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sri-bhagavan uvaca—the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; maya—by Me; proktam—spoken; hi—in fact; lokasya—for the people; pramanam—authority; satya—spoken in scripture; laukike—and in ordinary speech; atha—therefore; ajani—there was birth; maya—by Me; tubhyam—to you; yat—that which; avocam—I said; rtam—true; mune—O sage.

The Personality of Godhead Kapila said: Whatever I speak, whether directly or in the scriptures, is authoritative in all respects for the people of the world. O Muni, because I told you before that I would become your son, I have descended to fulfill this truth.

Kardama Muni was to leave his family life to completely engage in the service of the Lord. But since he knew that the Lord Himself, as Kapila, had taken birth in his home as his own son, why was he preparing to leave home to search out self-realization or God realization? God Himself was present in his home—why should he leave home? Such a question may certainly arise. But here it is said that whatever is spoken in the Vedas and whatever is practiced in accordance with the injunctions of the Vedas is to be accepted as authoritative in society. Vedic authority says that a householder must leave home after his fiftieth year. Pancasordhvam vanam vrajet: one must leave his family life and enter the forest after the age of fifty. This is an authoritative statement of the Vedas, based on the division of social life into four departments of activity—brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa.

Kardama Muni practiced yoga very rigidly as a brahmacari before his marriage, and he became so powerful and attained so much mystic power that his father, Brahma, ordered him to marry and beget children as a householder. Kardama did that also; he begot nine good daughters and one son, Kapila Muni, and thus his householder duty was also performed nicely, and now his duty was to leave. Even though he had the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his son, he had to respect the authority of the Vedas. This is a very important lesson. Even if one has God in his home as his son, one should still follow the Vedic injunctions. It is stated, mahajano yena gatah sa panthah: one should traverse the path which is followed by great personalities.

Kardama Muni’s example is very instructive, for in spite of having the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his son, he left home just to obey the authority of the Vedic injunction. Kardama Muni states here the main purpose of his leaving home: while traveling all over the world as a mendicant, he would always remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart and thereby be freed from all the anxieties of material existence. In this age of Kali-yuga sannyasa is prohibited because persons in this age are all sudras and cannot follow the rules and regulations of sannyasa life. It is very commonly found that so-called sannyasis are addicted to nonsense—even to having private relationships with women. This is the abominable situation in this age. Although they dress themselves as sannyasis, they still cannot free themselves from the four principles of sinful life, namely illicit sex life, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Since they are not freed from these four principles, they are cheating the public by posing as svamis.

In Kali-yuga the injunction is that no one should accept sannyasa. Of course, those who actually follow the rules and regulations must take sannyasa. Generally, however, people are unable to accept sannyasa life, and therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu stressed, kalau nasty eva nasty eva na-sty eva gatir anyatha. In this age there is no other alternative, no other alternative, no other alternative than to chant the holy name of the Lord: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. The main purpose of sannyasa life is to be in constant companionship with the Supreme Lord, either by thinking of Him within the heart or hearing of Him through aural reception. In this age, hearing is more important than thinking because one’s thinking may be disturbed by mental agitation, but if one concentrates on hearing, he will be forced to associate with the sound vibration of Krsna. Krsna and the sound vibration “Krsna” are nondifferent, so if one loudly vibrates Hare Krsna, he will be able to think of Krsna immediately. This process of chanting is the best process of self-realization in this age; therefore Lord Caitanya preached it so nicely for the benefit of all humanity.

SB3.24.36

TEXT 36

etan me janma loke ’smin

mumuksunam durasayat

prasankhyanaya tattvanam

sammatayatma-darsane

etat—this; me—My; janma—birth; loke—in the world; asmin—in this; mumuksunam—by those great sages seeking liberation; durasayat—from unnecessary material desires; prasankhyanaya—for explaining; tattvanam—of the truths; sammataya—which is highly esteemed; atma-darsane—in self-realization.

My appearance in this world is especially to explain the philosophy of Sankhya, which is highly esteemed for self-realization by those desiring freedom from the entanglement of unnecessary material desires.

