Beginning of Material Life

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"Beginning of Material Life"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.21

Mayapur, February 28, 1976

 

Dayananda: "O my Lord, the supreme eternal, by expansion of Your

plenary portion You have created a subtle body, the living entity, through the

agency of Your external energy. And thus the living entity becomes entrapped

with different varieties of desires through the mind, consisting of unlimited

desires to be fulfilled by the Vedic direction of karma-kanda, fruitive

activity, and the sixteen elements. Who is there who can come out of this

entanglement without taking shelter at Your lotus feet?"

 

Prabhupada:

 

maya manah srjati karmamayam baliyah

kalena codita-gunanumatena pumsah

chandomayam yad ajayarpita-sodasaram

samsara-cakram aja ko 'titaret tvad-anyah

[sB 7.9.21]

 

This is the description of material existence. So, first thing is, our

mind is polluted. The simple statement of a Vaisnava poet,

 

krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha kare

pasate mayara tare japatiya dhare

 

Actually our position is to serve Krsna. That is real position. Caitanya

Mahaprabhu starts His instruction from this point, that we are eternal servant

of Krsna, and because we have rebelled not to serve, therefore Krsna, out of His

unlimited mercy and compassion, He comes down and teaches, "You rascal,

surrender. Why you are suffering unnecessarily?" Sarva-dharman parityajya mam

ekam saranam: [bg. 18.66] "You rascal, you give up all these so-called

engagements. You surrender to Me."

 

So from this point Caitanya Mahaprabhu starts His instruction. When

Sanatana Gosvami approached Him that "By Your mercy I have left my this material

engagement. I was minister. I was very much puffed up. So by good fortune I saw

You. Now I have retired from my so-called happy life. Now please tell me what is

my position?" Ke ami kene amare jare tapa traya: "Why I am? What I am? Why I am

put into this condition of suffering?" Just like one goes to the physician, a

diseased man. He submits and inquires from the physician that "Why I am

suffering from this pain? Some pain always in the heart, some pain in the belly,

some pain in head. So what is the disease?" So Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "The

disease is that you are servant of Krsna. You are, rascal, trying to be master

of the world." This is the struggle. A servant is trying to become master. How

it is possible? It is simply entanglement. Just like in an office, a menial

servant, if he wants to imitate the master, he'll be involved in so many

difficulties. So that is our position.

 

So it is possible. Because a living entity is part and parcel of Krsna, so

he has got the qualities of Krsna in very, very minute, fragmental portion. I

have several times explained this. Just like a small drop of sea water has got

the same chemical composition as the vast sea water. Therefore, if you taste the

vast sea water, it is salty, and the drop is also salty because the same

chemical composition is there in minute quantity. Therefore Krsna is svatantam.

Janmady asya yatah anvayad itaratas ca arthesu abhijnah svarat [sB 1.1.1].

Svarat. Svarat means independent. Bhagavata begins that "The origin of

everything, the Absolute Truth, is sentient." He's not a chunk. He's sentient.

Janmady asya yatah anvayad abhijnah [sB 1.1.1]. Abhijnah means sentient. He's

not a dull matter. But, the question is, wherefrom knowledge and sense comes? We

have to take senses, learn knowledge, from master, from teacher. But so far

Krsna is concerned, He is svarat. He hasn't got to take any knowledge from

anyone. That is Krsna's, I mean to say, feature, svarat. Svarat means

independent. Everything He's independent. He's not dependent. Nija-labha-purnah.

The other day we learned, nija-labha-purnah. He is always complete in Himself.

He hasn't got...

 

So when we imitate Krsna -- we want to be complete in ourself without the

help of Krsna -- this is called maya. Maya means that we want to imitate Krsna.

That is going on, material world. Therefore you'll find these Mayavadis...

(aside:) Who is that? Take him out. The Mayavadis, they persist on this point,

that "I am God." The maya is working there. Maya is working there still,

although he is thinking that "I am now liberated. I have become Narayana." Ye

'nye 'ravindaksa vimukta-maninah. He is thinking that "I am God." That means he

is in the darkest region of maya, and still, he is thinking that he's liberated.

He is thinking what he's not. At the present moment, you'll find, the whole

world is filled up with these rascals. They are in the deepest region of maya

and concocting that he is God, he is God. This is maya. Therefore it is said,

maya manah. The maya manah is so strong that maya manah srjati karmamayam

baliyah. Very strong. His material existence began from this point, that "Why

shall I serve Krsna? I shall remain independent." But the rascal does not know

that he cannot become independent. That is not possible. But this is the

beginning of material life. "Why shall I accept God? I am God." So the same

thing is continuing in different phases.

