Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.55

Harikeśa: Oṁ namo bhagavat vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavat vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavat vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, First Chapter, text number 55.

eṣa prakṛti-saṅgena puruṣasya viparyayaḥ āsīt sa eva na cirād īśa-saṅgād vilīyate [SB 6.1.55]

[break] [01:43]

Prabhupāda:

eṣa prakṛti-saṅgena puruṣasya viparyayaḥ āsīt sa eva na cirād īśa-saṅgād vilīyate

Viparyaya, in the reverse condition, unfavorable condition... So...

[children making noise] [aside:] Stop.

Haṁsadūta: The children should go out.

Prabhupāda: Puruṣa. Puruṣa means enjoyer, and prakṛti means enjoyed, or, in simple word, puruṣa means male, and prakṛti means female. So this material world is called prakṛti, and the living entities who are struggling in this material world to enjoy it, they are called puruṣa. Of course, puruṣa is Kṛṣṅa only. Puruṣa means enjoyer. Nobody is enjoyer, therefore nobody is puruṣa. And in the Bhagavad-gītā, the living entities have been described also as prakṛti—apareyam itas tv bhinnāṁ me prakṛti..., apareyam itas tv bhinnāṁ me prakṛtiṁ parā—superior prakṛti, not puruṣa. But because we are conditioned, we are under illusion. Although we are prakṛti, we are thinking that we are puruṣa. But actually we are not puruṣa. We are also prakṛti.

So this living entity, on the false understanding of becoming a puruṣa, they have come to this material world to enjoy the material nature.

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare pāsate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

[When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called māyā, or illusion.]

Just like a male and female. That movement is very strong now in America. The female wants to become male, or equal rights. This is māyā. How woman can become in equal with man? Of course, we are not going to study the social welfare activities or something like that, but puruṣa and prakṛti, they are different. Purusa means enjoyer, and prakṛti means enjoyed. So here the prakṛti, this material nature—earth, water, air, fire, sky, mind, intelligence and ego, egotism—these are eight material things. So in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā prakṛtiṁ me aṣṭadhā [Bg 7.4].

[Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—altogether these eight comprise My separated material energies.]

These are eight kinds of material energy. Material energy is one, mahat-tattva, but they have been divided. Mahat-tattva, when it is separated... Just like some philosopher says, "There was a chunk, and it became broken, and the creation took place." This can be applicable... The mahat-tattva, the total material energy, by..., when the three guṅas break them, they become twenty-four elements—five material, and three material, subtle, and the ten senses, and the ten object of senses. In this way twenty-four elements is become.

So we living entities, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. Just like fire and the small fragments of fire, sparks, our position is like that. Or the sun and the small particles of shining elements combined together becomes the sunshine. The sunshine which we daily see, it is not a homogeneous mixture. There is molecules, very small, shining particle. So we are like that, a very small... As there are atoms, material atoms—nobody can count—similarly, we are atomic sparks of God. How many we are, there is no count. Asaṅkhyā. Asaṅkhyā means we cannot count. So many living entities. So we are very small particle, and we have come here in this material world. Just like the Europeans especially, they go to other countries for colonizing to use the material resources for their sense gratification. The America was discovered, and the Europeans went there. The idea was to go there and... Now they are trying to go to the moon planet to find out if there is any convenience. This is the tendency of the conditioned soul.

So they have come to this material world. Kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare [Prema-vivarta].

[When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called māyā, or illusion.]

Means puruṣa is bhoktā. Bhoktā. Kṛṣṅa is actually bhoktā. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasām [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

So we are imitating Kṛṣṅa. This is our position. Everyone is trying to become Kṛṣṅa. The Māyāvādīs, although they have undergone penances, austerities—very strictly they follow the principles of spiritual life—but because they are under māyā, at the end they are thinking that "I am God, purusa," the same disease, puruṣa. Purusa means bhoktā. That "I am Kṛṣṅa..." Bhoktāraṁ yajña... And even after advancing so much by austerities, penances, following regulative principle, the māyā is so strong that still, he is under this impression that "I am puruṣa." Not only ordinary puruṣa, but the Supreme puruṣa, as Kṛṣṅa is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣam śāśvata [Bg 10.12]:

[Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.]

