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atha—therefore; bhagavan—O Supreme Personality of Godhead; vayam—we; adhuna—at the present moment; tvat-avaloka—by seeing You; parimrsta—wiped away; asaya-malah—contaminated desires in the heart; sura-rsina—by the great sage of the demigods (Narada); yat—which; kathitam—spoken; tavakena—who is Your devotee; katham—how; anyatha—otherwise; bhavati—can it be.

Therefore, my dear Lord, simply seeing You has now wiped away all the contamination of sinful activities and their results of material attachment and lusty desires, which always filled my mind and the core of my heart. Whatever is predicted by the great sage Narada Muni cannot be otherwise. In other words, I have obtained Your audience as a result of being trained by Narada Muni.

This is the process of the perfect way. One must take lessons from authorities like Narada, Vyasa and Asita, and follow their principles. Then one will be able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead even with one’s own eyes. One only needs training. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih [BRS. 1.2.234]. With our blunt eyes and other senses we cannot perceive the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but if we engage our senses in the service of the Lord according to the instructions of the authorities, it will be possible to see Him. As soon as one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the sinful reactions in the core of one’s heart are certainly vanquished.

SB6.16.46

TEXT 46

viditam ananta samastam

tava jagad-atmano janair ihacaritam

vijnapyam parama-guroh

kiyad iva savitur iva khadyotaih

viditam—well known; ananta—O unlimited; samastam—everything; tava—to You; jagat-atmanah—who are the Supersoul of all living entities; janaih—by the mass of people, or all living entities; iha—within this material world; acaritam—performed; vijnapyam—to be informed; parama-guroh—to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme master; kiyat—how much; iva—certainly; savituh—to the sun; iva—like; khadyotaih—by the fireflies.

O unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead, whatever a living entity does in this material world is well known to You because You are the Supersoul. In the presence of the sun there is nothing to be revealed by the light of a glowworm. Similarly, because You know everything, in Your presence there is nothing for me to make known.

SB6.16.47

TEXT 47

namas tubhyam bhagavate

sakala-jagat-sthiti-layodayesaya

duravasitatma-gataye

kuyoginam bhida paramahamsaya

SYNONYMS

namah—all obeisances; tubhyam—unto You; bhagavate—Your Lordship; sakala—all; jagat—of the cosmic manifestation; sthiti—of the maintenance; laya—dissolution; udaya—and creation; isaya—unto the Supreme Lord; duravasita—impossible to understand; atma-gataye—whose own position; ku-yoginam—of those who are attached to the objects of the senses; bhida—by the false understanding of separateness; parama-hamsaya—unto the supreme pure.

TRANSLATION

My dear Lord, You are the creator, maintainer and annihilator of this cosmic manifestation, but persons who are too materialistic and who always see separateness do not have eyes with which to see You. They cannot understand Your real position, and therefore they conclude that the cosmic manifestation is independent of Your opulence. My Lord, You are the supreme pure, and You are full in all six opulences. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

PURPORT

Atheistic men think that the cosmic manifestation has come about by chance, by a combination of matter, without reference to God. Materialistic so-called chemists and atheistic philosophers always try to avoid even the name of God in relation to the cosmic manifestation. For them God’s creation is impossible to understand because they are too materialistic. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is paramahamsa, or the supreme pure, whereas those who are sinful, being very much attached to material sense enjoyment and therefore engaging in material activities like asses, are the lowest of men. All their so-called scientific knowledge is null and void because of their atheistic temperament. Thus they cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB6.16.48

TEXT 48

yam vai svasantam anu visva-srjah svasanti

yam cekitanam anu cittaya uccakanti

bhu-mandalam sarsapayati yasya murdhni

tasmai namo bhagavate ’stu sahasra-murdhne

yam—whom; vai—indeed; svasantam—endeavoring; anu—after; visva-srjah—the directors of the cosmic creation; svasanti—also endeavor; yam—whom; cekitanam—perceiving; anu—after; cittayah—all the knowledge-gathering senses; uccakanti—perceive; bhu-mandalam—the huge universe; sarsapayati—become like seeds of mustard; yasya—of whom; murdhni—on the head; tasmai—unto Him; namah—obeisances; bhagavate—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, full with six opulences; astu—may there be; sahasra-murdhne—who has thousands of hoods.

