Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 7: “The Science of God”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Seven
SB7.7.28
TEXT 28
tasmad bhavadbhih kartavyam
karmanam tri-gunatmanam
bija-nirharanam yogah
pravahoparamo dhiyah
SYNONYMS
tasmat—therefore; bhavadbhih—by your good selves; kartavyam—to be done; karmanam—of all material activities; tri-guna-atmanam—conditioned by the three modes of material nature; bija-nirharanam—burning of the seed; yogah—the process by which one can be linked with the Supreme; pravaha—of the continuous current in the form of wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep; uparamah—the cessation; dhiyah—of the intelligence.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, my dear friends, O sons of the demons, your duty is to take to Krsna consciousness, which can burn the seed of fruitive activities artificially created by the modes of material nature and stop the flow of the intelligence in wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep. In other words, when one takes to Krsna consciousness, his ignorance is immediately dissipated.
PURPORT
This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):
mam ca yo ’vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” By the practice of bhakti-yoga, one immediately comes to the spiritual platform, transcendental to the actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature. The root of ignorance is material consciousness, which must be killed by spiritual consciousness, or Krsna consciousness. The word bija-nirharanam refers to burning the root cause of material life to ashes. In the Medini dictionary, yoga is explained by its result: yoge ’purvartha-sampraptau sangati-dhyana-yuktisu. When one is put into an awkward position because of ignorance, the process by which one can be freed from this entanglement is called yoga. This is also called liberation. Muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means giving up one’s position in ignorance or illusion, by which one thinks in a way contrary to his constitutional position. Returning to one’s constitutional position is called mukti, and the process by which one does this is called yoga. Thus yoga is above karma, jnana and sankhya. Indeed, yoga is the ultimate goal of life. Krsna therefore advised Arjuna to become a yogi (tasmad yogi bhavarjuna). Lord Krsna further advised in Bhagavad-gita that the first-class yogi is he who has come to the platform of devotional service.
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
“Of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.” (Bg. 6.47) Thus one who always thinks of Krsna within the core of his heart is the best yogi. By practicing this best of all yoga systems, one is liberated from the material condition.
Among the linking processes that elevate one from bondage to material contamination, the one recommended by the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be accepted as the best. That process is clearly explained in Bhagavad-gita, where the Lord says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: [Bg. 18.66] “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.” This process is the best because the Lord assures, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah: “I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” There is no need to be worried, for the Lord Himself assures that He will care for His devotee and save him from the reactions of sinful activities. Material bondage is a result of sinful activity. Therefore, since the Lord assures that He will dissipate the results of fruitive material activities, there is no need to be worried. This process of understanding one’s position as a spirit soul and then engaging oneself in devotional service is therefore the best. The entire Vedic program is based on this principle, and one can understand it as recommended in the Vedas:
yasya deve para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah
[SU 6.23]
“Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23) One must accept the pure devotee, the representative of God, as one’s guru and then offer him all the respects one would offer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of success. For one who adopts this method, the perfect process is revealed. In this verse, the words yair anjasa ratih indicate that by offering service and surrendering to the spiritual master, one is elevated to devotional service, and by performing devotional service one gradually becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because of this attachment to the Lord, one can understand the Lord. In other words, one can understand what the Lord’s position is, what our position is and what our relationship is. All this can be understood very easily by the simple method of bhakti-yoga. As soon as one is situated on the platform of bhakti-yoga, the root cause of one’s suffering and material bondage is destroyed. This is clearly explained in the next verse, which gives the secret of success.
In the previous verse it has been said that the process which immediately increases one’s love and affection for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the best of the many thousands of ways to become free from the entanglement of material existence. It is also said, dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam: actually the truth of religious principles is extremely confidential. Nonetheless, it can be understood very easily if one actually adopts the principles of religion. As it is said, dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam: [SB 6.3.19] the process of religion is enunciated by the Supreme Lord because He is the supreme authority. This is also indicated in the previous verse by the word bhagavatoditah. The injunctions or directions of the Lord are infallible, and their benefits are fully assured. According to His directions, which are explained in this verse, the perfect form of religion is bhakti-yoga.
