Prabhupada mentions in his purport to Bg 17.3 that “It should be understood that if one’s heart is in the mode of goodness his faith is also in the mode of goodness. If his heart is in the mode of passion, his faith is also in the mode of passion. And if his heart is in the mode of darkness, illusion, his faith is also thus contaminated.”
Krsna Consciousness is by definition transcendental, and thus free from the influence of the three modes. It’s not easy for a person influenced by passion and ignorance to immediately go to a transcendental platform, therefore the mode of material goodness works as a bridge between these different stages. Only in the mode of goodness can we properly understand the process of devotional service and practice it. As long as we are conditioned by the modes of passion and ignorance our understanding and actions will be covered by these lower modes and it will be difficult to do so.
On Bg 14.17, Krsna explains that “From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.” The three modes of material nature are called gunas in Sanskrit, a word that means “rope”. Just like ropes, these three modes force us to act in certain ways. Once one comes into the grip of a certain combination of the modes, it’s very hard to resist its influence. The best we can do is to reduce the influence of passion and ignorance and increase the influence of goodness by developing habits, activities, and thoughts that are conducive to it. That’s why through the Bhagavad-Gita Krsna gives us so many examples connected with the three modes, so we can understand the path to take.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana mentions that during the past Dwapara Yuga, the Vedas were destroyed. At the time, many foolish philosophers propounded different incorrect interpretations of the Vedas, and the real spirit of the scriptures was almost lost. Some were teaching that the ultimate goal of life was to act piously in order to enjoy the results of good karma. Some sustained that the fruits of good karma, such as elevation to the high planets are eternal, with some having the audacity of saying that Lord Vishnu Himself is bound by the laws of karma.
Others were saying that there is no God and the jivas (the individual souls) and prakrti (the material energy) act independently, without any superior control. Some were propounding that in reality all sous are God, and we become free from the cycle of birth and death when we understand our real identity as part of the Supreme Brahman. Others were saying that the souls are a reflection of God, or separated fragments of God, and so on.
Answering the prayers of Lord Brahma and other demigods to come as an incarnation and dispel all these speculations, restoring the actual meaning of the Vedas, the Lord appeared as Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa. He divided the Vedas and wrote the Vedanta Sutra in order to explain the real meaning of the scriptures.
The Vedanta Sutra refutes all these different misconceptions and establishes Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being:
Kuntidevi, the mother of the Pandavas was a great devotee of the Lord. At the same time, she understood Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and was in a familial relationship with Him, being His aunt.
After observing the wonderful way Krsna protected the Pandavas from the brahmastras, and pained by the idea that Krsna was leaving for Dvaraka she offered a set of beautiful prayers to the Lord, which was immortalized in the pages of the Srimad Bhagavatam. There is also the book Teachings of Queen Kuntī, which is based on a series of lectures Prabhupada gave on the same verses. The book and the purports of the Srimad Bhagavatam describe the same verses, but the explanation of the verses emphasizes different aspects, so both complement each other.
Having observed the way Krsna simultaneously protected the Pandavas and Pariksit, Kuntidevi starts his prayers by mentioning that Krsna is both within and without. He is simultaneously present before her in His transcendental form as her nephew, and at the same time, He is present inside of everything. We can say that the sky is present everywhere, but this is because the sky doesn’t have a form. A human being has a form, but no human being is present everywhere, because a material form implies limitation. Krsna’s form, however, is entirely transcendental, therefore Krsna can reconcile both: He is at the same time all-pervading, and localized!
How do we achieve transcendence? There are many processes offered in the Vedas, such as the study of the scriptures, the practice of Astanga Yoga, asceticism, the practice of renunciation, and so on. These different processes have the aim of elevating our consciousness up up to the transcendental stage, where we become free from all material contamination.
However, the Bhagavad-Gita explains that there is something higher than even liberation. In 18.54, for example, it’s mentioned: brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā/ na śocati na kāṅkṣati/ samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu/ mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām: “One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.”
This verse explains the platform of brahma-bhūtaḥ, the platform of liberation, where one becomes transcendental to the influence of the three material modes and other material influences. When one reaches this platform, he becomes prasanna-ātmā, fully joyful and free from all types of lamentation. Sounds wonderful, but the Gita reveals that this is actually just the beginning of something higher, that is mat-bhaktim, transcendental devotional service to the Lord.
