KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.34 – Part 1:
- Whenever there is forgetfulness of the prime relation with the Lord, and whenever things are accepted as real without being related to the Lord, that conception is called a product of the illusory energy of the Lord.
- Because nothing can exist without the Lord, it should be known that the illusory energy is also an energy of the Lord.
- The right conclusion of dovetailing everything in relationship with the Lord is called yoga-māyā, or the energy of union, and the wrong conception of detaching a thing from its relationship with the Lord is called the Lord’s daivī māyā, or mahā-māyā.
- Both the māyās also have connections with the Lord because nothing can exist without being related to Him.
- The wrong conception of detaching relationships from the Lord is not false, but illusory.
- Prakrti, material nature, is controlling the living entity by her different modes, but in ignorance the living entity is thinking, “I am inventing, I am acting, I am progressing.”This is called maya, illusion.
- No one can progress or improve without Krsna consciousness.
- All beings are trying to be happy in this material world, but it is nature’s plan to give them trouble. In other words, every attempt at happiness will be frustrated so that eventually the living entity will tum to Krsna. This is the plan: to bring the living entity back home, back to Godhead.
- This plan does not apply to just a few living entities. It is not that some will remain here and others will go back to Godhead. No, the whole plan is that everyone must come back to Godhead.
- Some living entities are very obstinate, just like bad boys. The father says, “Comeon,” but the boy says, “No, I’ll not go.” It is then the father’s business to drag him.
- Every one of us has to go back home, back to Godhead. If we do so immediately and voluntarily, we save time; otherwise we waste time.
- (Bg. 18. 66) In Bhagavad Gita, Krsna instructed Arjuna in karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, and other yogas, but His final instruction was to surrender.
- All the laws of nature are working under Krsna’s direction.
- Material nature is the goddess Durga. It is she who is the superintendent of the fort. Material nature is like a fort which no one can leave. Durg is the confidential maidservant of Krsna, but she has a very thankless task of punishing the demoniac living entities. She is not an ordinary mother.
- On one hand, the living entity is given whatever he wants, and on the other there is frustration and punishment. This is nature’s law, and nature is functioning under the instructions of Krsna.
- The real truth is that God has a plan, and one has to be taught that plan by one who knows it.
- The truth is there, but we have forgotten it. Through the process of chanting and hearing, wecan revive the truth, which is that we are eternal servants of Krsna.
- The living entity is good by nature because he is part and parcel of the supreme good, but due to material association, he has become conditioned.
- Now we have to again draw forth this goodness through the process of Krsna consciousness.
SB 2.9.34 TRANSLATION:
O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.
In the previous verse it has already been concluded that in any stage of the cosmic manifestation — its appearance, its sustenance, its growth, its interactions of different energies, its deterioration and its disappearance — all has its basic relation with the existence of the Personality of Godhead. And as such, whenever there is forgetfulness of this prime relation with the Lord, and whenever things are accepted as real without being related to the Lord, that conception is called a product of the illusory energy of the Lord. Because nothing can exist without the Lord, it should be known that the illusory energy is also an energy of the Lord. The right conclusion of dovetailing everything in relationship with the Lord is called yoga-māyā, or the energy of union, and the wrong conception of detaching a thing from its relationship with the Lord is called the Lord’s daivī māyā, or mahā-māyā. Both the māyās also have connections with the Lord because nothing can exist without being related to Him. As such, the wrong conception of detaching relationships from the Lord is not false, but illusory.
Concept of Illusion and mistake is explained in –
Dialectic Spiritualism – Bg 3.27 – Prakrith kriyamanani, Bahunam Janma Namanthe..
Desiring God means rejecting material world..
Natures plan is to give everyone trouble.. This is the plan to bring the living entity and back Homem back to Godhead..
BG 18.64
BG 18.66
Pravritti – activities by which get attached to the material world
Nivritti – activities by which we get detached to the material world
Plan – put the living entities under the supervision of Durga mata. She trains them to not stay in this material world and go back to Godhead.. Every living entity will go back.. Eventually..
