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sri-sukah uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; ucatuh—they spoke; mrtaka—the dead body; upante—near; patitam—fallen; mrtaka-upamam—exactly like another dead body; soka-abhibhutam—very much aggrieved by lamentation; rajanam—to the King; bodhayantau—giving instruction; sat-uktibhih—by instructions that are factual, not temporary.

Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: While King Citraketu, overcome by lamentation, lay like a dead body at the side of the dead body of his son, the two great sages Narada and Angira instructed him about spiritual consciousness as follows.

SB6.15.2

TEXT 2

ko ’yam syat tava rajendra

bhavan yam anusocati

tvam casya katamah srstau

puredanim atah param

SYNONYMS

kah—who; ayam—this; syat—is; tava—to you; raja-indra—O best of kings; bhavan—Your Lordship; yam—whom; anusocati—laments over; tvam—you; ca—and; asya—to him (the dead boy); katamah—who; srstau—in the birth; pura—previously; idanim—at this time, at the present; atah param—and hereafter, in the future.

TRANSLATION

O King, what relationship does the dead body for which you lament have with you, and what relationship do you have with him? You may say that you are now related as father and son, but do you think this relationship existed before? Does it truly exist now? Will it continue in the future?

PURPORT

The instructions given by Narada and Angira Muni are the true spiritual instructions for the illusioned conditioned soul. This world is temporary, but because of our previous karma we come here and accept bodies, creating temporary relationships in terms of society, friendship, love, nationality and community, which are all finished at death. These temporary relationships did not exist in the past, nor will they exist in the future. Therefore at the present moment the so-called relationships are illusions.

SB6.15.3

TEXT 3

yatha prayanti samyanti

sroto-vegena balukah

samyujyante viyujyante

tatha kalena dehinah

yatha—just as; prayanti—move apart; samyanti—come together; srotah-vegena—by the force of waves; balukah—the small particles of sand; samyujyante—they are united; viyujyante—they are separated; tatha—similarly; kalena—by time; dehinah—the living entities who have accepted material bodies.

O King, as small particles of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes separated due to the force of the waves, the living entities who have accepted material bodies sometimes come together and are sometimes separated by the force of time.

The misunderstanding of the conditioned soul is the bodily conception of life. The body is material, but within the body is the soul. This is spiritual understanding. Unfortunately, one who is in ignorance, under the spell of material illusion, accepts the body to be the self. He cannot understand that the body is matter. Like small particles of sand, bodies come together and are separated by the force of time, and people falsely lament for unification and separation. Unless one knows this, there is no question of happiness. Therefore in Bhagavad-gita (2.13) this is the first instruction given by the Lord:

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” We are not the body; we are spiritual beings trapped in the body. Our real interest lies in understanding this simple fact. Then we can make further spiritual progress. Otherwise, if we remain in the bodily conception of life, our miserable material existence will continue forever. Political adjustments, social welfare work, medical assistance and the other programs we have manufactured for peace and happiness will never endure. We shall have to undergo the sufferings of material life one after another. Therefore material life is said to be duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15]; it is a reservoir of miserable conditions.

SB6.15.4

TEXT 4

yatha dhanasu vai dhana

bhavanti na bhavanti ca

evam bhutani bhutesu

coditanisa-mayaya

yatha—just as; dhanasu—through seeds of paddy; vai—indeed; dhanah—grains; bhavanti—are generated; na—not; bhavanti—are generated; ca—also; evam—in this way; bhutani—the living entities; bhutesu—in other living entities; coditani—impelled; isa-mayaya—by the potency or power of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

When seeds are sown in the ground, they sometimes grow into plants and sometimes do not. Sometimes the ground is not fertile, and the sowing of seeds is unproductive. Similarly, sometimes a prospective father, being impelled by the potency of the Supreme Lord, can beget a child, but sometimes conception does not take place. Therefore one should not lament over the artificial relationship of parenthood, which is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Lord.

Maharaja Citraketu was actually not destined to get a son. Therefore although he married hundreds and thousands of wives, all of them proved barren, and he could not beget even one child. When Angira Rsi came to see the King, the King requested the great sage to enable him to have at least one son. Because of the blessing of Angira Rsi, a child was sent by the grace of maya, but the child was not to live for long. Therefore in the beginning Angira Rsi told the King that he would beget a child who would cause jubilation and lamentation.