"You are puruṣa." So māyā is so strong that after being kicked so many lives, life after life, still he is thinking, "I am puruṣa. I am enjoyer." This is the disease.

Therefore here it is said that eṣa prakṛti-saṅgena puruṣasya viparyayaḥ. His material life begun from this conception, that "I am puruṣa. I am enjoyer." And because he cannot give up this idea that "I am enjoyer," life after life he is viparyayaḥ, reverse condition. Reverse condition means... Because the living entity is part and parcel of God, and God is sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

So we are also sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, a small sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, but our position is prakṛti, not puruṣa. Both of them... Just like Rādhā and Kṛṣṅa, They are of the same quality. Rādhā-kṛṣṅa-praṅaya-vikṛtir hlādinī-śaktir asmāt [Cc Ādi 1.5]. They are one, but still, Rādhā is prakṛti and Kṛṣṅa is puruṣa. Similarly, we are, although part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, but we are prakṛti and Kṛṣṅa is puruṣa. So by falsely, when we think of becoming puruṣa, this is called māyā or viparyayaḥ. That is stated here. Evaṁ prakṛti-saṅgena puruṣasya viparyayaḥ. Viparyayaḥ means he is meant for actually enjoying with the puruṣa. When the puruṣa and prakṛti, male and female, enjoy, they enjoy, they get the same pleasure, but one is puruṣa; one is prakṛti. Similarly, Kṛṣṅa is puruṣa, and we are prakṛti. If we enjoy with Kṛṣṅa, then the ānanda, sac-cid-ānanda, is there. That we have forgotten. We want to be puruṣa. So some way or other, this condition has come into existence, a false conception of becoming puruṣa, enjoyer. Then what is the result? The result is that we are trying to be enjoyer life after life, but we are being enjoyed; we are not enjoyer. We are simply struggling to become enjoyer. This is our position.

So how you can stop this struggling and come to your original position? That is stated here, sa eva na cirād īśa-saṅgād vilīyate. This false conception of life, that "I am puruṣa," it can be vanquished completely. How? Īśa-saṅga, by association with God, īśa. Īśa means the supreme controller. Īśa-saṅga. "So where is īśa? I cannot see īśa. I cannot see... Even Kṛṣṅa is īśa, the Supreme, but I cannot see Him." Now, Kṛṣṅa is there. You are blind. Why don't you see Him? Therefore you cannot see. So you have to open your eyes, not close. That is the business of guru. The guru opens the eyes.

ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

So how Kṛṣṅa opens the eyes? By jñānāñjana-śalākayā. Just like in the darkness we cannot see anything, but if there is matches or candle, if the candle is ignited, then we can see. Similarly, guru's business is to open the eyes. To open the eyes means to give him knowledge that "You are not puruṣa. You are prakṛti. Change your views." That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. When one is in his original position, that "I am not bhoktā. Kṛṣṅa is bhoktā. We are helping-beings for enjoyment of Kṛṣṅa. This is our actual position," this is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Therefore īśa-saṅgāt, "by association with Bhagavān." So in this condition, when I am so much fallen, how I can associate with Kṛṣṅa? So that is īśa-saṅgāt. Īśa is absolute. Everything has emanated from īśa, God. So in that way everything is īśa. There is nothing but īśa, but we haven't got the eyes to see. Antar-bahir-avasthitaḥ [SB 1.8.18]. Kuntī said, "My dear Kṛṣṅa, You are situated outside and inside. Still, we are so rascal, we cannot see You." We cannot see You. How we can see? Īśa-saṅgāt, association. Saṅgāt sanjāyate kāmaḥ.

