Confused about who is God... - Page 3

Sensible _bloke · 03-20-2009, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haridasdasdas

Krishna is responsible for the death of everyone. The people/demons he kills attain perfection.

Please substantiate how the Puranas are illogical, I'm interested.

I can't help feeling your constant attacks, which is what you have done saying 'stupid, fool' etc, put you into the fanatic category somewhat. I think you're attached to your impersonal conception to the point of craziness. Maybe in a similar way to the crazy Christians I'm sure you've come across. Maybe it's ego, wanting everyone else to be stupid compared to you? At any rate, I hope you aren't really like this in real life. People behave differently on the internet.

Before I sign off... Just tempted to address your interest <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" /><o:p></o:p>
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Vishnu Purana Book 3, Chapter 12<o:p></o:p>
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AURVA continued.--"Let a respectable householder ever venerate the gods, kine, Brahmans, saints, aged persons, and holy teachers. Let him observe the two daily Sandhyás, and offer oblations to fire. Let him dress in untorn garments, use delicate herbs and flowers, wear emeralds and other precious stones, keep his hair smooth and neat, scent his person with agreeable perfumes, and always go handsomely attired, decorated with garlands of white flowers ( Sure, Flowers!!!!) . Let him never appropriate another's property, nor address him with the least unkindness. Let him always speak amiably and with truth, and never make public another's faults. Let him not desire another's prosperity, nor seek his enmity. Let him not mount upon a crazy vehicle, nor take shelter under the bank of a river (which may fall upon him). A wise man will not form a friendship nor walk in the same path with one who is disesteemed, who is a sinner or a drunkard, who has many enemies, or who is lousy, with a harlot or her gallant, with a pauper or a liar, with a prodigal, a slanderer, or a knave. Let not a man bathe against the strength of a rapid stream, nor enter a house on fire, nor climb to the top of a tree ( How does one drink Tender coconut, get mangoes ?) ; nor (in company) clean his teeth or blow his nose, nor gape without covering his mouth, nor clear his throat, nor cough, nor laugh loudly, nor emit wind with noise, nor bite his nails, nor cut grass, ( OMG Cutting grass is banned!! No more landscaping… I mean..... ever!!!) nor scratch the ground, nor put his beard into his mouth, nor crumble a clod of clay ( No Pottery Allowed !! Strictly) ; nor look upon the chief planetary bodies when he is unclean Let him not express disgust at a corpse, for the odour of a dead body is the produce of the moon ( I thought Microorganisms were involved !!!). Let a decent man ever avoid by night the place where four roads meet, the village tree ( ????) , the grove adjacent to the place where bodies are burnt, and a loose woman. Let him not pass across the shadow of a venerable person, of an image, of a deity, of a flag, of a heavenly luminary ( No Pradhakshina is possible during the day time!!!). Let him not travel alone through a forest, nor sleep by himself in an empty house ( What to do if nobody is at home?? Find a hotel). Let him keep remote from hair, bones, thorns, filth, remnants of offerings, ashes, chaff, and earth wet with water in which another has bathed. Let him not receive the protection of the unworthy, nor attach himself to the dishonest. Let him not approach a beast of prey; and let him not tarry long when he has risen from sleep. Let him not lie in bed when he is awake, nor encounter fatigue when it is time to rest. A prudent man will avoid, even at a distance, animals with tusks and horns; and he will shun exposure to frost, to wind, and to sunshine. (I did not know they had hermetic Air-conditioned rooms those days) A man must neither bathe, nor sleep, nor rinse his mouth whilst he is naked (Oops!! I am off to buy a suit to take bath) he must not wash his mouth, or perform any sacred rite, with his waistband unfastened: and he must not offer oblations to fire, nor sacrifice to the gods, nor wash his mouth, nor salute a Brahman, nor utter a prayer, with only one garment on. ( A minimum 2 piece is recommended. Seriously!!). Let him never associate with immoral persons: half an instant is the limit for the intercourse of the righteous with them. (Now THAT is being Specific!!) A wise man will never engage in a dispute with either his superiors or inferiors: controversy and marriage are to be permitted only between equals (Has anybody heard of a term called Equality?? I thought all people are equal in the eyes of God!! Apparently not as per this purana). Let not a prudent man enter into contention: let him avoid uprofitable enmity. A small loss may be endured; but he should shun the wealth that is acquired by hostility.<o:p></o:p>
"When a man has bathed, he must not wipe his limbs with a towel nor with his hands, nor shake his hair, nor rinse his mouth before he has risen. ( may be we should air dry ourselves!!) Let him not (when sitting) put one foot over another, nor stretch forth his foot, in the presence of a superior, but sit with modesty in the posture called Vírásana (or on his knees). He must never pass round a temple upon his left hand, nor perform the ceremony of circumambulating any venerable object in the reverse direction. A decent man will not spit, nor eject any impurity, in front of the moon, fire, the sun, water, wind, or any respectable person (remember if you need to relieve your bladder and you are in the desert…… If you are on a ship in the ocean…...If you are on a mountain which is breezy….GOD SAVE YOU!!!) nor will he void urine standing, (Why do I feel this whole thing is Absurd??) nor upon the highway: he will never step over phlegm, ordure, urine, or blood; nor is the expectoration of the mucus of the throat allowable at the time of eating, offering sacrifices or oblations, or repeating prayers, or in the presence of a respectable person.
"Let not a man treat women with disrespect, nor let him put entire faith in them. Let him not deal impatiently with them, nor set them over matters of importance. (Any body heard of the term gender equality???) A man who is attentive to the duties of his station will not go forth from his house without saluting the chaplets, flowers, gems, clarified butter, and venerable persons in it (Saluting Ghee, flowers, gems!!!! Wow..). At proper seasons he will salute respectfully the places where four roads meet, when engaged in offering oblations with fire. Let him liberally relieve the virtuous who are poor, and reverence those who are learned in the Vedas. He who is a worshipper of the gods and sages, who gives cakes and water to the manes, and who exercises hospitality, obtains the highest regions after death. He who speaks wisely, moderately, and kindly, goes to those worlds which are the inexhaustible sources of happiness. He who is intelligent, modest, devout, and who reverences wisdom, his superiors, and the aged, goes to heaven.<o:p></o:p>
"On the days called Parvas, on periods of impurity, upon unseasonable thunder, and the occurrence of eclipses or atmospheric portents, a wise man must desist from the study of the Vedas. The pious man who suppresses anger and envy, who is benevolent to all, and allays the fears of others, secures, as the least of his rewards, enjoyment in Swarga. A man should carry an umbrella, as a defence against sun and rain; he should bear a staff when he goes by night, (I use a car!!! Simpler and safer) or through a wood; and he should walk in shoes, if he desires to keep his body from harm. As he goes along he should not look up, nor about him, nor afar off, (Hardly a recipe for safety!!) but keep his eyes upon the ground to the extent of a couple of yards.<o:p></o:p>
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That's It folks.....<o:p></o:p>
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Arrivederci'-------<o:p></o:p>
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hindustani · 03-23-2009, 01:43 AM