My dear Lord, it is after You endeavor that Lord Brahma, Indra and the other directors of the cosmic manifestation become occupied with their activities. It is after You perceive the material energy, My Lord, that the senses begin to perceive. The Supreme Personality of Godhead holds all the universes on His heads like seeds of mustard. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, that Supreme Personality, who has thousands of hoods.

SB6.16.49

TEXT 49

sri-suka uvaca

samstuto bhagavan evam

anantas tam abhasata

vidyadhara-patim pritas

citraketum kurudvaha

SYNONYMS

sri-sukah uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; samstutah—being worshiped; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; evam—in this way; anantah—Lord Ananta; tam—unto him; abhasata—replied; vidyadhara-patim—the King of the Vidyadharas; pritah—being very pleased; citraketum—King Citraketu; kuru-udvaha—O best of the Kuru dynasty, Maharaja Pariksit.

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami continued: The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Anantadeva, being very much pleased with the prayers offered by Citraketu, the King of the Vidyadharas, replied to him as follows, O best of the Kuru dynasty, Maharaja Pariksit.

SB6.16.50

TEXT 50

sri-bhagavan uvaca

yan naradangirobhyam te

vyahrtam me ’nusasanam

samsiddho ’si taya rajan

vidyaya darsanac ca me

SYNONYMS

sri-bhagavan uvaca—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sankarsana, replied; yat—which; narada-angirobhyam—by the great sages Narada and Angira; te—unto you; vyahrtam—spoken; me—of Me; anusasanam—the worship; samsiddhah—completely perfected; asi—you are; taya—by that; rajan—O King; vidyaya—mantra; darsanat—from the direct sight; ca—as well as; me—of Me.

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Anantadeva, replied as follows: O King, as a result of your having accepted the instructions spoken about Me by the great sages Narada and Angira, you have become completely aware of transcendental knowledge. Because you are now educated in the spiritual science, you have seen Me face to face. Therefore you are now completely perfect.

PURPORT

The perfection of life is to be spiritually educated and to understand the existence of the Lord and how He creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmic manifestation. When one is perfect in knowledge, he can develop his love of Godhead through the association of such perfect persons as Narada and Angira and the members of their disciplic succession. Then one is able to see the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Although the Lord is unlimited, by His causeless mercy He becomes visible to the devotee, who is then able to see Him. In our present position of conditioned life we cannot see or understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

atah sri-krsna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah

“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Krsna through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234) If one takes to spiritual life under the direction of Narada Muni or his representative and thus engages himself in the service of the Lord, he qualifies himself to see the Lord face to face. The Brahma-samhita (5.38) states:

premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Syamasundara situated within the heart of the devotee.” One must follow the instructions of the spiritual master. Thus one becomes qualified and later sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as evinced by Maharaja Citraketu.

SB6.16.51

TEXT 51

aham vai sarva-bhutani

bhutatma bhuta-bhavanah

sabda-brahma param brahma

mamobhe sasvati tanu

aham—I; vai—indeed; sarva-bhutani—expanded in different forms of living entities; bhuta-atma—the Supersoul of all living entities (the supreme director and enjoyer of them); bhuta-bhavanah—the cause for the manifestation of all living entities; sabda-brahma—the transcendental sound vibration (the Hare Krsna mantra); param brahma—the Supreme Absolute Truth; mama—My; ubhe—both (namely, the form of sound and the form of spiritual identity); sasvati—eternal; tanu—two bodies.

All living entities, moving and nonmoving, are My expansions and are separate from Me. I am the Supersoul of all living beings, who exist because I manifest them. I am the form of the transcendental vibrations like omkara and Hare Krsna Hare Rama, and I am the Supreme Absolute Truth. These two forms of Mine—namely, the transcendental sound and the eternally blissful spiritual form of the Deity, are My eternal forms; they are not material.

