The Mundaka Upanisad brings an interesting verse that explains how the different states of consciousness we experience are connected with the soul, and ultimately with the Supersoul inside the heart.
“All the nāḍis of the body are fixed to the heart, like spokes to the central hub of a chariot wheel. The Lord moves about within, manifesting in many ways. Meditate on this transcendental Lord through the transcendental sound vibration and by His mercy, cross beyond the darkness of ignorance. May you be blessed.”)
The nāḍis are subtle energetic pathways, through which the vital airs flow. There are thousands of nāḍis in the body, and they intersect in the chakras. Because they are very subtle pathways, the nāḍis are not understood in modern medicine (which is limited to the study of the nerves and the circulatory system), but nāḍis receive great importance in the Vedic sciences.
In this second part of the course on the teachings of Lord Kapila, we will study the nature of this material world and our relationship with it. The soul is transcendental, just like the Lord is, but because the soul is very small, it can fall under the control of material energy, while the Lord never falls into illusion. Even though it may be dificult to understand how the transcendental soul falls into illusion, and how the spiritual soul can become related to matter, it is still a fact that we are here. By understanding the nature of this world, we can see the light behind the illusion and find our way back.
Understanding Material nature and how it imprisons us
In the previous chapter, Lord Kapila offered a summary of his teachings, explaining the supreme goal and how the process of devotional service allows one to achieve it. This chapter, the 25th chapter of the 3rd canto, is also explained by Srila Prabhupada in his book Teachings of Lord Kapila, which offers a very concise explanation of the Sankhya philosophy and how it elevates us to the platform of pure devotional service to the Lord.
Now, starting from chapter 3.26, Lord Kapila offers a more detailed explanation of the Sankhya philosophy, an explanation that goes all the way up to chapter 3.32. This is a school of knowledge that has existed for billions of years, since the reign of Svāyambhuva Manu. This is knowledge that can liberate us by helping us to understand both the nature of this material world and the process of devotional service that makes us free from it. These chapters include some of the deepest purports Prabhupada wrote in the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. In this work I will try to explain these purports, so you can easily grasp the details of the topics he discuss and thus be able to go deeper in his purports.
Like in other passages of the Srimad Bhagavatam, a blessing is offered to those who study this section of the teachings of Lord Kapila with faith and attention. The blessing, offered by Maitreya is that by studying this section one becomes fixed in meditation into the Supreme Lord, and at the time of death goes to the Supreme abode, where he attains the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
in the Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Kapila describes Yama and Niyama, the preliminary principles for the yoga process, including what to do, and what to avoid. These points are valid for all processes of self-realization. They give a solid basis from which to develop our practice. All of them are important, and many of the problems we face in our spiritual path come from failing to develop one or more of them.
“One should execute his prescribed duties to the best of his ability and avoid performing duties not allotted to him. One should be satisfied with as much gain as he achieves by the grace of the Lord, and one should worship the lotus feet of a spiritual master. One should cease performing conventional religious practices and should be attracted to those which lead to salvation. One should eat very frugally and should always remain secluded so that he can achieve the highest perfection of life. One should practice nonviolence and truthfulness, should avoid thieving and be satisfied with possessing as much as he needs for his maintenance. He should abstain from sex life, perform austerity, be clean, study the Vedas and worship the supreme form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (SB 3.28.2-4)
The first principle is sva-dharmācaraṇaṁ, executing one’s prescribed duties. This is a topic explained in detail in the Bhagavad-Gita. The natural division of society into four classes is naturally present in all societies, the problem is that most don’t understand the duties connected with each function. The essence of the varnasrama system is that people may be trained to properly perform their duties. This starts with basic qualities such as honesty, tolerance, being averse to fault-finding, etc., and progresses into more specific qualifications according to one’s social functions and occupation. On the other side, one should avoid performing duties that are against his nature and thus not allotted to him. A Brahmana should not fight, a Ksatriya should not try to be artificially non-violent, a Vaishya should not be artificially renounced, and so on.
Apart from these material duties, there is also the supreme duty, which is to serve the Lord. As long as one is in a material platform, one should serve the Lord while simultaneously performing his material duties, but when one becomes completely free from identification with the body, his duty becomes to just serve the Lord, although he may continue performing his material duties to give example to others. This is also well explained in the Bhagavad-Gita.
The next principle is santoṣa. One should be satisfied with what comes automatically by the grace of the Lord. Every one of us has a certain quota already allotted to us according to our previous activities. Instead of wasting our human lives trying to obtain more material facilities than what is allotted to us, we are advised to just accept whatever results come through the performance of our duties and honest work, by the grace of the Lord, and instead use our time for self-realization. It’s said that at the end of our lives, we don’t have to answer for what others do, but only for what we personally do. Other people may sensor or mock us, but we should just do what is right and not be disturbed. They will answer for their actions, and we will answer for ours.