The practice of devotional service doesn’t demand a great show of complex material arrangements. Quite the opposite, it is a very simple process that just demands a little sincerity.
On Bg 18.65, Krsna mentions “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.”
On 9.26, however, an even simpler exemple is given: patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ/ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati/ tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam/ aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ. “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.”
One may not have enough material assets to perform complex and expensive Vedic sacrifices, one may not have the peace of mind to practice meditation for extended periods of time, and not have enough intellectual power to study the Vedas in detail, but anyone can procure a little bit of clean water, a few flowers, fruits or leaves. By simply offering these things with devotion to the Lord, and thus attain the highest perfection, in an existence of life of eternity, bliss, and knowledge in one of the spiritual planets.
This sublime process is explained by Prabhupada in Bg 9.26: “The process of achieving such a marvelous result is very easy and can be attempted even by the poorest of the poor, without any kind of qualification. The only qualification required in this connection is to be a pure devotee of the Lord. It does not matter what one is or where one is situated. The process is so easy that even a leaf or a little water or fruit can be offered to the Supreme Lord in genuine love and the Lord will be pleased to accept it. No one, therefore, can be barred from Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because it is so easy and universal. Who is such a fool that he does not want to be Kṛṣṇa conscious by this simple method and thus attain the highest perfectional life of eternity, bliss and knowledge? Kṛṣṇa wants only loving service and nothing more.”
This simple process of worship is much more advanced than it may sound at first. To offer flowers or fruits to Krsna with devotion, one has to first understand the fact that God has a personal form, something that is explained in many passages of the Vedas, but that not all can understand. God can be understood in three levels: Brahman (as a transcendental unlimited, impersonal light), Paramatma (as the localized Supreme Spirit, present everywhere), and finally as Bhagavam (the Supreme Personality of Godhead). In the first level, one accepts the existence of a superior force but understands it has no form. In Paramatma realization, one understands that God has a form, but there is no relationship. Only in the Bhagavam aspect is God properly understood, being a Person and performing transcendental activities. When one reaches this stage, there is finally the possibility of offering service to the Lord, service that the Lord happily reciprocates. “Only the devotee, who accepts Kṛṣṇa as He describes Himself, without interpretation, can understand that the Supreme Absolute Truth can eat food and enjoy it.”
Krsna is not hungry. He does not depend on one offering Him something to eat. On the opposite, He is the proprietor of everything. However, when one offers something to Him with devotion, He gladly accepts it. The important is not the offering (which can be even the simplest thing, as indicated in the verse), but the devotional sentiment it is offered. This sentiment allows one to establish a loving relationship with the Lord, which is the essence of the process of Bhakti.
We are often questioned about the origin of the soul, or we may question others about it. Despite all the warnings from Prabhupada and previous acharyas about the futility of discussing it, it remains a popular topic.
One of the reasons is that the question itself, “What is the origin of the soul?” starts from a wrong premise, the idea that the soul has a beginning, a misconception that is very firmly rejected by Krsna Himself right in the first verses of the Bhagavad-Gita: “For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.”
Since the soul is eternal and has not come into being, the whole idea of an “origin of the soul” is bogus. The soul is just ever-existing, just like Krsna is. There is no beginning.
Another verse from the beginning of the Bhagavad-Gita that is significative in this regard is 2.16, where Krsna makes an interesting point: “nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ”, for the non-existent there is no endurance, and for the eternal there is no change. This verse explains in a few words the difference between material and spiritual. Creation is a concept that exists only in the illusory material world, in the spiritual reality everything that exists just exists, and doesn’t undergo change. There is no past or future, and everything just exists in an eternal present.
In his teachings, Prabhupada insists that we should worship only Krsna instead of worshipping different demigods. Why is then demigod worship recommended in some passages of the scriptures?
Often we think that the world we live in is just a playground created for our satisfaction. However, there is a higher purpose, which is explained in the Bhagavad-Gita. Right in the beginning, Krsna explains that we are not the body but eternal souls who come from outside of this material creation. The whole Bhagavad-Gita is then dedicated to explaining how we can reconnect to this eternal, spiritual nature through the process of Bhakti-Yoga.
We all have desires, and the Vedas offer a process for satisfying these desires through a process of worship of higher beings who maintain this world under the supervision of the Lord. Human beings should perform yajñas, or sacrifices to the demigods, and “The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.” (Bg 3.11). This simple process allows us to live a simple, regulated life, where we can both satisfy our material desires and gradually increase our piety.