The science of devotional service has been instructed by Narada and Angira to Citraketu. Now, because of Citraketu’s devotional service, he has seen the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By performing devotional service, one advances step by step, and when one is on the platform of love of Godhead (prema pumartho mahan) he sees the Supreme Lord at every moment. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, when one engages in devotional service twenty-four hours a day (tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam [Bg. 10.10]) in accordance with the instructions of the spiritual master, his devotional service becomes more and more pleasing. Then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is within the core of everyone’s heart, speaks to the devotee (dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te). Citraketu Maharaja was first instructed by his gurus, Angira and Narada, and now, having followed their instructions, he has come to the stage of seeing the Supreme Lord face to face. Therefore the Lord is now instructing him in the essence of knowledge.

The essence of knowledge is that there are two kinds of vastu, or substances, One is real, and the other, being illusory or temporary, is sometimes called nonfactual. One must consider these two kinds of existence. The real tattva, or truth, consists of Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11):

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.” The Absolute Truth exists eternally in three features. Therefore, Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan combined are the substance.

The categories of emanations from the nonsubstance are two—activities and forbidden activities (karma and vikarma). Karma refers to the pious life or material activities performed during the day and the mental activities of dreams at night. These are more or less desired activities. Vikarma, however, refers to illusory activities, which are something like the will-o’-the-wisp. These are activities that have no meaning. For example, modern scientists imagine that life can be produced from chemical combinations, and they are very busy trying to prove this in laboratories throughout the world, although no one in history has been able to produce the substance of life from material combinations. Such activities are called vikarma.

All material activities are actually illusory, and progress in illusion is simply a waste of time. These illusory activities are called akarya, and one must learn of them from the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.17):

karmano hy api boddhavyam
boddhavyam ca vikarmanah
akarmanas ca boddhavyam
gahana karmano gatih

“The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is.” One must learn of these directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who, as Anantadeva, is instructing King Citraketu because of the advanced stage of devotional service he achieved by following the instructions of Narada and Angira.

Herein it is said, aham vai sarva-bhutani: the Lord is everything (sarva-bhutani), including the living entities and the material or physical elements. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (7.4–5):

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakrtir astadha

apareyam itas tv anyam
prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
yayedam dharyate jagat

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of the living entities, who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.” The living entity tries to lord it over the material or physical elements, but both the physical elements and the spiritual spark are energies emanating from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says, aham vai sarva-bhutani: “I am everything.” Just as heat and light emanate from fire, these two energies—the physical elements and the living entities—emanate from the Supreme Lord. Therefore the Lord says, aham vai sarva-bhutani: “I expand the physical and spiritual categories.”

Again, the Lord, as the Supersoul, guides the living entities who are conditioned by the physical atmosphere. Therefore he is called bhutatma bhuta-bhavanah. He gives the living entity the intelligence with which to improve his position so that he may return home, back to Godhead, or if he does not want to go back to Godhead, the Lord gives him the intelligence with which to improve his material position. This is confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gita (15.15). Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca: “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” From within, the Lord gives the living being the intelligence with which to work. Therefore the previous verse said that after the Supreme Personality of Godhead endeavors, our endeavors begin. We cannot independently endeavor or act upon anything. Therefore the Lord is bhuta-bhavanah.

Another specific feature of the knowledge given in this verse is that sabda-brahma is also a form of the Supreme Lord. In His eternal, blissful form, Lord Krsna is accepted by Arjuna as param brahma. A living entity in the conditioned stage accepts something illusory as substantial. This is called maya or avidya—ignorance. Therefore according to the Vedic knowledge, one must become a devotee, and one must then distinguish between avidya and vidya, which are elaborately explained in the Isopanisad. When one is actually on the platform of vidya, he can personally understand the Personality of Godhead in His forms like those of Lord Rama, Lord Krsna and Sankarsana. The Vedic knowledge is described as the breathing of the Supreme Lord, and activities begin on the basis of Vedic knowledge. Therefore the Lord says that when He endeavors or breathes, the material universes come into existence, and various activities gradually develop. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita, pranavah sarva-vedesu: “I am the syllable om in all the Vedic mantras.” Vedic knowledge begins with the vibration of the transcendental sound pranava, omkara. The same transcendental sound is Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Abhinnatvan nama-naminoh: there is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself.