King Citraketu was not destined to get a child by providence, or the will of the Supreme. Just as sterile grain cannot produce more grain, a sterile person, by the will of the Supreme Lord, cannot beget a child. Sometimes a child is born even to an impotent father and sterile mother, and sometimes a potent father and fertile mother are childless. Indeed, sometimes a child is born despite contraceptive methods, and therefore the parents kill the child in the womb. In the present age, killing children in the womb has become a common practice. Why? When contraceptive methods are taken, why don’t they act? Why is a child sometimes produced so that the father and mother have to kill it in the womb? We must conclude that our arrangement of so-called scientific knowledge cannot determine what will take place; what is enacted actually depends on the supreme will. It is by the supreme will that we are situated in certain conditions in terms of family, community and personality. These are all arrangements of the Supreme Lord according to our desires under the spell of maya, illusion. In devotional life, therefore, one should not desire anything, since everything depends on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11):

anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama

[Madhya 19.167]

“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.” One should act only to develop Krsna consciousness. For everything else, one should fully depend upon the Supreme Person. We should not create plans that will ultimately make us frustrated.

SB6.15.5

TEXT 5

vayam ca tvam ca ye ceme

tulya-kalas caracarah

janma-mrtyor yatha pascat

pran naivam adhunapi bhoh

vayam—we (the great sages and the ministers and adherents of the King); ca—and; tvam—you; ca—also; ye—who; ca—also; ime—these; tulya-kalah—assembled at the same time; cara-acarah—moving and not moving; janma—birth; mrtyoh—and death; yatha—just as; pascat—after; prak—before; na—not; evam—thus; adhuna—at present; api—although; bhoh—O King.

O King, both you and us—your advisers, wives and ministers—as well as everything moving and not moving throughout the entire cosmos at this time, are in a temporary situation. Before our birth this situation did not exist, and after our death it will exist no longer. Therefore our situation now is temporary, although it is not false.

The Mayavadi philosophers say, brahma satyam jagan mithya: Brahman, the living being, is factual, but his present bodily situation is false. According to the Vaisnava philosophy, however, the present situation is not false but temporary. It is like a dream. A dream does not exist before one falls asleep, nor does it continue after one awakens. The period for dreaming exists only between these two, and therefore it is false in the sense that it is impermanent. Similarly, the entire material creation, including our own creation and those of others, is impermanent. We do not lament for the situation in a dream before the dream takes place or after it is over, and so during the dream, or during a dreamlike situation, one should not accept it as factual and lament about it. This is real knowledge.

SB6.15.6

TEXT 6

bhutair bhutani bhutesah

srjaty avati hanti ca

atma-srstair asvatantrair

anapekso ’pi balavat

bhutaih—by some living beings; bhutani—other living entities; bhuta-isah—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of everything; srjati—creates; avati—maintains; hanti—kills; ca—also; atma-srstaih—who are created by Him; asvatantraih—not independent; anapeksah—not interested (in creation); api—although; bala-vat—like a boy.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and proprietor of everything, is certainly not interested in the temporary cosmic manifestation. Nonetheless, just as a boy at the beach creates something in which he is not interested, the Lord, keeping everything under His control, causes creation, maintenance and annihilation. He creates by engaging a father to beget a son, He maintains by engaging a government or king to see to the public’s welfare, and He annihilates through agents for killing, such as snakes. The agents for creation, maintenance and annihilation have no independent potency, but because of the spell of the illusory energy, one thinks himself the creator, maintainer and annihilator.

No one can independently create, maintain or annihilate. Bhagavad-gita (3.27) therefore says:

prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.” Prakrti, material nature, as directed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, induces all living entities to create, maintain or annihilate according to the modes of nature. But the living entity, without knowledge of the Supreme Person and His agent the material energy, thinks that he is the doer. In fact, he is not at all the doer. As an agent of the supreme doer, the Supreme Lord, one should abide by the Lord’s orders. The present chaotic conditions of the world are due to the ignorance of leaders who forget that they have been appointed to act by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they have been appointed by the Lord, their duty is to consult the Lord and act accordingly. The book for consultation is Bhagavad-gita, in which the Supreme Lord gives directions. Therefore those who are engaged in creation, maintenance and annihilation should consult the Supreme Person, who has appointed them, and should act accordingly. Then everyone will be satisfied, and there will be no disturbances.

SB6.15.7

TEXT 7

dehena dehino rajan

dehad deho ’bhijayate

bijad eva yatha bijam

dehy artha iva sasvatah

dehena—by the body; dehinah—of the father possessing a material body; rajan—O King; dehat—from the body (of the mother); dehah—another body; abhijayate—takes birth; bijat—from one seed; eva—indeed; yatha—just as; bijam—another seed; dehi—a person who has accepted a material body; arthah—the material elements; iva—like; sasvatah—eternal.