The most important principle from the first verse, however, is ātmavic-caraṇārcanam, we should find a genuine spiritual master and surrender to him, following the process of serving and inquiring about spiritual topics. This process of approaching a spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession is the basic pre-requisite for spiritual realization. Although we have access to all the correct conclusions of the scriptures in the books of Srila Prabhupada, still we should find a spiritual master who can help us to properly understand his instructions, as he explains in his books. Without such guidance, it is easy to misunderstand.
Coming to the second verse, the next principle is grāmya-dharma-nivṛttiś, to stop the performance of mundane religious practices that have the goal of achieving material prosperity. There are many activities on this level prescribed in the karma-kanda section of the Vedas, as well as many traditional customs followed by different social groups, but they are not favorable for developing devotional service. They sometimes can work as a first step for people coming from gross materialism, but their benefit is very limited. The root of these religious performances is materialism, and when people see that there is another way to achieve things they want, they tend to abandon such religious performances and become again regular materialists. We can see that this type of religious activity is rejected right at the beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam. Instead, one should concentrate on the practice of devotional service and practices that make us free from material entanglement.
To be stable in our spiritual practice we need to ascend to the mode of goodness. From passion and ignorance is very dificult to understand what spiritual practice is, and what to say about being successful in it. To assist us in that, two principles that are very useful are mita-medhyādanam and vivikta-kṣema-sevanam.
Mita-medhyādanam means eating frugally and only pure food. At the beginning of our spiritual practice, eating a lot of prasadam is favorable, because it helps us to lose the taste for contaminated foods. However, as we advance, it becomes progressively more important to also reduce our eating to just what is needed for maintaining the body. Eating too much increases the influence of passion and ignorance, making us lethargic, diseased, and incapable of controlling our senses. On the other hand, eating little makes us active and healthy. As Prabhupada explains, the general rule is that we should eat half of what we would normally eat, and add a quarter of water, leaving the other quarter of the stomach empty. This requires a good dose of self-control, but that’s exactly the purpose of human life. The other principle, vivikta-kṣema-sevanam means to live in a secluded, peaceful place, where our spiritual practice will not be disturbed. For devotees, this means to live with other devotees who are serious in their spiritual practice. That’s the main reason Prabhupada emphasized the development of spiritual communities.
Another essential part of our spiritual realization is to be able to see all living entities as parts and parcels of the Lord. The Lord lives in every heart as Paramatma, and thus every living being is worthy of respect. Without practicing ahiṁsā, our spiritual practice will remain just an external show. The practice of non-violence is explained in more detail later in the teachings of Lord Kapila, as well as in the 11th canto.
When advised by Śukrācārya to break his word, Bali Maharaja argued “How can I behave like an ordinary cheater, especially toward a brāhmaṇa?” then he said: “There is nothing more sinful than untruthfulness. Because of this, mother earth once said, “I can bear any heavy thing except a person who is a liar.” (SB 8.20.4)
In Kali-yuga, three of the pillars of religious life (cleanliness, austerity and mercy) have already been destroyed. In this age, we are not very clean (especially internally, in terms of our thoughts and desires), we can’t perform serious austerities like people from previous ages, and we are not very merciful. Although people suffer all over the world for the lack of Krsna Consciousness, we are not very inclined to sacrifice our own comfort in order to help them. The only thing that sustains dharma in Kali-yuga is truthfulness. Because there is still some degree of truthfulness, people can still approach saintly persons and inquire about spiritual knowledge. When this truthfulness, the last pillar is broken, all is lost. Therefore, Lord Kapila prescribes satyam, truthfulness, as another essential principle for anyone interested in advancing in spiritual life.
Another principle is asteyam. It is translated as “to refrain from theft”, but Prabhupada calls our attention to the broader sense of it. Asteyam doesn’t mean just not being a thief in an ordinary sense, but avoiding becoming a thief by accumulating more than one needs or not spending one’s money for the worship of the Lord. Everything belongs to the Lord because everything is made out of His energy. If we take it and claim it to be our property, that’s theft. Instead, we should accept the principle that everything belongs to Krsna and use whatever properties we find under our care in the service of the Lord. A pure devotee may accept any amount of material resources for the service of the Lord, but he will avoid accepting more than necessary for his personal maintenance. This is the principle of īśāvāsyam idaḿ sarvaṁ discussed in the first verse of the Śrī Īśopaniṣad.
The last four principles are interconnected. One should practice brahmacaryam, which means to practice celibacy. As Prabhupada explains, it can be practiced by either completely avoiding sex life or by restricting it to sex inside the marriage according to regulations. Illicit sex life is the sinful principle that destroys cleanliness, both internal and external, therefore this is an important principle for one desiring to be serious in the spiritual practice. Cleanliness is also essential when one is engaged in worshiping the deity.
