KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.6.42
- The material creation is but a temporary exhibition of the material energy of the Almighty God. This material manifestation is necessary to give a chance to the conditioned souls who are unwilling to associate with the Lord in the relationship of loving transcendental service.
- Such unwilling conditioned souls are not allowed to enter into the liberated life of spiritual existence because at heart they are not willing to serve
- The living entities are constitutionally eternal servitors of the Lord, but some of them, because of misusing their independence, do not wish to serve; therefore they are allowed to enjoy the material nature, which is called māyā, or illusion. It is called illusion because the living beings under the clutches of māyā are not factually enjoyers, although they think that they are, being illusioned by māyā.
- Such illusioned living entities are given a chance at intervals to rectify their perverted mentality of becoming false masters of the material nature, and they are imparted lessons from the Vedas about their eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ).
- To manage the whole show the Supreme Lord incarnates Himself as the Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu just as a magistrate is deputed by the government to manage affairs temporarily. This Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu causes the manifestation of material creation by looking over His material energy (sa aikṣata).
- The duration of the illusory play of material creation is called a kalpa, and we have already discussed the creation’s taking place in kalpa after kalpa.
- Ultimately, all these creative elements and the creation itself are but manifestations of the Supreme Lord’s potencies; nothing is independent of the control of the Supreme Being.
- This first incarnation in the material creation, namely Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the plenary part of the original Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.48).
- The original Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva, or Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is famous as the son of King Vasudeva or King Nanda, is full with all opulences, all potencies, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation.
- A part of His opulence is manifested as impersonal Brahman, and a part of His opulence is manifested as Paramātmā. This puruṣa feature of the same Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the original Paramātmā manifestation of the Lord.
- The innumerable universes are generated from the skin holes of this Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and in each one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
- The material world is created at certain intervals and then again destroyed.
- The nitya-baddha, or the eternally conditioned souls, have the sense of individuality or ahaṅkāra, which dictates to them sense enjoyment, which they are unable to have constitutionally. The Lord is the only enjoyer, and all others are enjoyed.
- The chance to enjoy matter is given to the conditioned souls in the material world, and side by side they are given the chance to understand their real constitutional position.
- Those fortunate living entities who catch the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vāsudeva after many, many births in the material world join the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead.
- But those who cannot catch the constitutional truth are again merged into the mahat-tattva at the time of the annihilation of the material creation.
- When the creation is again set up, this mahat-tattva is again let loose. This mahat-tattva contains all the ingredients of the material manifestations, including the conditioned souls.
- All these universes are collectively produced by the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, called also the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who simply throws His glance to impregnate the material sky.
SB 2.6.42 TRANSLATION:
Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and He is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.
NEED OF MATERIAL MANIFESTATION
That the material creation is not permanent has been discussed many times hereinbefore. The material creation is but a temporary exhibition of the material energy of the Almighty God. This material manifestation is necessary to give a chance to the conditioned souls who are unwilling to associate with the Lord in the relationship of loving transcendental service.
UNWILLING LIVING CONDITIONED SOULS
Such unwilling conditioned souls are not allowed to enter into the liberated life of spiritual existence because at heart they are not willing to serve. Instead, they want to enjoy themselves as imitation Gods. The living entities are constitutionally eternal servitors of the Lord, but some of them, because of misusing their independence, do not wish to serve; therefore they are allowed to enjoy the material nature, which is called māyā, or illusion. It is called illusion because the living beings under the clutches of māyā are not factually enjoyers, although they think that they are, being illusioned by māyā. Such illusioned living entities are given a chance at intervals to rectify their perverted mentality of becoming false masters of the material nature, and they are imparted lessons from the Vedas about their eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ).
