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Garbhadhana-samskara III -
01-08-2008, 08:57 PM
6.1.54 The fruitive activities a living being performs, whether pious or impious, are the unseen cause for the fulfillment of his desires. This unseen cause is the root for the living entity’s different bodies. Because of his intense desire, the living entity takes birth in a particular family and receives a body which is either like that of his mother or like that of his father. The gross and subtle bodies are created according to his desire.
PURPORT: The gross body is a product of the subtle body. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (8.6): “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” The atmosphere of the subtle body at the time of death is created by the activities of the gross body. Thus the gross body acts during one’s lifetime, and the subtle body acts at the time of death. The subtle body, which is called linga, the body of desire, is the background for the development of a particular type of gross body, which is either like that of one’s mother or like that of one’s father. According to the Rg Veda, if at the time of sex the secretions of the mother are more profuse than those of the father, the child will receive a female body, and if the secretions of the father are more profuse than those of the mother, the child will receive a male body. These are the subtle laws of nature, which act according to the desire of the living entity. If a human being is taught to change his subtle body by developing a consciousness of Krsna, at the time of death the subtle body will create a gross body in which he will be a devotee of Krsna, or if he is still more perfect, he will not take another material body but will immediately get a spiritual body and thus return home, back to Godhead. This is the process of the transmigration of the soul. Therefore instead of trying to unite human society through pacts for sense gratification that can never be achieved, it is clearly desirable to teach people how to become Krsna conscious and return home, back to Godhead. This is true now and, indeed, at any time.
7.11.8-12 These are the general principles to be followed by all human beings: truthfulness, mercy, austerity (observing fasts on certain days of the month), bathing twice a day, tolerance, discrimination between right and wrong, control of the mind, control of the senses, nonviolence, celibacy, charity, reading of scripture, simplicity, satisfaction, rendering service to saintly persons, gradually taking leave of unnecessary engagements, observing the futility of the unnecessary activities of human society, remaining silent and grave and avoiding unnecessary talk, considering whether one is the body or the soul, distributing food equally to all living entities (both men and animals), seeing every soul (especially in the human form) as a part of the Supreme Lord, hearing about the activities and instructions given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (who is the shelter of the saintly persons), chanting about these activities and instructions, always remembering these activities and instructions, trying to render service, performing worship, offering obeisances, becoming a servant, becoming a friend, and surrendering one’s whole self.
O King Yudhisthira, these thirty qualifications must be acquired in the human form of life. Simply by acquiring these qualifications, one can satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p></o:p>
PURPORT: In order that human beings be distinct from the animals, the great saint Narada recommends that every human being be educated in terms of the above-mentioned thirty qualifications. . . . For example, if the total populace is untruthful, how can the state be happy? . . . For example, if the total populace is untruthful, how can the state be happy? .
. . Similarly, . . . The Lord is one, whether one is Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Therefore, one should chant the holy name of the Lord, regardless of differences in linguistic pronunciation. Also, everyone should be taught to be very careful not to discharge semen unnecessarily. This is very important for all human beings. If semen is not discharged unnecessarily, one becomes extremely strong in memory, determination, activity and the vitality of one’s bodily energy. . . . Unless one is educated in the above-mentioned thirty qualities, there cannot be any peace. Ultimately it is recommended: . . . “In one who has unflinching devotional service to Krsna, all the good qualities of Krsna and the demigods are consistently manifest. However, he who has no devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no good qualifications because he is engaged by mental concoction in material existence, which is the external feature of the Lord.” (Bhag. 5.18.12) . . .
7.11.13 Those who have been reformed by the garbhadhana ceremony and other prescribed reformatory methods, performed with Vedic mantras and without interruption, and who have been approved by Lord Brahma, are dvijas, or twice-born. Such brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas, purified by their family traditions and by their behavior, should worship the
Lord, study the Vedas and give charity. In this system, they should follow the principles of the four asramas [brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa].
9.20.21 According to the Vedic injunction atma vai putra-namasi, the father becomes the son. The mother is simply like a storekeeper, because the seed of the child is placed in her womb, but it is the father who is responsible for maintaining the son. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says that He is the seed-giving father of all living entities . . . A particular type of seed is sown within the earth, and then a particular type of tree or plant comes out. The mother resembles the earth, and when a particular type of seed is sown by the father, a particular type of body takes birth.