Here the word durasayat is very significant. Dur refers to trouble or duhkha, miseries. Asayat means “from the shelter.” We conditioned souls have taken shelter of the material body, which is full of troubles and miseries. Foolish people cannot understand the situation, and this is called ignorance, illusion, or the spell of maya. Human society should very seriously understand that the body itself is the source of all miserable life. Modern civilization is supposed to be making advancement in scientific knowledge, but what is this scientific knowledge? It is based on bodily comforts only, without knowledge that however comfortably one maintains his body, the body is destructible. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, antavanta ime dehah: these bodies are destined to be destroyed. Nityasyoktah saririnah refers to the living soul, or the living spark, within the body. That soul is eternal, but the body is not eternal. For our activity we must have a body; without a body, without sense organs, there is no activity. But people are not inquiring whether it is possible to have an eternal body. Actually they aspire for an eternal body because even though they engage in sense enjoyment, that sense enjoyment is not eternal. They are therefore in want of something which they can enjoy eternally, but they do not understand how to attain that perfection. Sankhya philosophy, therefore, as stated herein by Kapiladeva, is tattvanam. The Sankhya philosophy system is designed to afford understanding of the real truth. What is that real truth? The real truth is knowledge of how to get out of the material body, which is the source of all trouble. Lord Kapila’s incarnation, or descent, is especially meant for this purpose. That is clearly stated here.

SB3.24.37

TEXT 37

esa atma-patho ’vyakto

nastah kalena bhuyasa

tam pravartayitum deham

imam viddhi maya bhrtam

esah—this; atma-pathah—path of self-realization; avyaktah—difficult to be known; nastah—lost; kalena bhuyasa—in the course of time; tam—this; pravartayitum—to introduce again; deham—body; imam—this; viddhi—please know; maya—by Me; bhrtam—assumed.

This path of self-realization, which is difficult to understand, has now been lost in the course of time. Please know that I have assumed this body of Kapila to introduce and explain this philosophy to human society again.

It is not true that Sankhya philosophy is a new system of philosophy introduced by Kapila as material philosophers introduce new kinds of mental speculative thought to supersede that of another philosopher. On the material platform, everyone, especially the mental speculator, tries to be more prominent than others. The field of activity of the speculators is the mind; there is no limit to the different ways in which one can agitate the mind. The mind can be unlimitedly agitated, and thus one can put forward an unlimited number of theories. Sankhya philosophy is not like that; it is not mental speculation. It is factual, but at the time of Kapila it was lost.

In due course of time, a particular type of knowledge may be lost or may be covered for the time being; that is the nature of this material world. A similar statement was made by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita. Sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah: “In course of time the yoga system as stated in Bhagavad-gita was lost.” It was coming in parampara, in disciplic succession, but due to the passage of time it was lost. The time factor is so pressing that in the course of time everything within this material world is spoiled or lost. The yoga system of Bhagavad-gita was lost before the meeting of Krsna and Arjuna. Therefore Krsna again enunciated the same ancient yoga system to Arjuna, who could actually understand Bhagavad-gita. Similarly, Kapila also said that the system of Sankhya philosophy was not exactly being introduced by Him; it was already current, but in course of time it was mysteriously lost, and therefore He appeared to reintroduce it. That is the purpose of the incarnation of Godhead. Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata [Bg. 4.7]. Dharma means the real occupation of the living entity. When there is a discrepancy in the eternal occupation of the living entity, the Lord comes and introduces the real occupation of life. Any so-called religious system that is not in the line of devotional service is called adharma-samsthapana. When people forget their eternal relationship with God and engage in something other than devotional service, their engagement is called irreligion. How one can get out of the miserable condition of material life is stated in Sankhya philosophy, and the Lord Himself is explaining this sublime system.

SB3.24.38

TEXT 38

gaccha kamam mayaprsto

mayi sannyasta-karmana

jitva sudurjayam mrtyum

amrtatvaya mam bhaja

gaccha—go; kamam—as you wish; maya—by Me; aprstah—sanctioned; mayi—to Me; sannyasta—completely surrendered; karmana—with your activities; jitva—having conquered; sudurjayam—insurmountable; mrtyum—death; amrtatvaya—for eternal life; mam—unto Me; bhaja—engage in devotional service.

