Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.7.22

aṣṭau prakṛtayaḥ proktās
traya eva hi tad-guṇāḥ
vikārāḥ ṣoḍaśācāryaiḥ
pumān ekaḥ samanvayāt

SYNONYMS

aṣṭau — eight; prakṛtayaḥ — material energies; proktāḥ — it is said; trayaḥ — three; eva — certainly; hi — indeed; tat-guṇāḥ — the modes of material energy; vikārāḥ — transformations; ṣoḍaśa — sixteen; ācāryaiḥ — by the authorities; pumān — the living entity; ekaḥ — one; samanvayāt — from conjunction.

TRANSLATION

The Lord's eight separated material energies, the three modes of material nature and the sixteen transformations [the eleven senses and the five gross material elements like earth and water] — within all these, the one spiritual soul exists as the observer. Therefore all the great ācāryas have concluded that the individual soul is conditioned by these material elements.

PURPORT

As explained in the previous verse, kṣetreṣu deheṣu tathātma-yogair adhyātma-vid brahma-gatiḿ labheta: "A spiritually advanced person can understand how the spiritual particle exists within the body, and thus by cultivating spiritual knowledge he can attain perfection in spiritual life." The intelligent person who is expert in finding the self within the body must understand the eight external energies, which are listed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.4):

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaḿ mano buddhir eva ca
ahańkāra itīyaḿ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego — all together these eight comprise My separated material energies." Bhūmi, earth, includes all the objects of sense perception — rūpa (form), rasa (taste), gandha (smell), śabda (sound) and sparśa (touch). Within the earth are the fragrance of roses, the taste of sweet fruit, and whatever else we want. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.10.4), sarva-kāma-dughā mahī: the earth (mahī) contains all our requirements. Thus the objects of sense perception are all present in bhūmi, or the earth. The gross material elements and subtle material elements (mind, intelligence and ahańkāra, false ego) constitute the total material energy.

Within the total material energy are the three material modes or qualities. These qualities — sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa — belong not to the soul but to the material energy. It is because of the interaction of these three material modes of nature that the five knowledge-gathering senses, the five working senses and their controller, the mind, are manifested. Then, according to these modes, the living entity gets the opportunity to perform different types of karma with different types of knowledge, thinking, feeling and willing. Thus the bodily machine begins to work.

This has all been properly analyzed in sāńkhya-yoga by the great ācāryas, especially by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, in His incarnation as Devahūti-putra Kapila. This is indicated here by the word ācāryaiḥ. We need not follow anyone who is not an authorized ācārya. Ācāryavān puruṣo veda: one can understand the truth fully when he has taken shelter of an expert ācārya.

The living entity is individual, but the body is a composition of many material elements. This is proved by the fact that as soon as the living entity quits this combination of material elements, it becomes a mere conglomeration of matter. The matter is qualitatively one, and the spiritual soul is qualitatively one with the Supreme. The Supreme is one, and the individual soul is one, but the individual soul is understood to be the master of the individual combination of material energy, whereas the Supreme Lord is the controller of the total material energy. The living entity is the master of his particular body, and according to his activities he is subjected to different types of pains and pleasures. However, although the Supreme Person, the Paramātmā, is also one, He is present as an individual in all the different bodies.

The material energy is in fact divided into twenty-four elements. The individual soul, the owner of the individual body, is a twenty-fifth subject, and above everything is Lord Viṣṇu as Paramātmā, the supreme controller, who is the twenty-sixth subject. When one understands all of these twenty-six subjects, he becomes adhyātma-vit, an expert in understanding the distinction between matter and spirit. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (13.3), kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam: understanding of the kṣetra (the constitution of the body) and of the individual soul and the Supersoul constitutes real jñāna, or knowledge. Unless one ultimately understands that the Supreme Lord is eternally related with the individual soul, one's knowledge is imperfect. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19):

bahūnāḿ janmanām ante
jñānavān māḿ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ

"After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare." Everything, material and spiritual, consists of various energies of Vāsudeva, to whom the individual soul, the spiritual part of the Supreme Lord, is subordinate. Upon understanding this perfect knowledge, one surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead (vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ [Bg. 7.19]).

--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

When contaminated by modes of nature we cannot perceive anything beyond the 24 material elements

GLORIOUS KRISHNA

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Pleasure and Pain Posted: 16 Nov 2011 03:32 AM PST Walking down the road, a man sees some stool and the stool is soft, and he thinks, "This is nasty." And a little further down the road, he again sees stool, but it has been in the sun for sometime, and becuase it is hard, the man thinks, " This is good." - But he does not stop to consider that hard or soft, stool is stool. Pleasure or pain - they are the same. In this material world, pleasure is simply hard stool. But we are thinking it is so nice. - Srila Prabhupada to Brahmananda (Hare Krishna Explosion) Blog: www.gloriouskrishna.blogspot.com