10.1.41 Having experienced a situation by seeing or hearing about it, one contemplates and speculates about that situation, and thus one surrenders to it, not considering his present body. Similarly, by mental adjustments one dreams at night of living under different circumstances, in different bodies, and forgets his actual position. Under this same process,
one gives up his present body and accepts another [tatha dehantara-praptih]. <o:p></o:p>
PURPORT: . . . The mind is the subtle substance in which the body is created, as we actually experience in our dreams and also when we are awake in contemplation. One must understand that the process of mental speculation develops a new type of body that does not actually exist. If one can understand the nature of the mind (manorathena) and its thinking, feeling and willing, one can very easily understand how from the mind different types of bodies develop. . . . The condition of the mind, which flickers between sankalpa and vikalpa, accepting something and rejecting it, is very important in transferring the soul to another material body at the time of death. . . . Therefore one must train the mind in the system of bhakti-yoga . . . Otherwise the mind will carry the soul to another material body. The soul will be placed in the semen of a father and discharged into the womb of a mother. The semen and ovum create a particular type of body according to the form of the father and mother, and when the body is mature, the soul emerges in that body and begins a new
life. This is the process of transmigration of the soul from one body to another (tatha
dehantara-praptih).
10.1.57P In the Vedic system, as soon as a child is born, especially a male child, the father calls for learned brahmanas, and according to the description of the child’s horoscope, the child is immediately given a name. This ceremony is called nama-karana. There are ten different samskaras, or reformatory methods, adopted in the system of varnasrama-dharma, and the name-giving ceremony is one of them.
10.3.33P Here is an instruction about how to use one’s senses to create progeny. According to Vedic principles, before creating progeny one must fully control the senses. This control takes place through the garbhadhana-samskara. . . . According to Vedic civilization, procreation should not be contrary to religious principles, and then the birthrate will be controlled. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (7.11), dharmaviruddho bhutesu kamo’smi: sex not contrary to religious principles is a representation of the Supreme Lord. People should be educated in how to give birth to good children through samskaras, beginning with the garbhadhana-samskara; birth should not be controlled by artificial means, for this will lead to a civilization of animals. If one follows religious principles, he automatically practices birth control because if one is spiritually educated he knows that the after-effects of sex are various types of misery (bahu-duhkha-bhaja). One who is spiritually advanced does not indulge in uncontrolled sex. Therefore, instead of being forced to refrain from sex or refrain from giving birth to many children, people should be spiritually educated, and then birth control will automatically follow.
10.5.23P At an advanced age one generally cannot beget a male child. If by chance one does beget a child at this age, the child is generally female. . . .
10.55.1P . . . Srila Sridhara Svami further notes that Kamadeva, or Cupid, now appearing within Pradyumna, is a portion of Vasudeva because he is manifest from the element citta, consciousness, which is presided over by Vasudeva, and also because he (Cupid) is the cause of material generation. As the Lord states in the Bhagavad-gita (10.28), prajanas
casmi kandarpah: “Of progenitors I am Kandarpa [Cupid].”
11.5.41P . . . We are accepting service from innumerable living entities, and we are obligated to repay them. Apta means one’s own family members, to whom one is certainly obligated according to normal morality, and nrnam means human society. Until one becomes a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is certainly a product of his society. . . . and thus we owe a great debt to society. Of course, our debt to society is not simply to the present order but to all of our forefathers and ancestors who carefully preserved moral and social customs so that we, their descendants, could live peacefully. Undoubtedly an ordinary person has many obligations within this material world. But according to Bhagavad-gita, mayaiva vihitan hi tan: it is actually the Supreme Lord who is giving all benedictions. For example, one receives one’s body by the mercy of one’s parents. However, sometimes we find that a particular man or woman may become impotent at a given moment. Sometimes a deformed child is born, and sometimes a child is born dead. Often the sexual act fails to produce pregnancy at all. So although all parents desire a beautiful, highly qualified child, this is often not the case. Thus it can be understood that ultimately it is by the mercy of the Supreme Lord that a man and woman are able to produce a child by the sexual act. It is by the Lord’s mercy that the man’s seminal injection is potent and the woman’s ovum is fertile. Similarly, it is only by the mercy of the Lord that the child is born in a healthy condition and reaches physical maturity to pursue his own life. If at any stage in the evolution of a human being the
Lord’s mercy is withdrawn, sudden death or crippling disease occurs. . . .
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