However, at the same time, the Bhagavad-Gita calls out attention to something superior. On Bg 7.23, it’s mentioned: “Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.”
During the 18 days of the battle of Kuruksetra, almost all warriors on both sides died. That was the plan of Krsna to liberate both the pious and impious warriors on both sides. The ones who were devotees attained the spiritual planets, while the ones who were inimical attained the impersonal Brahmajoti, but all of them were liberated.
Just the five Pandavas and their five sons, as well as a few generals from both sides, had survived the battle. Amongst them was Aśvatthāmā, who was angered at the death of his father, Dronacarya, who he thought had been unfairly killed by Arjuna and Dhristadyumna.
Aśvatthāmā understood he would not be able to fight with the five Pandavas, so he decided to avenge his father by killing the five sons of the Pandavas during their sleep. These were just teenagers, who although also fighting in the battle of Kuruksetra were not as strong as their fathers. Aśvatthāmā did a terrible thing by killing all five of them during their sleep and bringing the severed heads to Duryodhana.
At this point, Duryodana was close to death after having his spine broken during the fight with Bhima. Wanting to please him, Aśvatthāmā lied, telling him that the five heads were the heads of the five Pandavas. Initially, Duryodana was pleased, but when he decided to test, by pressing one of the heads, the skull easily broke, and he understood that these were not the heads of the Pandavas, but of their five sons. Thus, instead of being pleased, he started crying, understanding that now not only he had lost the battle, but the whole lineage of the Kurus was destroyed, with the last descendants of the dynasty, the five sons of the Pandavas being killed. He died thus in a very miserable way, greatly distressed and dissatisfied with the terrible actions of Aśvatthāmā.
Varnasrama-dharma is a system prescribed in the Vedas to regulate human activities. It is not spiritual in itself, but serves as a stepping stone for one trying to practice spiritual principles because it teaches how one can live in a pious way, and at the same time offer a way to satisfy material desires one is not able to give up. As mentioned on BG 3.5, na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api/ jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt/ kāryate hy avaśaḥ karma/ sarvaḥ prakṛti-jair guṇaiḥ. “Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment”. Everyone is forced to act, and Varnasrama is the system that regulates such activities in ways that lead one to gradually elevate his consciousness.
For regular people, Varnasrama works like a stairway, that elevates them to a platform of piety from which they can progress further. For a transcendentalist, Varnasrama works as a safety net, to which one may fall back in case the plan of becoming fully renounced doesn’t work as planned. Without Varnasrama, regular people will have a difficult time climbing directly to a fully renounced platform, and transcendentalists risk falling down all the way to a sinful life if they are not capable of following a renounced life. We can see that both Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Prabhupada put a lot of stress in trying to establish the Varnasrama system not only inside our spiritual society but in human society at large.
Varnasrama is based on occupations based on one’s natural propensities. Such duties come as a package. A Ksatriya manages, but also fights, a Brahmana accepts charity but is also renounced, and so on. One can’t just accept what he wants but has to accept the whole package of the asrama he fits in. Bg 3.35: “It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous.”
One who does not follow the rules of the Varnasrama system, but is also incapable of elevating himself to a renounced platform, risks ultimately wasting his human life, by just acting in a sinful platform. This is hinted at in Bg 3.16: “My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.”
The perfection of the Varnasrama system is however to raise oneself to a platform of devotional service to the Lord. In the beginning, one may execute his duties out of attachment to the result and gradually progress into a platform of detached action where he just acts out of duty, acting for the satisfaction of the Lord and setting a good example for others to follow (Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues Bg 3.21). Krsna Himself, although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, performs different duties in His incarnations, not out of attachment, but for the sake of giving the proper example for others to follow (O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties, Bg 3.22).
When one elevates himself to a truly transcendental platform, there is no need to observe the rules of the Varnasrama system, because in such a platform there is no more propensity to act sinfully and one just acts for the satisfaction of Krsna, which is the ultimate goal of the Varnasrama system. That’s why it’s said that Krsna Consciousness is transcendental to the duties of the Varnasrama system since it allows one to be elevated to such a platform, as mentioned later in the Bhagavad-Gita, on 14.26, and still later on 18.65-66. As Prabhupada mentioned in a lecture on SB 7.6.1 (Madras, January 2, 1976): “So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that it is giving immediate lift to everyone to come to the transcendental platform, brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. But general state is varṇāśrama-dharma.”