Go to a pathology Lab and give your blood for testing and instruct them to find your Jaat/Gyati/cast based upon your blood.
They will look at you with strange face!Now if we cannot separate blood then how the hell you chaps are trying to say who is the God and who is demigod?
Comeout of this fake saga of God and Demigod,else you will be punished severely by your own God one day while living or after death.

Kyros · 03-24-2009, 03:11 PM

Sensible_bloke, if you're going to quote a scripture, then quote one that wasn't translated by a white European supremacist.

Veno · 05-28-2009, 07:44 AM

this is seriously beautiful praise of krsna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvTq_dktVfc

06-09-2009, 02:43 PM

bhaja gauranga kaha gauranga laha gaurangera name
ye jana gauranga bhaje sei amara prana re

Umapati_Dasa · 06-09-2009, 04:17 PM

I don't understand ISKCON either. They say that Shiva and Devi are less than Krishna, but then go on to say that gods from other religions are Krishna. It's certainly very strange.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Cooper

Can someone please explain this to me?

1) "Ganesh, Indra, Varuna, Brahma (et al) are all just demigods."
2) "Siva is a demigod, but the greatest Vaishnava."
3) "But Allah and Jehovah are 'just names for Krishna', the 'Svayam Bhagavan'. They are all God, just different names".

How is this?

Jehovah was just a minor desert deity, elevated to supremacy by Moses. Jehovah, in the 'Old Testament', admits to being a "jealous god", wrathful, and ready to mete out capital punishment (death penalty) at a whim (those who worship or even respect images and/or idols, collecting firewood on the Sabbath, a child disrespecting their parents, and at least 24 other offenses).