Without controlling one’s senses, it’s also very dificult to study and understand the scriptures. As Prabhupada mentions, “practicing yoga without reading the standard literatures is simply a waste of time.” Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura classifies the three stages of spiritual advancement as sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana. The first stage, sambandha, is based on having a proper understanding. Based on this, one can properly practice the process (abhidheya) and attain the ultimate goal (prayojana).
We often think that the false ego is something that has the be extinguished as part of our spiritual path. Often we think we have to chastise others to curb their false ego, or we think that we have to be chastised by others to become free of ours.
While this is true in a sense, this process of trying to forcefully destroy the false ego is not always positive.
The point is that we need a concept of identity to be able to operate. A pure devotee can become free from the false ego because he becomes established in his real identity as a servant of Krsna. As long as we are not at this level, we need some other identity to be able to operate, which brings us back to the false ego.
To see ourselves as a good devotee, a husband or wife, a good father or mother, a good disciple, etc. is something that gives us confidence to perform these activities well. Even when we commit a mistake, we can continue, because the identification as a good, capable person gives us the strength to learn from it and continue.
However, if I see myself as bad, incapable, unworthy, unholy, unintelligent, etc. this identification will lead me to lethargy, depression, and so on. Since I’m incapable, I can’t do anything well, since I’m unintelligent, I can’t learn. Since I’m unworthy, I will not try, and so on. This is an example of a dysfunctional false ego, which will prevent me from realizing my potential as a devotee and as a person.
We speak a lot about the Upanisads, but they are still a kind of obscure part of our philosophy. Apart from a few quotes from Srila Prabhupada, we don’t know much about them. One difficulty with the Upanisads is that they are written usually in very cryptic language, demanding familiarity with different advanced philosophical concepts to be understood (the Upanisads are parts of the original Vedas that contain philosophical truths). The second problem is that exactly because they are difficult texts, the translations available rarely make sense.
In case you are curious, here is an interesting passage from the Taittiriya Upanisad that describes the different stages of existence: annamaya, prāṇamaya, manomaya, and vijñānamaya. This verse concludes the discussion by offering a still higher stage, the ānandamaya.
It starts with a description of Brahman and then of the material elements, similar to the description of creation connected with the Virat-rupa we find in the 2nd canto of Srimad Bhagavatam:
“He who knows Brahman, which is cause, not effect, which is conscious, which is without end, hidden in the depths of the heart, in the highest sky, enjoys all blessings in the company of the all-enjoying Brahman. From that Self (Brahman) sprang ākāśa (ether); from ākāśa sprang air; from air, fire; from fire, water; from water, earth. From earth sprang herbs; from herbs, food; from food, semen; from semen, man. Man thus consists of the essence of food. This (food) is his head, this is his right arm, this is his trunk (ātman), this is his seat (the support).”
With this, Brahman is established as the creator of everything. From Brahman came ether and from ether the different material elements, culminating with the element earth, which in turn leads to a sequence of manifestations, culminating with food, which is the source of subsistence. Food leads to the production of semen, from which all human beings are created. Food is thus the support for the human being.
This description continues in the next verse, which describes the first level of consciousness, annamaya:
When Pariksit Maharaja decided to renounce the kingdom and fast until death, the situation was so uncommon that all of the most prominent sages of the universe appeared at the scene. How could a powerful king like Maharaja Pariksit, who had everything desirable, renounce everything like that?
The catalyst for the renunciation of Maharaja Pariksit was the curse of Śṛṅgi, the son of the sage Samika, who cursed Maharaja Pariksit to die in seven days, bitten by a winged snake, after hearing that he had disrespected his father.
Despite his young age, he had been trained by his father as a brahmacary and was thus already powerful as a qualified Brahmana. Prabhupada mentions that this was a testament to the good governance of the king, who managed the world so well that even a child playing with other small boys was already so powerful that he could curse a king. However, under the influence of Kali-yuga, this power was mixed with pride and led to him ignorantly cursing the King.
This was the beginning of the downfall of the Brahminical order. As Prabhupada mentions: “Hatred of the lower orders of life began from this brāhmaṇa boy, under the influence of Kali, and thus cultural life began to dwindle day after day.” Under the influence of the age of Kali, Brahmanas became proud and this led them to lose their powers and Brahminical culture and eventually create the caste system, which is a demoniac system. The caste system in turn led to the abolition of the Varnasrama system and the establishment of democracy, which is also not a very good form of government. Prabhupada makes the point that one should remove the deviations in the Varnasrama system introduced by the degraded Brahmanas of Kali-yuga, such as the caste system, and not reject the system as a whole.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9, it is described how Brahma met the Lord in his original form as Krsna and was instructed in the four seed-verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam, known as the catuh-sloki. One could question when this conversation of Lord Brahma with Krsna happened.