As from one seed another seed is generated, O King, so from one body [the body of the father], through another body [the body of the mother], a third body is generated [the body of a son]. As the elements of the material body are eternal, the living entity who appears through these material elements is also eternal.

From Bhagavad-gita we understand that there are two energies, namely the superior energy and inferior energy. Inferior energy consists of the five gross and three subtle material elements. The living entity. who represents the superior energy, appears in different types of bodies through these elements by the manipulation or supervision of the material energy. Actually both the material and spiritual energies—matter and spirit—exist eternally as potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The potent entity is the Supreme Person. Since the spiritual energy, the living being, who is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, desires to enjoy this material world, the Lord gives him a chance to accept different types of material bodies and enjoy or suffer in different material conditions. Factually, the spiritual energy, the living entity who desires to enjoy material things, is manipulated by the Supreme Lord. The so-called father and mother have nothing to do with the living entity. As a result of his own choice and karma, the living being takes different bodies through the agency of so-called fathers and mothers.

SB6.15.8

TEXT 8

deha-dehi-vibhago ’yam

aviveka-krtah pura

jati-vyakti-vibhago ’yam

yatha vastuni kalpitah

deha—of this body; dehi—and the proprietor of the body; vibhagah—the division; ayam—this; aviveka—from ignorance; krtah—made; pura—from time immemorial; jati—of the class or caste; vyakti—and the individual; vibhagah—division; ayam—this; yatha—just as; vastuni—in the original object; kalpitah—imagined.

Divisions of generalization and specification, such as nationality and individuality, are the imaginations of persons who are not advanced in knowledge.

Actually there are two energies—material and spiritual. Both of them are ever-existing because they are emanations from the eternal truth, the Supreme Lord. Because the individual soul, the individual living entity, has desired to act in forgetfulness of his original identity since time immemorial, he is accepting different positions in material bodies and being designated according to many divisions of nationality, community, society, species and so on.

citraketur dvijoktibhih

vimrjya panina vaktram

adhi-mlanam abhasata

sri-sukah uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; evam—thus; asvasitah—being enlightened or given hope; raja—the King; citraketuh—Citraketu; dvija-uktibhih—by the instructions of the great brahmanas (Narada and Angira Rsi); vimrjya—wiping off; panina—by the hand; vaktram—his face; adhi-mlanam—shriveled due to lamentation; abhasata—spoke intelligently.

Sri Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Thus enlightened by the instructions of Narada and Angira, King Citraketu became hopeful with knowledge. Wiping his shriveled face with his hand, the King began to speak.

SB6.15.10

TEXT 10

sri-rajovaca

kau yuvam jnana-sampannau

mahisthau ca mahiyasam

avadhutena vesena

gudhav iha samagatau

SYNONYMS

sri-raja uvaca—King Citraketu said; kau—who; yuvam—you two; jnana-sampannau—fully developed in knowledge; mahisthau—the greatest; ca—also; mahiyasam—among other great personalities; avadhutena—of the liberated wandering mendicants; vesena—by the dress; gudhau—disguised; iha—in this place; samagatau—arrived.

TRANSLATION

King Citraketu said: You have both come here dressed like avadhutas, liberated persons, just to cover your identities, but I see that of all men, you are the most elevated in awareness. You know everything as it is. Therefore you are the greatest of all great personalities.

SB6.15.11

TEXT 11

caranti hy avanau kamam

brahmana bhagavat-priyah

madrsam gramya-buddhinam

bodhayonmatta-linginah

SYNONYMS

caranti—wander; hi—indeed; avanau—on the surface of the world; kamam—according to desire; brahmanah—the brahmanas; bhagavat-priyah—who are also Vaisnavas, very dear to the Personality of Godhead; ma-drsam—of those like me; gramya-buddhinam—who are obsessed with temporary material consciousness; bodhaya—for the awakening; unmatta-linginah—who dress as if madmen.

TRANSLATION

Brahmanas who are exalted to the position of Vaisnavas, the most dear servants of Krsna, sometimes dress like madmen. Just to benefit materialists like us, who are always attached to sense gratification, and just to dissipate our ignorance, these Vaisnavas wander on the surface of the globe according to their desire.