Allah was just a minor lunar deity, elevated to supremacy by Mohammed. Allah, in the 'Koran', admits to being violent and wrathful, and ready to mete out capital punishment (death penalty) on a whim (those who worship or even respect images and/or idols, apostasy, collecting firewood on the Sabbath, a child disrespecting their parents, and at least 29 other offenses)

So, why are Allah and Jehovah elevated so? Is it just for political correctness?

Why has Allah and Jehovah been elevated to the same level of Krishna?

According to Moses and Mohammed, Jehovah and Allah, respectively, both claim to be God. Why have their words being taken literally?

So why not accept the words of others who have claimed to be God? For example, Haile Selassie, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Sathya Sai Baba, Sun Myung Moon, Charles Manson, and so on?

Through history, we have seen the results of the words of Moses and Mohammed: wars and violence galore. India has seen the atrocities of these religions.

I just hope no one replies with the "all is one" stuff (i.e., Mayavada philosophy).

06-10-2009, 03:12 AM

The siddhanta is very clear, what is the difficulty to understand. Read Brahma Samhita, that explains the position of Siva, Durga, Ganesh, Brahma, et al; in relation to Govinda. Srimad Bhagavatam also corroborates the same objective reality.

When Srila Prabhupada says that Allah, Jehovah & Krsna are all God, then what is the difficulty in accepting this statement while still maintaining the proper understanding of tattva. Nama tattva - Brahman, Paramatma & Bhagavan are all God, no? Yet still there is difference. This is dvaita-advaita; the doctrines of monism and of dualism are incomplete on their own merit, they must be married to each other in inconceivable union - acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva.

Nama tattva is a most important subject. There are Primary (mukya) names and there are Secondary (gauna) names. Primary names are fully transcendental, identical with the svarup of the Lord and remain eternally in the spiritual world. Secondary names however have been introduced from the creation of the material universe. While i don't know the etymology of names from other cultures such as Allah, Jehovah etc. i see no difficulty in transcending sect since they all refer practically to God. This is the thing, Krsna Consciousness is not a sectarian religion! This must be understood, Bhakti is a science, the topmost yoga system. There is no question of this God or that God, God is one! But he has ananta-rupam. Still an understanding of visnu-tattva, jiva-tattva and shiva-tattva can be there. It's a case of simple for the simple and complicated for the complicated. Like the cobbler who when told that Narayana was threading elephants through the eye of a needle, he was overjoyed thinking how wonderful. Not that 'Oh, how ridiculous'

The reason you cannot understand is because you are still conditioned by matter. You cannot understand anything with the material mind! It must be spiritualised then EVERYTHING can be understood. Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita, veda-vid - that He is the knower of the Vedas. So understand as-it-is!

Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary on Sri Bhagavad Gita

"Bhagavad-gita—accepted as it is—is a great boon to humanity; but if it is accepted as a treatise of philosophical speculations, it is simply a waste of time." 4.2pp

There is a third category of nama, that is madhurya nama; which Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes in the following passage.

"The maha-mantra contains the topmost sweet names of the Lord. Provocation for all the rasas mixed with intimate attachment is found in the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. There is no mention of the Lord's prowess (aisvarya) or giving liberation (mukti). This mantra reveals only that a soul has an individual attraction for the Supersoul by the thread of love. These names (Hare, Krsna, Rama) are the mantra for those on the path of madhurya-rasa. Constantly chanting and meditating on these names is the best form of worshipping the Supreme Lord." (Krsna-samhita)

Hare Krsna

Umapati_Dasa · 06-10-2009, 04:12 AM

Just a question, where does Brahma Samhita call Krishna "Jehovah" or "Allah"? You call Lord Shiva a demigod because there is no evidence that he and Krishna are the same being, but you accept Jehovah and Allah as "alternate names of Krishna" with no evidence. This is utter nonsense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guest

The siddhanta is very clear, what is the difficulty to understand. Read Brahma Samhita, that explains the position of Siva, Durga, Ganesh, Brahma, et al; in relation to Govinda. Srimad Bhagavatam also corroborates the same objective reality.

When Srila Prabhupada says that Allah, Jehovah & Krsna are all God, then what is the difficulty in accepting this statement while still maintaining the proper understanding of tattva. Nama tattva - Brahman, Paramatma & Bhagavan are all God, no? Yet still there is difference. This is dvaita-advaita; the doctrines of monism and of dualism are incomplete on their own merit, they must be married to each other in inconceivable union - acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva.