To practice bhakti-yoga, one must first accept a bona fide spiritual master. Srila Rupa Gosvami, in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.74–75), advises:
guru-padasrayas tasmat
krsna-diksadi-siksanam
visrambhena guroh seva
sadhu-vartmanuvartanam
sad-dharma-prccha bhogadi-
tyagah krsnasya hetave
One’s first duty is to accept a bona fide spiritual master. The student or disciple should be very inquisitive; he should be eager to know the complete truth about eternal religion (sanatana-dharma). The words guru-susrusaya mean that one should personally serve the spiritual master by giving him bodily comforts, helping him in bathing, dressing, sleeping, eating and so on. This is called guru-susrusanam. A disciple should serve the spiritual master as a menial servant, and whatever he has in his possession should be dedicated to the spiritual master. pranair arthair dhiya vaca. Everyone has his life, his wealth, his intelligence and his words, and all of them should be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the via medium of the spiritual master. Everything should be offered to the spiritual master as a matter of duty, but the offering should be made to the spiritual master with heart and soul, not artificially to gain material prestige. This offering is called arpana. Moreover, one should live among devotees, saintly persons, to learn the etiquette and proper behavior of devotional service. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks in this connection that whatever is offered to the spiritual master should be offered with love and affection, not for material adoration. Similarly, it is recommended that one associate with devotees, but there must be some discrimination. Actually, a sadhu, a saintly person, must be saintly in his behavior (sadhavah sad-acarah). Unless one adheres to the standard behavior, one’s position as a sadhu, a saintly person, is not complete. Therefore a Vaisnava, a sadhu, must completely adhere to the standard of behavior. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that a Vaisnava, a person initiated into the Vaisnava cult, should be offered the respect befitting a Vaisnava, which means that he should be offered service and prayers. However, one should not associate with him if he is not a fit person with whom to associate.
Harih sarvesu bhutesu. This statement is sometimes misunderstood by unscrupulous persons who wrongly conclude that because Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is situated in every living entity, every living entity is therefore Hari. Such foolish persons do not distinguish between the atma and the Paramatma, who are situated in every body. The atma is the living entity, and the Paramatma is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The individual living entity, however, is different from the Paramatma, the Supreme Lord. Therefore harih sarvesu bhutesu means that Hari is situated as Paramatma, not as atma, although atma is a part of Paramatma. Offering respect to every living entity means offering respect to the Paramatma situated in every living entity. One should not misunderstand every living entity to be the Paramatma. Sometimes unscrupulous persons designate a living entity as daridra-narayana, svami-narayana, this Narayana or that Narayana. One should clearly understand that although Narayana is situated in the core of the heart of every living entity, the living entity never becomes Narayana.
As mentioned in verses thirty and thirty-one, one’s first duty is to approach the spiritual master, the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to begin rendering service to him. Prahlada Maharaja proposed that from the very beginning of life (kaumara acaret prajnah) a small child should be trained to serve the spiritual master while living at the guru-kula. Brahmacari guru-kule vasan danto guror hitam (Bhag. 7.12.1). This is the beginning of spiritual life. Guru-padasrayah, sadhu-vartmanuvartanam, sad-dharma-prccha. By following the instructions of the guru and the sastras, the disciple attains the stage of devotional service and becomes unattached to possessions. Whatever he possesses he offers to the spiritual master, the guru, who engages him in sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]. The disciple follows strictly and in this way learns how to control his senses. Then, by using his pure intelligence, he gradually becomes a lover of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami (adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah). In this way one’s life becomes perfect, and his attachment for Krsna becomes positively manifested. In that stage, he is situated in ecstasy, experiencing bhava and anubhava, as explained in the following verse.
yadatiharsotpulakasru-gadgadam
protkantha udgayati rauti nrtyati
The Lord’s activities are uncommon. For example, when He appeared as Lord Ramacandra, He performed uncommon activities like bridging the ocean. Similarly, when Lord Krsna appeared He raised the Govardhana Hill when He was only seven years of age. These are uncommon activities. Fools and rascals, who are not in the transcendental position, consider these uncommon activities of the Lord to be mythological, but when the pure devotee, the liberated person, hears about these uncommon activities of the Lord, he immediately becomes ecstatic and exhibits the symptoms of chanting, dancing, and crying very loudly and jubilantly. This is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee.
yada graha-grasta iva kvacid dhasaty
akrandate dhyayati vandate janam
muhuh svasan vakti hare jagat-pate
narayanety atma-matir gata-trapah
When one chants the holy name of the Lord in ecstasy, not caring for outward social conventions, it is to be understood that he is atma-mati. In other words, his consciousness is turned toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
tada puman mukta-samasta-bandhanas
tad-bhava-bhavanukrtasayakrtih
bhakti-prayogena samety adhoksajam
The ecstatic condition of devotional service was completely exhibited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who sometimes danced, sometimes cried, sometimes sang, sometimes remained silent, and sometimes chanted the holy name of the Lord. That is perfect spiritual existence.
