your question is how to remain always in this consciousness of being dependent is to remember about the miseries which we experience.
It's to remember about the you know is to remember that even if it's nice now you know it won't be very nice very soon so if you remember about this if you're conscious about this, then you can remain dependent.
Therefore, Queen Kunti, she you know, she prays to Lord Krishna, please send all these impediments, because when the impediments are there, then we're always dependent on you. We feel dependent.
We feel we need you to overcome all this impediments. And therefore this material world is a very nice place actually. If we are if we appreciate it.
Because in this world, padam padam yadri padam natasha, uh and every step there is some impediment, there is some problem. So you just have to remember about this and then then you will remain dependent.
Ultimately, you know. But as soon as the pride comes, you have to really worry because as soon as everything is nice then then then you really have to be worried. I tell a little story if you love.
Can you show little story, it's a very nice story. It's from the ancient Greek history. There was one man who was a dictator. He was a big, big dictator. He was a very powerful dictator. His name was Polycratus.
And he had everything under his control. And everything was working so nicely. He had everything was perfect. Just perfect. He had the best poets glorifying him.
He had the best lady dancers dancing in front of him, he had so much riches, you know, everyone was under him.
So his friend, a ruler of some other state, actually from Egypt, he wrote to him a letter and he said, I think something is wrong with you. Because it's too good. And this doesn't last long.
If you are intelligence, you have to do something to make it wrong. Otherwise you will have to suffer so much.
So the guy he started scratching his head and decides I have a very beautiful ring which I'm very attached to with an emerald.
And he decides, okay, I am inflicting voluntarily suffering to myself by parting with this ring. And he goes to the sea and he throws the ring into the sea.
And then a couple of days later the fisherman comes to his kitchen and he brings a big fish and the cook starts cooking the fish and there is this ring inside the fish's belly.
And the cook runs to the king and says, you know, this is the ring. This is your ring. He says, oh, I'm so lucky, you know, everything is under my control. Even the ring comes to me.
And he writes the letter back to his friend. You know, I try, but you know, everything is under my control. So I I am so happy.
I cannot even make the happiness I I can't even break my own happiness. I'm so powerful, I'm so intelligent. So the guy answers here. Therefore, you know, I don't want to see, to to to suffer, seeing your sufferings.
Therefore, I don't want to have anything to do anymore with you, because you will suffer very soon. Miserably.
And this guy, he ended up being crucified by somebody, you know, by one of his rivals and he was poisoned and this and that. That's a horrible story.
But the point of the story is that when we are in illusion that everything is nice and I'm controlling my fate very tightly and everything is working as it should be, then immediately we should think something is wrong.
Something is wrong in my head and immediately we should become dependent and you know pray to the Lord. My dear Lord, I'm a foolish, proud living entity. Please free me from this foolishness.
The full story is that you know very soon, very soon, you know, they're all finished. So that's the full story. That's usually how it is.
You know it works for some time, but sometimes you think everything is fine, but then very soon it becomes very miserable.
Maharaj, sometimes Prabhupada said that Prabhupada said that we have we have fallen from the spiritual world. Yeah, they're falling, um, in this wording, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So Rubas sometimes Rubath Rubas
sometimes say that uh we are not funny but we are the special body plan and we are putting uh speaker but we are seeing
three three so we are three that we are but actually we are in case we should work and we are just lying here or still work. Yeah.
There is different speculations, different conceptions about this, different understandings about this.
But probably here in the purport which we read which we read, uh he writes there is no necessity of tracing out the history of when the living candidate desired this.
Basically, he says it's just impossible to track down how it happened and why it happened. The point is that it happened. This desire came to me and then in reality yes
asanga he I am I'm always asanga. I am not in contact with this material world this is just a dream I'm not really in contact, it just's a kind of, you know, nightmare which I experience, and my real identity is always with the Lord because I'm spiritual.
Aparāyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām. I'm I always belong to the higher energy of the Lord. So that's the point, that's the real the real uh story. And everything else is just dream.
And when it happened, how it happened, we don't know but it happened unfortunately with us so the critical please you know thank you very much