Nama tattva is a most important subject. There are Primary (mukya) names and there are Secondary (gauna) names. Primary names are fully transcendental, identical with the svarup of the Lord and remain eternally in the spiritual world. Secondary names however have been introduced from the creation of the material universe. While i don't know the etymology of names from other cultures such as Allah, Jehovah etc. i see no difficulty in transcending sect since they all refer practically to God. This is the thing, Krsna Consciousness is not a sectarian religion! This must be understood, Bhakti is a science, the topmost yoga system. There is no question of this God or that God, God is one! But he has ananta-rupam. Still an understanding of visnu-tattva, jiva-tattva and shiva-tattva can be there. It's a case of simple for the simple and complicated for the complicated. Like the cobbler who when told that Narayana was threading elephants through the eye of a needle, he was overjoyed thinking how wonderful. Not that 'Oh, how ridiculous'

The reason you cannot understand is because you are still conditioned by matter. You cannot understand anything with the material mind! It must be spiritualised then EVERYTHING can be understood. Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita, veda-vid - that He is the knower of the Vedas. So understand as-it-is!

Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary on Sri Bhagavad Gita

"Bhagavad-gita—accepted as it is—is a great boon to humanity; but if it is accepted as a treatise of philosophical speculations, it is simply a waste of time." 4.2pp

There is a third category of nama, that is madhurya nama; which Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes in the following passage.

"The maha-mantra contains the topmost sweet names of the Lord. Provocation for all the rasas mixed with intimate attachment is found in the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. There is no mention of the Lord's prowess (aisvarya) or giving liberation (mukti). This mantra reveals only that a soul has an individual attraction for the Supersoul by the thread of love. These names (Hare, Krsna, Rama) are the mantra for those on the path of madhurya-rasa. Constantly chanting and meditating on these names is the best form of worshipping the Supreme Lord." (Krsna-samhita)

Hare Krsna

05:58 AM

Shiva is Shiva-tattva. He has that unique position. He's not a demigod like the other demigods; they are Jiva-tattva. Sada-shiva is also Visnu-tattva and Shiva is an expansion of him, yes? So Shiva is very special, like yoghurt. Milk & Yoghurt are the same yet different. Shiva himself is chanting Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

The important thing is that everyone becomes God conscious, but not everyone will take the name Krsna. So if they prefer then they can take the name Allah or Jehovah. Better they worship with the name Allah or Jehovah than not to worship at all. After all they refer to God - despite apparent characteristic differences. The name Shiva can also reference God. For Krsna is indubitably Shiva.

Yet Shiva is also an extremely special personality. He is there in Krsna Lila as Gopiswar Mahadev and he is there in Gaura-Lila as Advaita Acarya. He also came as Sankaracarya. Jaya Mahadev who can bewilder the minds of men and is fully devoted to the lotus feet of Sankarsana. Om namo Shivaya!

I'd be careful of making offences to the followers of Islam and Christianity. True there may be many who are not so exemplary devotees of God, but there are also undoubtedly those who are very sincere in their worship of God whether they call Him Allah, Jehovah or Visnu etc.

06-10-2009, 05:34 AM

"The activities of the Lord are always inconceivable to the tiny brain of the living entities. Nothing is impossible for the Supreme Lord, but all His actions are wonderful for us, and thus He is always beyond the range of our conceivable limits. The Lord is the all-powerful, all-perfect Personality of Godhead. The Lord is cent percent perfect, whereas others, namely Narayana, Brahma, Siva, the demigods and all other living beings, possess only different percentages of such perfection. No one is equal to or greater than Him. He is unrivaled." SB 1.8.16pp

06-10-2009, 06:02 AM

Devotee: Yesterday you have said that Krsna says that He is the taste in water. In the Koran it is also said that Allah you can taste in the water. We also see Krsna is in temple. Does this mean also Allah is in the temple? And why are all these religions so different? Because essentially they are all the same.

Prabhupada: You make difference, we don't make. We allow everyone. But you think you are Mohammedan, "We shall not go." That is your discrimination. We say "Come everyone." You make discrimination. We don't make.

06-10-2009, 06:04 AM

Acyutananda: Question: I believe in Krsna but please clarify the following doubts. Lord Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so when Krsna is the only God in the world, the creator of the whole universe, then why the existence of Jesus Christ and Allah? Why should not only one God for all? Why Christians and Muslims are not accepting Krsna as God?

Prabhupada: They are accepting God, but they did not disclose the name of God because the people are unable to understand. "Krsna" means "the all-attractive." That is the meaning of Krsna. So unless God is all-attractive, how He can be God? "Krsna" means all-attractive.