So with whom associate? Now, īśa. These are... Īśa means His name, His form, His attributes, His..., so many things. You see? Nāma, rūpa, rasa—everything is īśa. So this temple means to give chance to people for associating with īśa, with Kṛṣṅa. So therefore, according to Vedic civilization, everyone is advised to go to the temple. Still people are going to the church, to the temple, to the mosque, to the synagogue. Why? Īśa-saṅgāt, īśa-saṅgāt, just to associate with God. That is the purpose. So if you actually search after īśa, Kṛṣṅa, or God, you can get it. There is arrangement. Just like this temple. This temple, if you come, if you make association with this temple, immediately you will be benefited by hearing the glories of the Lord, this, every subject matter pertaining to God. We are reading Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. That is also īśa. Because these are the words of īśa, therefore, īśa being absolute, there is no difference between His words and Him. Kṛṣṅa, five thousand years ago, He spoke Bhagavad-gītā. That Bhagavad-gītā is the same Bhagavad-gītā which He spoke five thousand years ago, and it is not different from Kṛṣṅa, because Kṛṣṅa is absolute. Whatever His words, His form, His name, His quality, everything, His temple, His activities, His books—everything īśa.

So if we associate with all these things, śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ [SB 7.5.23],

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

hearing and chanting about Viṣṅu, then this misconception of life, that "I am puruṣa," will vanquish. Then you become liberated. Īśa-saṅgād vilīyate. So take chance of this īśa-saṅga very vigorously. Tivreṅa bhakti-yogena [SB 2.3.10]. That is recommended. Anyone who is... There are two classes of men. One class of men, they are trying to enjoy this material world. Another class of men, they are rejecting—brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā—Māyāvādī. They say, "We have no use for this material world." And the karmīs... Those who are rejecting, they are jñānis. And those who are karmīs, they want more material enjoyment, more money, more money, more assets. The two classes of men. But a devotee is neither this class or that class. A devotee is neither karmī nor jñāni. Therefore bhakti means jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Cc Madhya 19.167].

[When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṅa favorably, as Kṛṣṅa desires.]

If one is involved in jñāna and karma he cannot become bhakta.

Bhakta means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11].

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

The bhakta has nothing to do with this jñāna and karma. Jñāna means to understand. So you understand simply that "I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa, and Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead," then your jñāna is full. Your knowledge is full. These two words, that "Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I am Kṛṣṅa's part and parcel," if we realize these things only, then our jñāna, our knowledge, is perfect. And then, as soon as knowledge is perfect, then next is vairāgya. Jñāna-vairāgya-yuktayā [SB 1.2.12].

[The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has heard from the Vedānta-śruti.]

Two things required. But if you remain in the jñāna platform, do not come to the actual spiritual platform, then śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8].

[The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.]

It is simply waste of... Jñāna means to have knowledge. What knowledge? This knowledge, that "Kṛṣṅa is the Supreme Person, bhoktā, puruṣa, and we are just part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa to fulfill the desire of Kṛṣṅa." This is jñāna. Just like the hand is part and parcel of my body, so what is the duty of this hand? The duty is to fulfill the desire of the person. Similarly, we are part and parcel of God, or Kṛṣṅa. Our only business is to fulfill the desire of Kṛṣṅa, not to fulfill our desire. That is... That is not bhakti. That is jñāna or karma. But fulfill the desire of Kṛṣṅa, that is bhakti. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṅānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama [Cc Madhya 19.167]. This is first-class bhakti.

So this philosophy is spoken by the Yamadūta, that one has become conditioned on this false conception of life, that "I am puruṣa." But this misconception can be vanquished. It is not very easy to vanquish, but it can be. How? Īśa-saṅga. Associate with Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, and you will be able to give up this false misconception of life. The whole world, material world, is going on. You can see any city, any big town you go, or even in the village in these countries, everyone, from the morning to night, they are simply trying how to enjoy the material world: "How to enjoy? How to enjoy?" This is called karma-jñāna. When they are fed up, then "The grapes are sour." They give up: brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. But that will not stay. If you... Even if you give up for the time being, that jagat mithyā—"We have no business with the jagat"—it may be sentimentally enduring for some time, but because you are not purified, therefore Bhāgavata says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

Simply to understand that "I am not this material body, so I have nothing to do with this body, and I am spirit soul," simply this much knowledge is not perfect.