 

So maya manah is very strong. It is very, very difficult. Therefore we

have to voluntarily surrender. It takes very, very long time, baliyah, but if

one is intelligent, if one is fortunate, he takes immediately. That is the

difference. Otherwise it will take many, many births. Bahunam janmanam ante

jnanavan mam prapadyate [bg. 7.19]. Even if he is jnanavan, full knowledge of

everything, scientific knowledge, physical, chemical, metaphysical,

mathematical, all this knowledge, but denying God, "I am God. There is no need

of God. Now we shall do everything. We are advanced in science..." This is

called maya manah. These rascals, thinking like that... It will never be

possible. Panthas tu koti-sata-vatsara-sampragamyo vayor athapi manaso

muni-pungavanam [bs. 5.34]. Great, a great muni... Muni means mental

speculators. They're thinking within the mind this, that, this, that, this,

that. Muni-pungavanam. Pungava. Pungava means very expert mental speculator.

Even they think like that for many, many years... Panthas tu koti-sata-vatsara.

Koti means hundred lakhs, and again multiplied by sata, sata, unlimited. Panthas

tu koti-sata-vatsara-sampragamyo [bs. 5.34]. And the speed? Vayor athapi manaso,

speed of the air and the mind. Still, avicintya-tattve: they cannot understand

what is God. Ask any scientist, any physicist, any mathematician. Just like

recently one rascal -- he is doctor -- he has said that "Sita was sister of

Rama, and Rama was this and that." So speculator. He has become bigger than the

acaryas, and because he has got little doctorate title, he's thinking that he

has become very, very big. This is going on. This is called maya manah. Maya is

so strong that she is bewildering even so-called doctorates, deletes(?) and

others. All rascals. Mayayapahrta-jnana. Therefore Bhagavad-gita says,

mayayapahrta-jnana. Although they have got these university degrees, but they

are rascals. Why? Mayayapahrta-jnana. Their knowledge has been taken away by

maya.

 

Maya is very strong. You have seen the picture of Maya, Durgadevi, and the

Mahisasura is fighting, very strong, just like Hiranyakasipu. There are many

asuras. So Mahisa... Sometimes Krsna Himself comes to kill the asura, or

sometimes His agent, Maya, Durgadevi, kills. You have seen the picture of

Goddess Kali. She is killing simply the asuras, chopping one after another, one

after another, one after... Srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka [bs. 5.44].

She can create, she can maintain, and she can make pralaya, devastator. That is

her business. But so powerful, still, she is under the control of the Supreme

Lord. Therefore here it is said, samsara-cakram aja ko 'titaret tvad-anyah. "A

strong maya. I cannot get out of her clutches." So Prahlada Maharaja knows it.

Ko 'titaret: "Who can surpass? Who can get rid of this clutches of maya?"

Tvad-anyah. That is the fact. Therefore Krsna says that "You surrender to Me,

and you'll be free from maya." Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sara..., aham

tvam: [bg. 18.66] "I'll give you protection." Mam eva ye prapadyante. The same

thing, whole instruction, is there. Simply if we want to be happy... Happiness

you cannot have in this way, by concocting plans. That is not possible. You have

seen the whole world, especially in the modern days. So many big, big nations,

they are assembled together in the United Nations. Nonsense, where is unity?

Simply disunity. For the last twenty or thirty years they are struggling. Before

that, they convened another, League of Nation. So they are making simply plans.

And it continues for some time. Then, after fifteen or twenty years, again

conflagration of war, especially in the Europe. They're all demons. How the

demons can bring in peace by so-called United Nation or League of Nation? That

is not possible. They have to give up the demonic activities. They have to take

to Krsna consciousness. Then they will be saved.

 

So we are just trying to introduce the real civilization. Actually there

is no civilization at the present moment. They are simply cats and dogs and

fighting one another. There is no civilization. This is not civilization.

Atheists, demons, they are predominating. And because they have got big, big

skyscraper building and many motorcars, India has become victimized: "Oh,

without this motorcar and without this skyscraper building, we are condemned."

So they are trying to imitate. They have forgotten their own culture, the best

culture, Vedic culture. So it is the first time that we are trying to conquer

over the demonic culture with this Vedic culture. This is the first time. So it

is very pleasing that you have joined this movement. If you want to make the

human society happy, give them this culture of Krsna consciousness. That is

being described by Prahlada Maharaja, that samsara-cakra. If you become involved

in this demonic culture, then the samsara-cakra, the wheel of repetition of

birth and death, will go on. You cannot stop it. It is not possible. But if you

take to Krsna consciousness, then there is possibility. This is the purport of

this verse.

 

Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.21 -- Mayapur, February 28,

1976