06-10-2009, 06:08 AM

"You can chant the name of Allah also. Not necessarily that you have to chant the Krsna name, but any name indicating the Supreme Lord can be chanted." Because in the Sastra it is said, harer nama, harer nama, [Cc. Ädi 17.21] the holy name of the Lord. But it must be the name of the Lord. Actually, Krsna has thousands of names, and His names are enumerated by His activities. Just like Kåñëa accepted to become the son of mother Yasoda; therefore He is called Yasoda-nandana. Krsna accepted Vasudeva as His father, or Nanda Maharaja; therefore He is called Nanda-nandana, Vasudeva, or Devaki-nandana. Krsna acted as the charioteer of Arjuna; He is called Partha-sarathi. So Krsna's name means attached with the activities along with His devotees. This is Krsna's name. So if the Muhammadans' aim the Supreme Lord, Allah akbar, "God the great..." Just like we say Parabrahma. Brahman means the biggest, brhatvat brhannatvat. On account of being very big, including everything, that God's another name is Parabrahma. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. Arjuna addressed Krsna as Parabrahma. So Allah akbar means Parabrahma.
So we do not make any distinction that this type of religion is better than that type of religion. Any religion which teaches how to love God, that is first-class religion. That is the injunction of the Srimad-Bhagavatam."

Srila Prabhupada - Arrival lecture Calcutta march 20 1975

06-10-2009, 06:11 AM

Please tolerate my humble attempts to comment on this subject matter. We have no qualification ourselves, only by the mercy of Sri Guru can anything i say have meaning.

Please forgive any discrepencies or oversights.

Please pray that i may one day get love of Godhead

Hara Govinda

Your servant

Umapati_Dasa · 06-10-2009, 03:11 PM

So then you do recognize Shiva as a form of God?

Quote:

Originally Posted by guest

Shiva is Shiva-tattva. He has that unique position. He's not a demigod like the other demigods; they are Jiva-tattva. Sada-shiva is also Visnu-tattva and Shiva is an expansion of him, yes? So Shiva is very special, like yoghurt. Milk & Yoghurt are the same yet different. Shiva himself is chanting Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

The important thing is that everyone becomes God conscious, but not everyone will take the name Krsna. So if they prefer then they can take the name Allah or Jehovah. Better they worship with the name Allah or Jehovah than not to worship at all. After all they refer to God - despite apparent characteristic differences. The name Shiva can also reference God. For Krsna is indubitably Shiva.

Yet Shiva is also an extremely special personality. He is there in Krsna Lila as Gopiswar Mahadev and he is there in Gaura-Lila as Advaita Acarya. He also came as Sankaracarya. Jaya Mahadev who can bewilder the minds of men and is fully devoted to the lotus feet of Sankarsana. Om namo Shivaya!

I'd be careful of making offences to the followers of Islam and Christianity. True there may be many who are not so exemplary devotees of God, but there are also undoubtedly those who are very sincere in their worship of God whether they call Him Allah, Jehovah or Visnu etc.

06-10-2009, 04:30 PM

Yes Shiva has real objective form. You also have form; name, form, qualities and pastimes. Each and every jiva is part and parcel of God. The difference is quantative, not qualitative. As far as we have understood, Shiva holds a unique posistion between that of Visnu-Tattva and Jiva-Tattva. He is uniquely Shiva-Tattva, how and why God is manifest in this way (who can say) but this is what is told. There are different conclusions. If you are in Rudra Sampradaya perhaps there will be apparent difference. This is acintya sakti of God - that we cannot understand with our minds so bound by duality.

One's Ista-dev does not limit, however the appreciation of all worshippable personalities. Our Gurudev tells one story of how he is in Vrindavan and one Shaivite is walking towards him, in full regalia; covered in ashes, trident (the full works) So Guru Maharaj thinks to try and please him by glorifying his Ista-dev so he shouts Jaya Mahadev! And the Shaivite replies Jaya Sri Radhe! So externally we may be this or that, but that doesn't stop us loving all transcendental personalities. We should have the right understanding though. Read Brahma Samhita, it's a tremendously wonderful transcendental literature. I think many in Iskcon as well as others would benefit greatly from reading Brahma Samhita - 5th Chapter as revealed by Sri Krsna-Chaitanya.

Here is something we wrote about a year ago, regarding Shaivites and Vaishnavas.