This is actually a difficult question to answer because the focus of the Srimad Bhagavatam is the spiritual instructions and not the historical descriptions. We are currently on the first day of the second half of the life of Brahma. This conversation happened at the very beginning of one of his days, but each one?
In SB 3.4.13, Krsna describes to Uddhava that He spoke to Brahma at the beginning of creation, at the Padma Kalpa (the lotus millennium): purā mayā proktam ajāya nābhye padme niṣaṇṇāya mamādi-sarge, “O Uddhava, in the lotus millennium in the days of yore, at the beginning of the creation, I spoke unto Brahmā, who is situated on the lotus that grows out of My navel”
In the Srimad Bhagavatam we have the description of the encounter of Pariksit Maharaja, and Kali, who was beating Bhumi and Dharma, in the form of a cow and a bull. Pariksit had the chance of killing Kali, but decided to spare him. Why is it so?
It’s described that Kali, although the most degraded, is dressed like a king, which indicates the situation of Kali-yuga when the most degraded people become the rulers and advance an agenda of exploitation and degradation of society.
It’s described that bull was as white as a white lotus flower. He was terrified of the śūdra who was beating him, and he was so afraid that he was standing on one leg, trembling and urinating. The cow was separated from her calves and her legs were being beaten by a śūdra. There were tears in her eyes, and she was distressed and weak. She was hungry and desiring to get some grass from the field.
Seeing this scene, Pariksit immediately got down from his chariot and addressed Kali:
Taking into consideration the historical view of the world that we get from the Vedas and more specifically from the Puranas, how could we explain the existence of dinosaurs, as well as Neanderthals and other less-evolved species of human beings?
The Vedas explain that Brahma created the universe at the beginning of his day and that human beings have been living on Earth since the reign of Swayabhuva Manu, more than four billion years ago. How can we reconcile these ideas with modern studies that conclude that evolved human beings appeared about 360,000 or so years ago? What about dinosaurs, the different geological ages our planet went through, the theory of the snowball earth, and so on?
The first point is that when we hear the description of the Puranas, we tend to think that everything exists in the same way it has now since the beginning. This is an idea that can be easily disproved since it is very easy to observe that different species of plants and animals change their forms over time according to different changes in the environment. One of the easiest examples to grasp is dogs: all modern dogs came from a single species that was domesticated a few thousand years ago. However, due to breeding and selection, this single species was subdivided into the thousand different races of dogs we have nowadays. Darwin noticed this phenomenon and created his misguided theory of evolution, concluding that life came from matter. His conclusion is incorrect of course, but the basis of his theory is just the observation of this natural phenomenon.
It is not hard to understand how, during the billion years of the existence of our planet, the environment changed many times and the forms of different species changed accordingly. Dinosaurs are nothing more than birds and reptiles adapted to live in the environment that existed at the time, with higher temperatures, higher content of oxygen in the atmosphere, and so on.
Vidhura is the brother of Pandhu and Drtatrastra. However, because he was the son of a maidservant, he didn’t have a claim to the throne, although he was raised in the palace and educated in the military science just like his brothers.
Different from Drtarastra, Vidhura was a pure devotee. He was an incarnation of Yamaraja, who, under the pretext of being cursed to take birth as a sudra, had come to take part in Krsna’s pastimes. While he was present on Earth, Aryamā officiated at his post, punishing the sinful souls. It’s important to understand that just like in the case of other demigods, “Yamaraja” is actually the name of a post, and not directly the name of a person, just like “Indra” or “Surya”. Different souls can take up the post and perform the functions, just like different persons may occupy the post of president at different times.
Vidhura protested the mistreatment of the Pandavas, advising Drtarastra to abandon his envy of them, and instead get rid of Duryodhana, who was offense personified. Drtarastra however was too attached to his son and thus didn’t react to his words.
Duryodhana then used the opportunity to expel Vidhura from the palace which he gladly accepted, understanding that there was nothing he could do for his brother at the time and that it would be thus better to go out on pilgrimage, using his time to visit holy places and meet saintly persons.
Vidhura returning to the palace happened shortly after the disappearance of Krsna before the Pandavas had received the news. Vidhura already knew Krsna had left the planet and thus was anxious to save his brother Drtarastra, helping him to return back home, back to Godhead before it was too late. To avoid a commotion, he decided to not say anything about the disappearance of Krsna to the Pandavas, understanding that they would receive the news sooner or later. Instead, he focused on his main mission of helping his brother.