On 3.17, he concludes: “A person who is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, and is fully satisfied by his acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no longer has any duty to perform. Due to his being Kṛṣṇa conscious, all impiety within is instantly cleansed, an effect of many, many thousands of yajña performances. By such clearing of consciousness, one becomes fully confident of his eternal position in relationship with the Supreme. His duty thus becomes self-illuminated by the grace of the Lord, and therefore he no longer has any obligations to the Vedic injunctions.”
What is the view of the scriptures on euthanasia, or assisted suicide for cases of terminal diseases? Can a doctor abbreviate the suffering of a patient, so to speak, or assist him in doing so? What do the scriptures say about this?
Surprisingly, not much. It seems that this was not a common idea in old times. The natural instinct for all living beings, including human beings is to continue living, not to end one’s life prematurely. The scriptures suggest that in a healthy state of consciousness, a person will try to extend his life, and not shorten it. They thus focus then on helping us accept the idea of death and prepare for it, by severing one’s attachments and fixing one’s consciousness on God, and not on discussing unnatural ways to prematurely go.
Dying before one’s time, and especially killing one’s own body is not considered a good idea. We are all allocated a certain amount of time in this world, and our experience here is tailored by our previous karma, which offers us a set of challenges that can help us gradually improve our consciousness. Material nature can be very hard, and we often face tough challenges, but ultimately these experiences teach us different lessons and gradually change our consciousness. If everything would always be perfect, there would not be any impetus for change. Just like we accept happy experiences when they come, we must also accept pain and suffering when it comes, as part of the package. When suffering come, we should try to see it as an opportunity to remember Krsna and focus in our spiritual practice, and this is especially true at the time of death. We may get distracted by so many material things during our lives, but the time of death, no matter how difficult it may be, is the time to get serious and focus on our spiritual practice, embracing the opportunity to change our consciousness and reaching a higher destination after our passage. It can be an extremely hard experience, but we all have to go through it.
As described in the Srimad Bhagavatam, even after compiling all the Vedas, Vyasadeva was still dissatisfied at heart. To convince Vyasadeva of the value of devotional service to the Lord, Narada Muni describes his own story. In the past life, he was the son of a maidservant who became self-realized by having the opportunity to associate with a group of pure devotees, hearing their discussions about the pastimes of the Lord and serving them.
Even being just a small child, who didn’t have an opportunity of getting an education, Narada had the opportunity of serving these great sages alongside his mother. Although he was just a small child. Narada got a taste for hearing their talks about the pastimes of Krsna and once was able to honor their mahaprasadam.
We can see that this story is a practical example of the principle of naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu described in the second chapter (By regular hearing and service to the pure devotee, all anarthas are almost completely destroyed, and loving service is established).
Narada was a simple, pious boy, who was not naught and had no attachment for plays and sports. Both he and his mother were living in an asrama and serving the different visitors who would come. A group of sages stayed there during the period of chaturmasya, the four months of the rainy season in India. During these months, there are many floods and the roads become impassable. Even great sages and devotees used to refrain from traveling during these months, using instead the time for executing austerities and concentrating on their spiritual practice. Narada was especially fortunate because a group of Bhaktivedantas (pure Vaishnavas very well-versed in the scriptures) stayed with them and invested their time in deep devotional discussions about the pastimes of the Lord. Although just a small child, Narada was naturally attracted to these meetings, and thus he had the good fortune of associating with these sages.
It’s said that devotional service is highly transmissible. Just like one may easily contract a disease by staying close to the sick, one can contract the “disease” of devotional service by serving pure devotees.
Apart from listening and serving them together with his mother, Narada just once ate the remnants of food left by the sages. This can be done even without asking permission, but being such a polite boy, Narada asked them and ate the Mahaprasadam after receiving their permission.
As he narrates: “Once only, by their permission, I took the remnants of their food, and by so doing all my sins were at once eradicated. Thus being engaged, I became purified in heart, and at that time the very nature of the transcendentalist became attractive to me.” (1.5.25)
By serving and taking this mahaprasadam, Narada quickly became very advanced in spiritual realization, but he was still bound to the position of a dependent child by the affection and care of his mother. Due to this, when the Bhaktivedantas left, he was not able to accompany them.