Therefore sometimes the Māyāvādīs, they think, "Now we have understood that I am not this body. I have nothing to do with the material world. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman," but they do not understand the Supreme Brahman, Para-brahman, Kṛṣṅa. They do not understand. Therefore śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ. Because they have understood what is the difference between spirit and matter, that knowledge is not perfect. He aravindākṣa. Anye. They are thinking, "Now we have understood what is spirit and what... Therefore we are liberated. We are the... Aham. So 'ham: I have become the same." So for them the śāstra says, ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād [SB 10.2.32]. Tvayy means "unto You, Kṛṣṅa." They have not understood yet what is Kṛṣṅa, the puruṣa, the supreme puruṣa. Tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ. Therefore their intelligence is not yet clear. Simply understanding that "I am not this material body; I am spirit soul," is not sufficient, because unless you come to the point to understand Kṛṣṅa, this will not stand.

Therefore many sannyāsīs, they give up the brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā. I mean to... Māyāvādī sannyāsī. Again they fall down in this mithyā jagat. They come for political work, they come for social work, daridra-nārāyaṅa-seva and this and that. That's all. Because they are not pure. If jagat is mithyā, why you again so much anxious for serving the jagat? This misconception is going on. Everyone asks us that "Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, why not serve the suffering humanity?" They say always. And what you can do? You are... Simply like a madman you are thinking that you can serve the humanity. You cannot serve the humanity. You have no such power. What you can do? The example was... I was giving that if you want to give help a suffering in disease man, and bring some nice doctor, medical man to help him and bring some nice medicine, that is good work, but does it mean that it is guaranteed that he will be cured? No. Therefore you cannot do anything. You may think like that. Or you may act like that. But unless the Supreme Person sanctions, you cannot do anything. One is, I mean, sure to suffer the material pangs of life. Nobody can stop it. So therefore we should not try. It will be automatically tried.

Just like we are distributing prasādam. Not that because he is poor man and we are giving prasāda. No. This is not our idea. To our eyes, the so-called poor man and rich man, they are all suffering, not that the simply poor man suffering and the rich man is not suffering. Therefore we give them prasādam or īśa-saṅga. That prasādam is also īśa. The prasādam accepted by Kṛṣṅa, offered to Kṛṣṅa, is also Kṛṣṅa. So if we give prasādam, then he is getting the opportunity of associating with Kṛṣṅa. This is our idea. But people very much appreciate poor-feeding. So that, you can take it, that. But everyone is poor. Who is rich? Unless one has got knowledge of Kṛṣṅa, he is poor. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

So-called knowledge has no value. Therefore a jñānavān, a man of knowledge, after many, many births he comes to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ [Bg 7.19]. So this is the process. Īśa-saṅgāt. So this prasāda distribution means giving chance to the people, those who are poor in knowledge, to awaken their Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is our policy. Otherwise, we cannot do any good to any others.

Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṅāni guṅaiḥ karmāṅi sar... [Bg 3.27].

[The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.]

Everyone is going on under the stringent laws of material nature. We cannot help. The same example: if a man is diseased, you can try to bring to him nice physician, nice medicine, but that is not guarantee that he will be cured. That depends on Kṛṣṅa. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is the ultimate, I mean to say, beneficiary, or benevolent. Kṛṣṅa is the ultimate bene... If He likes, He can. So take Kṛṣṅa's shelter, and whatever He likes, accept that. This is full surrender. Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura:

mānasa deha geha, yo kichu mora, arpilūn tuwā pade nanda-kiśora

"Nanda-kiśora, what I have got? I have got this body, and I have got some mental speculation, and maybe I have got some house and family. So everything I surrender unto You." This is called full surrender.

mānasa deha geha, yo kichu mora, arpilūn tuwā pade nanda-kiśora

That is wanted. If we can do that, then we shall be happy. Otherwise there is no question of happiness. Viparyayaḥ: always reverse condition, miserable condition.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Haribol. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]