SB6.16.52

TEXT 52

loke vitatam atmanam

lokam catmani santatam

ubhayam ca maya vyaptam

mayi caivobhayam krtam

loke—in this material world; vitatam—expanded (in the spirit of material enjoyment); atmanam—the living entity; lokam—the material world; ca—also; atmani—in the living entity; santatam—spread; ubhayam—both (the material world of material elements and the living entity); ca—and; maya—by Me; vyaptam—pervaded; mayi—in Me; ca—also; eva—indeed; ubhayam—both of them; krtam—created.

In this world of matter, which the conditioned soul accepts as consisting of enjoyable resources, the conditioned soul expands, thinking that he is the enjoyer of the material world. Similarly, the material world expands in the living entity as a source of enjoyment. In this way they both expand, but because they are My energies, they are both pervaded by Me. As the Supreme Lord, I am the cause of these effects, and one should know that both of them rest in Me.

The Mayavada philosophy sees everything as being equal in quality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or the Supreme Brahman, and therefore sees everything as worshipable. This dangerous theory of the Mayavada school has turned people in general toward atheism. On the strength of this theory, one thinks that he is God, but this is not a fact. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina), the fact is that the entire cosmic manifestation is an expansion of the Supreme Lord’s energies, which are manifested in the physical elements and the living entities. The living entities wrongly consider the physical elements to be resources meant for their enjoyment, and they think themselves to be the enjoyers. However, neither of them is independent; they are both energies of the Lord. The original cause for the material energy and spiritual energy is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, although the expansion of the Lord’s energies is the original cause, one should not think that the Lord Himself has expanded in different ways. To condemn the theories of the Mayavadis, the Lord clearly says in Bhagavad-gita, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah: “All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” Everything rests upon Him, and everything is but an expansion of His energies, but this does not mean that everything is as worshipable as the Lord Himself. The material expansion is temporary, but the Lord is not temporary. The living entities are parts of the Lord, but they are not the Lord Himself. The living entities in this material world are not inconceivable, but the Lord is. The theory that the Lord’s energies, being expansions of the Lord, are as good as the Lord is mistaken.

SB6.16.53-54

TEXTS 53–54

yatha susuptah puruso

visvam pasyati catmani

atmanam eka-desa-stham

manyate svapna utthitah

evam jagaranadini

jiva-sthanani catmanah

maya-matrani vijnaya

tad-drastaram param smaret

yatha—just as; susuptah—sleeping; purusah—a person; visvam—the whole universe; pasyati—perceives; ca—also; atmani—in himself; atmanam—himself; eka-desa-stham—lying down in one place; manyate—he considers; svapne—in the dreaming condition; utthitah—waking up; evam—in this way; jagarana-adini—the states of wakefulness and so on; jiva-sthanani—the living entity’s different conditions of existence; ca—also; atmanah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; maya-matrani—the exhibitions of the illusory potency; vijnaya—knowing; tat—of them; drastaram—the creator or seer of all such conditions; param—the Supreme; smaret—one should always remember.

When a person is in deep sleep, he dreams and sees in himself many other objects, such as great mountains and rivers or perhaps even the entire universe, although they are far away. Sometimes when one awakens from a dream he sees that he is in a human form, lying in his bed in one place. Then he sees himself, in terms of various conditions, as belonging to a particular nationality, family and so on. All the conditions of deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness are but energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should always remember the original creator of these conditions, the Supreme Lord, who is unaffected by them.