However, after a short time, the mother of Narada passed away after being bitten by a snake. Instead of becoming morose, Narada accepted it as the will of providence. This is also a lesson for us: often the Lord uses material difficulties as a way to move us around and make us spiritually qualified. By understanding that the Lord is just in the process of giving us something better, we can face these situations without lamentation.
He cremated the body of his mother by burning the whole house they were living in and started traveling alone. By practicing meditation he was quickly able to see the Lord for a short while. By seeing the Lord, the spiritual senses of Narada immediately awakened. While we are in this body, we need to do one thing at a time, but in a spiritual body, all the senses work independently and there is no such limitation. Narada describes this experience on 1.6.17:
“O Vyāsadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness, every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in an ocean of ecstasy, I could not see both myself and the Lord.”
This verse proves something that Prabhupada mentions in different passages. He explains that our spiritual body is part of the soul, and is thus present in us even now. It’s just covered by the material body, as well as the mind, intelligence, and so on. When these external layers are removed, the spiritual body automatically manifests. It doesn’t have to be gained from some separate source. We can see that in the case of Narada, as soon as he saw the Lord his spiritual body became active.
However, after just a moment the Lord disappeared. Narada tried again and again to repeat the same process of mechanical meditation but without success. At this point, he heard a voice saying:
“O Nārada [the Lord spoke], I regret that during this lifetime you will not be able to see Me anymore. Those who are incomplete in service and who are not completely free from all material taints can hardly see Me.” O virtuous one, you have only once seen My person, and this is just to increase your desire for Me, because the more you hanker for Me, the more you will be freed from all material desires.
At this stage, Narada was in the stage of Brahma-bhuta, he had become free from material contamination due to the association of the sages, but he hadn’t come yet to a platform of devotional service.
There are two steps in our spiritual realization: one is negative, becoming free from lust, anger, different material desires, and so on. This culminates in the stage of Brahma-bhuta, or liberation when we become free from all material contamination. This negative process can bring us all the way to the impersonal Brahmajoti, but not further. After this, however, there is also the positive process of reviving our pure love for the Lord, which allows us to enter into the spiritual planets.
Srila Prabhupada hints at the purports that Narada was at this point situated in the mode of goodness. Material goodness is very close to spiritual goodness, but as long as one doesn’t develop pure love for Krsna, some traces of material contamination will remain. That’s why the Lord says to Narada that “Those who are incomplete in service and who are not completely free from all material taints can hardly see Me.”
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura mentions in his commentary that Narada was actually at the platform of Prema at this stage, but the Lord spoke to him like this to increase his humility and teach him to be perfectly situated in Krsna Consciousness, transcending the material mode of goodness and in the process leaving his example for us to follow.
Small apparent disagreements like these are common in the comments of different acaryas because they comment on the texts from different points of view. The process to understand these differences is not trying to judge who is right and who is wrong, but to harmonize the different purports, understanding that they are all correct, and is our understanding that must be adjusted in a way that we can see all the different points as parts of a unified explanation.
Back to the pastime, the Lord thus told Narada that although he had become purified of material contamination, he still had to practice more and develop this pure love. This short darshan was causeless mercy to help him become more desirous of achieving this stage.
Most of us have also some similar experiences at the beginning of our spiritual lives. Often in the beginning we see the temple as the best place, devotees as saints, and the deities as the Lord Himself. Prasadam is the most wonderful food, and doing any small service is complete bliss. This is actually reality, that’s how things really are, and the Lord in the heart gives us a taste of it, so we can become determined in spiritual practice. However, after a little while this fades and we again see things according to our imperfect realization. Now we have to practice and become purified so we can again start seeing things as they are, just like Narada had to practice for more time in order to mature his devotional service and see the Lord again. The more we hanker for the Lord, the quicker we become free from all material desires.
Narada had this darshan of the Lord when he was still a small child. He then continued practicing until he became an old man. During this time, his natural love for the Lord developed. When he eventually met with death, his material body died, while his spiritual body simultaneously became active, just like lightning and illumination appear simultaneously.
At this point, his spiritual body manifested, a body that was fit for a personal associate of the Lord. The mission of Narada Muni is to travel everywhere, teaching the science of devotional service. He is counted as one of the incarnations of the Lord because he is especially empowered to do so. He can thus freely travel in both material and spiritual words, meeting everyone and transmitting the transcendental message. He is especially empowered to always be at the right place and at the right time, and we can see that he participates in many of the pastimes narrated in the Srimad Bhagavatam, always appearing at the exact time to give important spiritual instructions.