Now, being sanctioned by Me, go as you desire, surrendering all your activities to Me. Conquering insurmountable death, worship Me for eternal life.

The purpose of Sankhya philosophy is stated herein. If anyone wants real, eternal life, he has to engage himself in devotional service, or Krsna consciousness. To become free from birth and death is not an easy task. Birth and death are natural to this material body. Sudurjayam means “very, very difficult to overcome.” The modern so-called scientists do not have sufficient means to understand the process of victory over birth and death. Therefore, they set aside the question of birth and death; they do not consider it. They simply engage in the problems of the material body, which is transient and sure to end.

Actually, human life is meant for conquering the insurmountable process of birth and death. That can be done as stated here. Mam bhaja: one must engage in the devotional service of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita also the Lord says, man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah: “Just become My devotee. Just worship Me.” But foolish so-called scholars say that it is not Krsna whom we must worship and to whom we must surrender; it is something else. Without Krsna’s mercy, therefore, no one can understand the Sankhya philosophy or any philosophy which is especially meant for liberation. Vedic knowledge confirms that one becomes entangled in this material life because of ignorance and that one can become free from material embarrassment by becoming situated in factual knowledge. Sankhya means that factual knowledge by which one can get out of the material entanglement.

SB3.24.39

TEXT 39

mam atmanam svayam-jyotih

sarva-bhuta-guhasayam

atmany evatmana viksya

visoko ’bhayam rcchasi

mam—Me; atmanam—the Supreme Soul, or Paramatma; svayam-jyotih—self-effulgent; sarva-bhuta—of all beings; guha—in the hearts; asayam—dwelling; atmani—in your own heart; eva—indeed; atmana—through your intellect; viksya—always seeing, always thinking; visokah—free from lamentation; abhayam—fearlessness; rcchasi—you will achieve.

In your own heart, through your intellect, you will always see Me, the supreme self-effulgent soul dwelling within the hearts of all living entities. Thus you will achieve the state of eternal life, free from all lamentation and fear.

People are very anxious to understand the Absolute Truth in various ways, especially by experiencing the brahmajyoti, or Brahman effulgence, by meditation and by mental speculation. But Kapiladeva uses the word mam to emphasize that the Personality of Godhead is the ultimate feature of the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gita the Personality of Godhead always says mam, “unto Me,” but the rascals misinterpret the clear meaning. Mam is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He appears in different incarnations and understand that He has not assumed a material body but is present in His own eternal, spiritual form, then one can understand the nature of the Personality of Godhead. Since the less intelligent cannot understand this point, it is stressed everywhere again and again. Simply by seeing the form of the Lord as He presents Himself by His own internal potency as Krsna or Rama or Kapila, one can directly see the brahmajyoti, because the brahmajyoti is no more than the effulgence of His bodily luster. Since the sunshine is the luster of the sun planet, by seeing the sun one automatically sees the sunshine; similarly, by seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead one simultaneously sees and experiences the Paramatma feature as well as the impersonal Brahman feature of the Supreme.

The Bhagavatam has already enunciated that the Absolute Truth is present in three features—in the beginning as the impersonal Brahman, in the next stage as the Paramatma in everyone’s heart, and, at last, as the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth, Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who sees the Supreme Person can automatically realize the other features, namely the Paramatma and Brahman features of the Lord. The words used here are visoko ’bhayam rcchasi. Simply by seeing the personality of Godhead one realizes everything, and the result is that one becomes situated on the platform where there is no lamentation and no fear. This can be attained simply by devotional service to the Personality of Godhead.

SB3.24.40

TEXT 40

matra adhyatmikim vidyam

samanim sarva-karmanam

vitarisye yaya casau

bhayam catitarisyati

matre—to My mother; adhyatmikim—which opens the door of spiritual life; vidyam—knowledge; samanim—ending; sarva-karmanam—all fruitive activities; vitarisye—I shall give; yaya—by which; ca—also; asau—she; bhayam—fear; ca—also; atitarisyati—will overcome.