When they see and hear things that lead them to think like that I am the enjoyer ( become illusioned). For example there is a competition, there is only one winner, people put in so much effort and austerity to become the winner. To become a winner is to achieve sense gratification. The same effort to study, do austerities inorder to excel and develop a talent in the material world. Instead of competing with people of sense gratification, when put in learning about Krsna and serving Krsna will perfect our lives and will free us from the cycle of birth and death. Anything which separates rom
The purpose of this verse is to understand the real goal of KC, Unless we come to this position, even though we chant, we eat prasadam, we may associate with devotees, unless the desire to give up the position of the enjoyer and become the servant of the servant of the servant of servant of the pure devotees Gopis of Krsna.
ROLE OF KĀRAṆĀRṆAVAŚĀYĪ VIṢṆU
So the temporary creation of the material manifestation is an exhibition of the material energy of the Lord, and to manage the whole show the Supreme Lord incarnates Himself as the Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu just as a magistrate is deputed by the government to manage affairs temporarily. This Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu causes the manifestation of material creation by looking over His material energy (sa aikṣata).
CREATION
In the first volume of this book we have already discussed to some extent the explanation of the verse jagṛhe pauruṣaṁ rūpam. The duration of the illusory play of material creation is called a kalpa, and we have already discussed the creation’s taking place in kalpa after kalpa. By His incarnation and the activities of His potencies, the complete ingredients of creation, namely time, space, cause, result, mind, the gross and subtle elements and their interactional modes of nature — goodness, passion and ignorance — and then the senses and their reservoir source, the gigantic universal form as the second incarnation Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and all living beings, both moving and standing, which come out of the second incarnation, all became manifested. Ultimately, all these creative elements and the creation itself are but manifestations of the Supreme Lord’s potencies; nothing is independent of the control of the Supreme Being. This first incarnation in the material creation, namely Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the plenary part of the original Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.48) as follows:
yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
All the innumerable universes are maintained only during the breathing period of Mahā-Viṣṇu, or Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is only a plenary part of Govinda, the original Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa.
(SB 1.3.1) THREE PURUSA FEATURES
Sūta said: In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself in the universal form of the puruṣa incarnation and manifested all the ingredients for the material creation. And thus at first there was the creation of the sixteen principles of material action. This was for the purpose of creating the material universes.
The Bhagavad-gītā states that the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, maintains these material universes by extending His plenary expansions. So this puruṣa form is the confirmation of the same principle. The original Personality of Godhead Vāsudeva, or Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is famous as the son of King Vasudeva or King Nanda, is full with all opulences, all potencies, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. A part of His opulence is manifested as impersonal Brahman, and a part of His opulence is manifested as Paramātmā. This puruṣa feature of the same Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the original Paramātmā manifestation of the Lord. There are three puruṣa features in the material creation, and this form, who is known as the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, is the first of the three. The others are known as the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, which we shall know one after another. The innumerable universes are generated from the skin holes of this Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and in each one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.
PURPOSE OF CREATION
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also mentioned that the material world is created at certain intervals and then again destroyed. This creation and destruction is done by the supreme will because of the conditioned souls, or the nitya-baddha living beings. The nitya-baddha, or the eternally conditioned souls, have the sense of individuality or ahaṅkāra, which dictates to them sense enjoyment, which they are unable to have constitutionally. The Lord is the only enjoyer, and all others are enjoyed. The living beings are predominated enjoyers. But the eternally conditioned souls, forgetful of this constitutional position, have strong aspirations to enjoy. The chance to enjoy matter is given to the conditioned souls in the material world, and side by side they are given the chance to understand their real constitutional position. Those fortunate living entities who catch the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vāsudeva after many, many births in the material world join the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead. After this, such fortunate living entities need not come again within the occasional material creation. But those who cannot catch the constitutional truth are again merged into the mahat-tattva at the time of the annihilation of the material creation. When the creation is again set up, this mahat-tattva is again let loose. This mahat-tattva contains all the ingredients of the material manifestations, including the conditioned souls.