adhoksajalambham ihasubhatmanah
saririnah samsrti-cakra-satanam
tad brahma-nirvana-sukham vidur budhas
tato bhajadhvam hrdaye hrd-isvaram
Generally it is understood that by merging into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth, one becomes completely happy. The words brahma-nirvana refer to connecting with the Absolute Truth, who is realized in three features: brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate. One feels brahma-sukha, spiritual happiness, by merging into the impersonal Brahman because the brahmajyoti is the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti [Bs. 5.40]. Yasya prabha, the impersonal Brahman, consists of the rays of Krsna’s transcendental body. Therefore whatever transcendental bliss one feels from merging in Brahman is due to contact with Krsna. Contact with Krsna is perfect brahma-sukha. When the mind is in touch with the impersonal Brahman one becomes satisfied, but one must advance further to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for one’s remaining merged in the Brahman effulgence is not always assured. As it is said, aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adho ’nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah: [SB 10.2.32] one may merge in the Brahman feature of the Absolute Truth, but there is a chance that one may fall because of not being acquainted with Adhoksaja, or Vasudeva. Of course, such brahma-sukha undoubtedly eliminates material happiness, but when one advances through impersonal Brahman and localized Paramatma to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in relationship with Him as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover, one’s happiness becomes all-pervading. Then one automatically feels transcendental bliss, just as one becomes happy seeing the shining of the moon. One acquires natural happiness upon seeing the moon, but when one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s transcendental happiness increases hundreds and thousands of times. As soon as one is very intimately connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one surely becomes free from all material contamination. Ya nirvrtis tanu-bhrtam. This cessation of all material happiness is called nirvrti or nirvana. Srila Rupa Gosvami says in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.38):
brahmanando bhaved esa
cet parardha-guni-krtah
naiti bhakti-sukhambhodheh
paramanu-tulam api
“If brahmananda, the bliss of merging in the Brahman effulgence, were multiplied one hundred trillion times, it would still not equal even an atomic fragment of the ocean of transcendental bliss felt in devotional service.”
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad-bhaktim labhate param
“One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed toward all living entities. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto the Lord.” (Bg. 18.54) If one advances further from the brahma-nirvana platform, one enters the stage of devotional service (mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]). The word adhoksajalambham refers to keeping the mind always engaged in the Absolute Truth, who is beyond the mind and material speculation. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh. This is the result of Deity worship. By constantly engaging in the service of the Lord and thinking of His lotus feet, one is automatically freed from all material contamination. Thus the word brahma-nirvana-sukham indicates that when one is in touch with the Absolute Truth, material sense gratification is completely nullified.
ko ’ti-prayaso ’sura-balaka harer
upasane sve hrdi chidravat satah
svasyatmanah sakhyur asesa-dehinam
samanyatah kim visayopapadanaih
Because the Personality of Godhead is supreme, no one is equal to Him, and no one is greater than Him. Nonetheless, if one is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord is easily obtainable. The Lord is compared to the sky because the sky is vast yet within the reach of all, not only of human beings but even of the animals. The Supreme Lord, in His Paramatma feature, exists as the best well-wisher and friend. As confirmed in the Vedas, sayujau sakhayau. The Lord, in His Supersoul feature, always stays in the heart along with the living entity. The Lord is so friendly to the living entity that He remains within the heart so that one can always contact Him without difficulty. One can do this simply by devotional service (sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam. pada-sevanam [SB 7.5.23]). As soon as one hears of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (krsna-kirtana), one immediately comes in touch with the Lord. A devotee immediately comes in touch with the Lord by any or all of the items of devotional service:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
Therefore there is no difficulty in coming in contact with the Supreme Lord (ko ’ti-prayasah). On the other hand, going to hell requires great endeavor. If one wants to go to hell by illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication, he must acquire so many things. For illicit sex he must arrange for money for brothels, for meat-eating he must arrange for many slaughterhouses, for gambling he must arrange for casinos and hotels, and for intoxication he must open many breweries. Clearly, therefore, if one wants to go to hell he must endeavor very much, but if he wants to return home, back to Godhead, there is no difficult endeavor. To go back to Godhead, one may live alone anywhere, in any condition, and simply sit down, meditate upon the Supersoul and chant and hear about the Lord. Thus there is no difficulty in approaching the Lord. Adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram. Because of inability to control the senses, one must go through great endeavor to go to hell, but if one is sensible he can very easily obtain the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because the Lord is always with him. By the simple method of sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23], the Lord is satisfied. Indeed, the Lord says:
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” (Bg. 9.26) One can meditate upon the Lord anywhere and everywhere. Thus Prahlada Maharaja advised his friends, the sons of the demons, to take this path back home, back to Godhead, without difficulty.