SB6.15.12-15

TEXTS 12–15

kumaro narada rbhur

angira devalo ’sitah

apantaratama vyaso

markandeyo ’tha gautamah

vasistho bhagavan ramah

kapilo badarayanih

durvasa yajnavalkyas ca

jatukarnas tatharunih

romasas cyavano datta

asurih sapatanjalih

rsir veda-sira dhaumyo

munih pancasikhas tatha

hiranyanabhah kausalyah

srutadeva rtadhvajah

ete pare ca siddhesas

caranti jnana-hetavah

SYNONYMS

kumarah—Sanat-kumara; naradah—Narada Muni; rbhuh—Rbhu; angirah—Angira; devalah—Devala; asitah—Asita; apantaratamah—Vyasa’s previous name, Apantaratama; vyasah—Vyasa; markandeyah—Markandeya; atha—and; gautamah—Gautama; vasisthah—Vasistha; bhagavan ramah—Lord Parasurama; kapilah—Kapila; badarayanih—Sukadeva Gosvami; durvasah—Durvasa; yajnavalkyah—Yajnavalkya; ca—also; jatukarnah—Jatukarna; tatha—as well as; arunih—Aruni; romasah—Romasa; cyavanah—Cyavana; dattah—Dattatreya; asurih—Asuri; sa-patanjalih—with Patanjali Rsi; rsih—the sage; veda-sirah—the head of the Vedas; dhaumyah—Dhaumya; munih—the sage; pancasikhah—Pancasikha; tatha—so also; hiranyanabhah—Hiranyanabha; kausalyah—Kausalya; srutadevah—Srutadeva; rtadhvajah—Rtadhvaja; ete—all of these; pare—others; ca—and; siddha-isah—the masters of mystic power; caranti—wander; jnana-hetavah—very learned persons who preach all over the world.

TRANSLATION

O great souls, I have heard that among the great and perfect persons wandering the surface of the earth to instruct knowledge to people covered by ignorance are Sanat-kumara, Narada, Rbhu, Angira, Devala, Asita, Apantaratama [Vyasadeva], Markandeya, Gautama, Vasistha, Bhagavan Parasurama, Kapila, Sukadeva, Durvasa, Yajnavalkya, Jatukarna and Aruni. Others are Romasa, Cyavana, Dattatreya, Asuri, Patanjali, the great sage Dhaumya who is like the head of the Vedas, the sage Pancasikha, Hiranyanabha, Kausalya, Srutadeva and Rtadhvaja. You must certainly be among them.

PURPORT

The word jnana-hetavah is very significant because great personalities like those listed in these verses wander on the surface of the globe not to mislead the populace, but to distribute real knowledge. Without this knowledge, human life is wasted. The human form of life is meant for realization of one’s relationship with Krsna, or God. One who lacks this knowledge is categorized among the animals. The Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gita (7.15):

na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.”

Ignorance is the bodily conception of life (yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke. …sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]). Practically everyone throughout the universe, especially on this planet, Bhurloka, thinks that there is no separate existence of the body and soul and therefore no need of self-realization. But that is not a fact. Therefore all the brahmanas listed here, being devotees, travel all over the world to awaken Krsna consciousness in the hearts of such foolish materialists.

The acaryas mentioned in these verses are described in the Mahabharata. The word pancasikha is also important. One who is liberated from the conceptions of annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya and anandamaya and who is perfectly aware of the subtle coverings of the soul is called pancasikha. According to the statements of the Mahabharata (Santi-parva, Chapters 218–219), an acarya named Pancasikha took birth in the family of Maharaja Janaka, the ruler of Mithila. The Sankhya philosophers accept Pancasikhacarya as one of them. Real knowledge pertains to the living entity dwelling within the body. Unfortunately, because of ignorance, the living entity identifies himself with the body and therefore feels pleasure and pain.

SB6.15.16

TEXT 16

tasmad yuvam gramya-pasor

mama mudha-dhiyah prabhu

andhe tamasi magnasya

jnana-dipa udiryatam

tasmat—therefore; yuvam—both of you; gramya-pasoh—of an animal like a hog, pig or dog; mama—me; mudha-dhiyah—who am very foolish (due to having no spiritual knowledge); prabhu—O my two lords; andhe—in blind; tamasi—darkness; magnasya—of one who is absorbed; jnana-dipah—the torchlight of knowledge; udiryatam—let it be ignited.

Because you are great personalities, you can give me real knowledge. I am as foolish as a village animal like a pig or dog because I am merged in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, please ignite the torch of knowledge to save me.