I shall also describe this sublime knowledge, which is the door to spiritual life, to My mother, so that she also can attain perfection and self-realization, ending all reactions to fruitive activities. Thus she also will be freed from all material fear.

Kardama Muni was anxious about his good wife, Devahuti, while leaving home, and so the worthy son promised that not only would Kardama Muni be freed from the material entanglement, but Devahuti would also be freed by receiving instruction from her son. A very good example is set here: the husband goes away, taking the sannyasa order for self-realization, but his representative, the son, who is equally educated, remains at home to deliver the mother. A sannyasi is not supposed to take his wife with him. At the vanaprastha stage of retired life, or the stage midway between householder life and renounced life, one may keep his wife as an assistant without sex relations, but in the sannyasa order of life one cannot keep his wife with him. Otherwise, a person like Kardama Muni could have kept his wife with him, and there would have been no hindrance to his prosecution of self-realization.

Kardama Muni followed the Vedic injunction that no one in sannyasa life can have any kind of relationship with women. But what is the position of a woman who is left by her husband? She is entrusted to the son, and the son promises that he will deliver his mother from entanglement. A woman is not supposed to take sannyasa. So-called spiritual societies concocted in modern times give sannyasa even to women, although there is no sanction in the Vedic literature for a woman’s accepting sannyasa. Otherwise, if it were sanctioned, Kardama Muni could have taken his wife and given her sannyasa. The woman must remain at home. She has only three stages of life: dependency on the father in childhood, dependency on the husband in youth and, in old age, dependency on the grown-up son, such as Kapila. In old age the progress of woman depends on the grown-up son. The ideal son, Kapila Muni, is assuring His father of the deliverance of His mother so that His father may go peacefully without anxiety for his good wife.

daksini-krtya tam prito

vanam eva jagama ha

maitreyah uvaca—the great sage Maitreya said; evam—thus; samuditah—addressed; tena—by Him; kapilena—by Kapila; prajapatih—the progenitor of human society; daksini-krtya—having circumambulated; tam—Him; pritah—being pacified; vanam—to the forest; eva—indeed; jagama—he left; ha—then.

Sri Maitreya said: Thus when Kardama Muni, the progenitor of human society, was spoken to in fullness by his son, Kapila, he circumambulated Him, and with a good, pacified mind he at once left for the forest.

Going to the forest is compulsory for everyone. It is not a mental excursion upon which one person goes and another does not. Everyone should go to the forest at least as a vanaprastha. Forest-going means to take one-hundred-percent shelter of the Supreme Lord, as explained by Prahlada Maharaja in his talks with his father. Sada samudvigna-dhiyam (Bhag. 7.5.5). People who have accepted a temporary, material body are always full of anxieties. One should not, therefore, be very much affected by this material body, but should try to be freed. The preliminary process to become freed is to go to the forest or give up family relationships and exclusively engage in Krsna consciousness. That is the purpose of going to the forest. Otherwise, the forest is only a place of monkeys and wild animals. To go to the forest does not mean to become a monkey or a ferocious animal. It means to accept exclusively the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and engage oneself in full service. One does not actually have to go to the forest. At the present moment this is not at all advisable for a man who has spent his life all along in big cities. As explained by Prahlada Maharaja (hitvatma-patam grham andha-kupam), one should not remain always engaged in the responsibilities of family life because family life without Krsna consciousness is just like a blind well. Alone in a field, if one falls into a blind well and no one is there to save him, he may cry for years, and no one will see or hear where the crying is coming from. Death is sure. Similarly, those who are forgetful of their eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord are in the blind well of family life; their position is very ominous. Prahlada Maharaja advised that one should give up this well somehow or other and take to Krsna consciousness and thus be freed from material entanglement, which is full of anxieties.

SB3.24.42

TEXT 42

vratam sa asthito maunam

atmaika-sarano munih

nihsango vyacarat ksonim

anagnir aniketanah