MAHATATTVA DESCRIPTION
Primarily this mahat-tattva is divided into sixteen parts, namely the five gross material elements and the eleven working instruments or senses. It is like the cloud in the clear sky. In the spiritual sky, the effulgence of Brahman is spread all around, and the whole system is dazzling in spiritual light. The mahat-tattva is assembled in some corner of the vast, unlimited spiritual sky, and the part which is thus covered by the mahat-tattva is called the material sky. This part of the spiritual sky, called the mahat-tattva, is only an insignificant portion of the whole spiritual sky, and within this mahat-tattva there are innumerable universes. All these universes are collectively produced by the Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, called also the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who simply throws His glance to impregnate the material sky.
Real enjoyers – The three purusas
False enjoyers – conditioned souls.
The main theme of the material education is sense gratification. That type of education is extremely dangerous as it is very misleading. They learn the false goal of life by going to schools. They come out of these schools thinking that they are enjoyers. Sometimes people say – see you later enjoy.. That means go and waste your life trying to enjoy the material life you idiot. Becasue of that people suffer their whole life as they are misled. There is no way to get out of this illusion unless we are hearing everyday Srila Prabhupada purports and BG.. from the acaryas. To develop the sense that we are the predominated, that is the whole purpose of Bhagavadgita. We are not the controllers and we are controlled and also to learn the what is the actual purpose of material creation – 2 purposes –
- For all the idiots, it is a Chance to engage in sense gratification, to pretend I or you are God.
- To hear real knowledge about Krsna and develop the desire to love and serve Krsna.
As soon as we understand that we are the servants of Krsna, our real constitutional position. The idea of being servant in modern world is a bad thing. In spiritual world it is the most glorious thing. Krishna likes to accept the subordinate position and come under their control. Why does the supreme love to be controlled. Love is the greatest in the spiritual and material world. When we develop love we want to serve the beloved. In material world who are very powerful and strong they like to be controlled by others, although they seem to be the strongest. The Prime minister of British, accepted the visit of an Emissary from FRance.. He came to see the PM to ask him to stop the war. When he came to see the PM he said he is very busy he needs to wait. He waits and nothing happens. He should see him right away.. Secretary says I am sorry sir please wait. French emissary sneaks to see the PM giving a piggy back ride to grandson out of love. This gives us an idea Krsns the supreme who creates billions of universes.. Who is present in every atom and every heart of living entity, enormous spiritual sky, Brahma Jyothi, He is controlling all of this when there is a sincere devotee He is sub ordinated to the love of that devotee. We have to learn about the transcendental past times of Lord with His devotee. The purpose of our life is to understand who Krsna is and that loving and serving Krsna is the goal.
Whenever there is suffering, there is illusion. We accept something which is false. We are the enjoyer is the whole theme of modern education. We waste our whole life – sex, meat eating, gambling, intoxicate..
We cannot stop desires – we can purify the desire. When you are in High School, if you have a competition – desire is to win contest and enjoy the result of winning -recognition, respect, fame and people want to follow you.
There is yagna, dana and tapasya –
Yagna – rituals –
Dana – charity –
Tapa – Austerity –
You are competing to become the most humble servant. You are controlling the material desires, you are looking for every opportunity to serve the lord and purifying your desires. Before you are looking for every oppty to win the spelling bee… now you are in the competition of getting attracted to Krsna. You have that strong attraction to serve Krsna you do not want to miss on any oppty..
Austerity is service, it is positive.. It is purified,
Everything that exists in material world exists in Spiritual world in pure form. We are naturally aligning ourselves to serve the lord by purifying all our conditioned mentality (false ego, selfishness..)
Material world –
Yagna – rituals – Tests, SAT
Dana – charity – Pay for college
Tapa – Austerity – Study for tests, pass exam
Motivation – sense gratification
BG 18.6
All these activities should be performed without attachment or any expectation of result. They should be performed as a matter of duty, O son of Pṛthā. That is My final opinion.
In the spiritual world – yagna, dana, tapa are in the pure form..
BG 18.7
Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If one gives up his prescribed duties because of illusion, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
You should never stop – cooking for the lord, offering bhoga, accepting the prasadam, chanting and waking up early.. All these things are part of eternal activities happening in the spiritual world and we are practicing it now and when it becomes the second nature to us, we go back to the spiritual world..