A perfect Vaishnava should therefore be a perfect Shaivaite

One of the many meanings of Vaishnava is ‘of the quality of Vishnu’ Vaish refers to Vishnu and Nava means substance or quality, so a Vaishnava should have the quality of Vishnu (all fostering). Nava also refers to the ‘Sat’ principle of eternity, so Vaishnava means one who always has the quality of Vishnu!

Shaivaite means one who follows the example of Shiva. Shaiv is obviously refering to Lord Shiva and ite refers in Sanskrit to iti meaning so, this and thus. It is interesting to remark that the short & useful word ‘it’, derives from it’s Sanskrit parentage iti and a great many words in the English language use ‘ite’ as either a prefix or suffix e.g. quite.

So Shaivaite is one with the qualities of Lord Shiva & Vaishnava is one with the qualities of Vishnu. It is worth noting that despite the exacting, potential similartudinal quality of Jiva tattva with that of Vishnu & Shiva tattva respectively, there unceasingly remains a glaringly obvious difference in quantity. Nevertheless, anyone who claims identity as a Vaishnava or Shaivite must assert in himself mutual tolerance, reverance and with all deference, enthusiastically praise both parties. Failing to do so simply results in carnage, as history has shown us.

rashmipittsburgh · 06-21-2009, 09:59 PM

"Shiva is Shiva-tattva. He has that unique position. He's not a demigod like the other demigods; they are Jiva-tattva. Sada-shiva is also Visnu-tattva and Shiva is an expansion of him, yes? So Shiva is very special, like yoghurt. Milk & Yoghurt are the same yet different."

Beautiful ......!!

Swami Iconoclast · 06-22-2009, 11:36 AM

If you want to know God, simply access the infallible teachings of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

bhaktajan · 06-22-2009, 01:18 PM

Hindustani: how the hell you chaps are trying to say who is the God and who is demigod?
Comeout of this fake saga of God and Demigod,else you will be punished severely by your own God one day while living or after death.

Umapati_das: I don't understand ISKCON either. They say that Shiva and Devi are less than Krishna, but then go on to say that gods from other religions are Krishna.

[IMO, 1/10 of 1% of posters on these forums are not nor have ever been a part of ISKCON, yet. As I am.]
.................................................. ......................

Bhaktajan: Who is God? [here is the definition--other than this definition is the concept of Atheism and its concominant factors]:

God, by definition, is that Person who possesses and is the original source of all personal Opulences-in-full par excellence:

God, by definition, is that Person who possesses all
wealth,
strength,
beautity,
intelligence,
fame, and,
renunciation.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::
Bhagavata-purana 3.10.17 [translation & Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami]:

"The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool."

PURPORT

The demigods in the higher planets are called devas because they are all devotees of Lord Viñëu. Viñëu-bhaktaù småto daiva äsuras tad-viparyayaù: all the devotees of Lord Viñëu are devas, or demigods, whereas all others are asuras.

That is the division of the devas and the asuras. Devas are situated in the mode of goodness of material nature, whereas the asuras are situated in the modes of passion or ignorance. The demigods, or controlling deities, are entrusted with departmental management of all the different functions of the material world.

For example, one of our sense organs, the eye, is controlled by light, light is distributed by the sun rays, and their controlling deity is the sun.

Similarly, mind is controlled by the moon. All other senses, both for working and for acquiring knowledge, are controlled by the different demigods. The demigods are assistants of the Lord in the management of material affairs.

After the creation of the demigods, all entities are covered by the darkness of ignorance. Each and every living being in the material world is conditioned by his mentality of lording it over the resources of material nature.

Although a living entity is the master of the material world, he is conditioned by ignorance, by the false impression of being the proprietor of material things.

The energy of the Lord called avidyä is the bewildering factor of the conditioned souls. The material nature is called avidyä, or ignorance, but to the devotees of the Lord engaged in pure devotional service, this energy becomes vidyä, or pure knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gétä.

The energy of the Lord transforms from mahämäyä to yogamäyä and appears to pure devotees in her real feature. The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge.

As disclosed in the previous verse, in the fourth creation the power of knowledge is also created. The conditioned souls are not originally fools, but by the influence of the avidyä function of material nature they are made fools, and thus they are unable to utilize knowledge in the proper channel.

By the influence of darkness, the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Lord and is overwhelmed by attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance and false identification, the five kinds of illusion that cause material bondage.

username1 · 07-15-2009, 01:41 AM

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