sukham ca nirgunam brahma

None of these conditions of the living entities—namely, deep sleep, dreaming and wakefulness—is substantial. They are simply displays of various phases of conditional life. There may be many mountains, rivers, trees, bees, tigers and snakes that are situated far away, but in a dream one may imagine them to be nearby. Similarly, as one has subtle dreams at night, when the living entity is awake he lives in gross dreams of nation, community, society, possessions, skyscrapers, bank balance, position and honor. Under the circumstances, one should know that his position is due to his contact with the material world. One is situated in different positions in various forms of life that are all but creations of the illusory energy, which works under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Supreme Lord is the ultimate actor, and the conditioned living entity should simply remember this original actor, Sri Krsna. As living entities, we are being carried away by the waves of prakrti, or nature, which works under the Lord’s direction (mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]). Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, (miche) mayara vase, yaccha bhese’, khaccha habudubu, bhai: “Why are you being carried away by the waves of the illusory energy in various phases of dreaming and wakefulness? These are all creations of maya.” Our only duty is to remember the supreme director of this illusory energy—Krsna. For us to do this, the sastra advises us, harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam [Adi 17.21]: one should constantly chant the holy name of the Lord—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. The Supreme Lord is realized in three different phases, as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan, but Bhagavan is the ultimate realization. One who realizes Bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna—is the most perfect mahatma (vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah [Bg. 7.19]). In the human form of life, one should understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for then one will understand everything else. Yasmin vijnate sarvam evam vijnatam bhavati. According to this Vedic injunction, simply by understanding Krsna one understands Brahman, Paramatma, prakrti, the illusory energy, the spiritual energy and everything else. Everything will be revealed. prakrti, the material nature, is. working under the direction of the Supreme Lord, and we living entities are being carried away by various phases of prakrti. For self-realization, one should always remember Krsna. As stated in Padma Purana, smartavyah satatam visnuh: we should always remember Lord Visnu. Vismartavyo na jatucit: we should never forget the Lord. This is the perfection of life.

SB6.16.55

TEXT 55

yena prasuptah purusah

svapam vedatmanas tada

tam atmanam avehi mam

yena—by whom (the Supreme Brahman); prasuptah—sleeping; purusah—a man; svapam—the subject of a dream; veda—knows; atmanah—of himself; tada—at that time; sukham—happiness; ca—also; nirgunam—without contact with the material environment; brahma—the supreme spirit; tam—Him; atmanam—the pervader; avehi—just know; mam—Me.

Know Me to be the Supreme Brahman, the all-pervading Supersoul through whom the sleeping living entity can understand his dreaming condition and his happiness beyond the activities of the material senses. That is to say, I am the cause of the activities of the sleeping living being.

When the living entity becomes free from false ego, he understands his superior position as a spirit soul, part and parcel of the pleasure potency of the Lord. Thus, due to Brahman, even while sleeping the living entity can enjoy. The Lord says, “That Brahman, that Paramatma and that Bhagavan are I Myself.” This is noted by Srila Jiva Gosvami in his Krama-sandarbha.

SB6.16.56

TEXT 56

ubhayam smaratah pumsah

prasvapa-pratibodhayoh

anveti vyatiricyeta

taj jnanam brahma tat param

ubhayam—both types of consciousness (sleep and wakefulness); smaratah—remembering; pumsah—of the person; prasvapa—of consciousness during sleep; pratibodhayoh—and of consciousness while awake; anveti—extends through; vyatiricyeta—may reach beyond; tat—that; jnanam—knowledge; brahma—the Supreme Brahman; tat—that; param—transcendental.

If one’s dreams during sleep are merely subject matters witnessed by the Supersoul, how can the living entity, who is different from the Supersoul, remember the activities of dreams? The experiences of one person cannot be understood by another. Therefore the knower of the facts, the living entity who inquires into the incidents manifested in dreams and wakefulness, is different from the circumstantial activities. That knowing factor is Brahman. In other words, the quality of knowing belongs to the living entities and to the Supreme Soul. Thus the living entity can also experience the activities of dreams and wakefulness. In both stages the knower is unchanged, but is qualitatively one with the Supreme Brahman.

In knowledge the living entity is qualitatively one with the Supreme Brahman, but the quantity of the Supreme Brahman is not the same as that of the living entity, who is part of Brahman. Because the living entity is Brahman in quality, he can remember the past activities of dreams and also know the present activities of wakefulness.