Pleasure and Pain

Krishna is extremely tolerant Posted: 02 Nov 2011 03:27 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, June 2011) Just imagine Krishna as the Supersoul and what He has to go through to be conscious of all these thoughts of all the living beings! Oh my God, just the thought of it makes my mind feel intense, and if I would know all the thoughts of everyone in this room, then that would really be too much! Can you imagine Krishna knowing all the thoughts of all living beings, in all of the universes as well as the spiritual world! It's just something else……inconceivable. But by just seeing the material universes, then Krishna has to deal with all these thoughts: The positive ones; the negative ones; the envious ones; the greedy ones, and so on. We would say: "Oh no! Here we go again. Oh my God……oh no not greed again! Not anger again!" If we read someone else's thoughts, then it's not only beautiful thoughts of nice poetry…..no! It can be all kinds of negative experiences. What to speak of the animal forms, such as Krishna being situated in the heart of the spider, that is sitting there in the sun waiting for the mosquito to fly into the net: "And then I will wrap my sticky string around this mosquito and strangle him for a bit. When he is sufficiently flat for a while, than I'll sting him with some poison, and I'll suck him dry!" What a consciousness, and Krishna has to tolerate all of this! So Krishna is extremely tolerant……extremely tolerant!

Krishna's appearance is like the sun Posted: 02 Nov 2011 02:38 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, June 2011) As we understand from Srila Prabhupada's explanation that, Krishna's appearance is just like the sun. As the sun is rising and setting, it is not that actually the sun turns red in the morning and then turns red in the evening – as if the flame of the gas has been turned down, or something like that, and the colour changes. No! The sun keeps its same bright effulgence, but because the sun is disappearing from our vision, then from our perspective it appears to become reddish, and setting and so on. But the fact of the matter is that the sun is shining somewhere else! One who flies can experience that. For example, if you fly from Australia, towards Europe and you kind of leave at sunrise, then you can have sunrise for ten hours! The sunrise just stays – that's possible, you can have those kind of experiences. So a variable sun rise. It is from our own perspective that the sun has this reddish colour but actually the sun is always shining somewhere! In the same way the pastimes of Krishna are always going on somewhere else. Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill here five thousand years ago on this planet. Now in another universe………….just right now, Krishna is lifting Govardhana Hill! In another universe – just now, Krishna is killing Putana! And again, in another universe, Krishna is killing Aghasura. Like that these pastimes of Krishna are going on eternally in unlimited universes, and all are simultaneously going on. By Krishna expanding himself like that, is not a problem……or difficulty at all!

KKSblog.com - Krishna is extremely tolerant

Bhagavad-gita As It Is | Part [BG.12.05]
 

TEXT 5:

kleso 'dhikataras tesham
avyaktasakta-cetasam
avyakta hi gatir duhkham
dehavadbhir avapyate

 

TRANSLATION:

For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

 

PURPORT:

The group of transcendentalists who follow the path of the inconceivable, unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord are called jnana-yogis, and persons who are in full Krishna consciousness, engaged in devotional service to the Lord, are called bhakti-yogis. Now, here the difference between jnana-yoga and bhakti-yoga is definitely expressed. The process of jnana-yoga, although ultimately bringing one to the same goal, is very troublesome, whereas the path of bhakti-yoga, the process of being in direct service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is easier and is natural for the embodied soul. The individual soul is embodied since time immemorial. It is very difficult for him to simply theoretically understand that he is not the body. Therefore, the bhakti-yogi accepts the Deity of Krishna as worshipable because there is some bodily conception fixed in the mind, which can thus be applied. Of course, worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form within the temple is not idol worship. There is evidence in the Vedic literature that worship may be saguna or nirguna—of the Supreme possessing or not possessing attributes. Worship of the Deity in the temple is saguna worship, for the Lord is represented by material qualities. But the form of the Lord, though represented by material qualities such as stone, wood or oil paint, is not actually material. That is the absolute nature of the Supreme Lord.

 

A crude example may be given here. We may find some mailboxes on the street, and if we post our letters in those boxes, they will naturally go to their destination without difficulty. But any old box, or an imitation which we may find somewhere but which is not authorized by the post office, will not do the work. Similarly, God has an authorized representation in the Deity form, which is called arca-vigraha. This arca-vigraha is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. God will accept service through that form. The Lord is omnipotent, all-powerful; therefore, by His incarnation as arca-vigraha He can accept the services of the devotee, just to make it convenient for the man in conditioned life.

Translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


--
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

To make progress through impersonalism is always difficult but personal feature through Bhakti Yoga is simple and easy.BG#12.05

Everyone is eager to know the news all the morning without fail, be it president, ministers or any layman on the street. But no one is willing to know the news about the self which is really the breaking news for everyone. There's no news more important than this for the self. That too people are more interested in seeing Breaking News or Flash News. So the following is no ordinary news but a breaking news for human beings to listen to!


Yudhistra Maharaja said,




"This world full of ignorance is like a pan. The sun is fire, the days and nights are fuel. The months and the seasons constitute the wooden ladle. Time is the cook that is cooking all creatures in that pan (with such aids); this is the news"

Breaking News, Flash News