SB6.16.57

TEXT 57

yad etad vismrtam pumso

mad-bhavam bhinnam atmanah

tatah samsara etasya

dehad deho mrter mrtih

yat—which; etat—this; vismrtam—forgotten; pumsah—of the living entity; mat-bhavam—My spiritual position; bhinnam—separation; atmanah—from the Supreme Soul; tatah—from that; samsarah—material, conditional life; etasya—of the living entity; dehat—from one body; dehah—another body; mrteh—from one death; mrtih—another death.

When a living entity, thinking himself different from Me, forgets his spiritual identity of qualitative oneness with Me in eternity, knowledge and bliss, his material, conditional life begins. In other words, instead of identifying his interest with Mine, he becomes interested in his bodily expansions like his wife, children and material possessions. In this way, by the influence of his actions, one body comes from another, and after one death, another death takes place.

Generally the Mayavadi philosophers or persons influenced by Mayavadi philosophers think themselves as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the cause of their conditional life. As stated by the Vaisnava poet Jagadananda Pandita in his Prema-vivarta:

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga vancha kare
nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare

As soon as a living entity forgets his constitutional position and endeavors to become one with the Supreme, his conditional life begins. The conception that the Supreme Brahman and the living entity are equal not only in quality but also in quantity is the cause of conditional life. If one forgets the difference between the Supreme Lord and the living entity, his conditional life begins. Conditional life means giving up one body to accept another and undergoing death to accept death again. The Mayavadi philosopher teaches the philosophy of tat tvam asi, saying, “You are the same as God.” He forgets that tat tvam asi applies in terms of the marginal position of the living entity, who is like sunshine. There is heat and light in the sun, and there is heat and light in the sunshine, and thus they are qualitatively one. But one should not forget that the sunshine rests on the sun. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gita, brahmano hi pratisthaham [Bg. 14.27]: “I am the original source of Brahman.” The sunshine is important because of the presence of the sun globe. It is not that the sun globe is important because of the all-pervasiveness of the sunshine. Forgetfulness and misunderstanding of this fact is called maya. Because of forgetfulness of one’s constitutional position and that of the Supreme Lord, one comes into maya, or samsara—conditional life. In this regard, Madhvacarya says:

sarva-bhinnam paratmanam
vismaran samsared iha
abhinnam samsmaran yati
tamo nasty atra samsayah

When one thinks that the living entity is nondifferent in all respects from the Supreme Lord, there is no doubt that he is in ignorance (tamah).

SB6.16.58

TEXT 58

labdhveha manusim yonim

jnana-vijnana-sambhavam

atmanam yo na buddhyeta

na kvacit ksemam apnuyat

labdhva—achieving; iha—in this material world (especially in this pious land of Bharata-varsa, India); manusim—the human; yonim—species; jnana—of knowledge through Vedic scriptures; vijnana—and practical application of that knowledge in life; sambhavam—wherein there is a possibility; atmanam—one’s real identity; yah—anyone who; na—not; buddhyeta—understands; na—never; kvacit—at any time; ksemam—success in life; apnuyat—can obtain.

A human being can attain perfection in life by self-realization through the Vedic literature and its practical application. This is possible especially for a human being born in India, the land of piety. A man who obtains birth in such a convenient position but does not understand his self is unable to achieve the highest perfection, even if he is exalted to life in the higher planetary systems.

This statement is confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 9.41). Lord Caitanya said:

bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma yara
janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara

Everyone born in India, especially as a human being, can achieve the supreme success through the Vedic literature and its practical application in life. When one is perfect, he can render a service for the self-realization of the entire human society. This is the best way to perform humanitarian work.

SB6.16.59

TEXT 59

smrtvehayam pariklesam

tatah phala-viparyayam

abhayam capy anihayam

sankalpad viramet kavih

smrtva—remembering; ihayam—in the field of activities with fruitive results; pariklesam—the waste of energy and the miserable conditions; tatah—from that; phala-viparyayam—the opposite of the desired result; abhayam—fearlessness; ca—also; api—indeed; anihayam—when there is no desire for fruitive results; sankalpat—from material desire; viramet—should cease; kavih—one who is advanced in knowledge.