Surrendering to Krsna and following His instructions..
Dialectic Spiritualism – page 185
In Bhagavad-gita, it is also stated:
prakr:teiJ. kriyamaryani
gunaiiJ, karmaryi sarvasaiJ,
ahankara-vimucf,hatma
kartaham iti manyate
“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of
material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in
actuality carried out by nature.” (Bg. 3. 27) Prakrti, material nature, is
controlling the living entity by her different modes, but in ignorance the
living entity is thinking, “I am inventing, I am acting, I am progressing.”
This is called maya, illusion. No one can progress or improve without
Krsna consciousness. The living entities have come into this material
world because they wanted to imitate Krsna. Therefore they have been
given a chance to engage in so-called enjoyment. At the same time,
Krishna is so kind that He has given them the Vedas, the right directions.
He says, “All right, if you want to enjoy, enjoy in this way so that one
day you may come back to Me. ” If a child insists on acting improperly,
the father may be very careful in giving him what he wants, and at the
same time directing him.
There are two kinds of activities. One is pravrtti, by which we become
very much attached to the material world. By the other type of activity,
nivritti, we become detached. Both activities are mentioned in the Vedas.
However, there is a plan. Because the living entities have forgotten or
disobeyed Krsna and are trying to enjoy life by imitating Him, they are
placed into this material world. Under the supervision of the superin-
tendent of this material world, Durga, these living entities can return
home, back to Godhead. That is the plan, and there is really no other.
Every one of us has to go back home, back to Godhead. If we do so
immediately and voluntarily, we save time; otherwise we waste time. We
have to come to this point. Therefore Bhagavad-gftii says: bahuniirh
janmaniim ante (Bg. 7. 19). After struggling for many births, the wise
man surrenders unto Krsna. The final point is surrender, and maya gives the living entity trouble in many different ways so that he will eventually come to this point. When he becomes frustrated in his attempts at sense gratification, it should be understood that he is receiving special favor.
When Krsna is anxious to reform the living entity, He bestows His mercy
by first of all taking away all his money. This is a special favor. The
living entity always wants to delay, but by special favor Krsna draws the
living entity to Him by force. This is explained in Caitanya-caritamr:ta.
The living entity wants Krsna, or God, but at the same time he wants to
enjoy the material world. This is inconsistent, because desiring God
means rejecting the material world. Sometimes the living entity is caught
between these two desires, and when Krsna sees this, He places him in
a hopeless condition. He takes away all his money, and then the living
entity sees that all his so-called relatives and friends tum from him,
saying, “Oh, this man is useless. He has no money.” In this hopeless
condition, the living entity surrenders to Krsna.
All beings are trying to be happy in this material world, but it is
nature’s plan to give them trouble. In other words, every attempt at happiness will be frustrated so that eventually the living entity will tum to
Krsna. This is the plan: to bring the living entity back home, back to
Godhead. This plan does not apply to just a few living entities. It is not
that some will remain here and others will go back to Godhead. No, the
whole plan is that everyone must come back to Godhead. Some living
entities are very obstinate, just like bad boys. The father says, “Come
on,” but the boy says, “No, I’ll not go.” It is then the father’s business
to drag him. At the end of Bhagavad-gita Krsna says:
sarva-guhyatamar’n bhuyalj,
swu me paramar’n vaca/j,
i�to’si me dr:cJham iti
tato vak§yiimi te hitam
“Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you the most
confidential part of knowledge. Hear this from Me, for it is for your
benefit. ” (Bg. 18.64) Then He says, “Surrender unto Me, and I will give
you all protection.” (Bg. 18. 66) In Bhagavad-gfta, Krsna instructed
Arjuna in karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, and other yogas, but His final instruction was to surrender.
Misconceiving one thing for another thing is called illusion. For example, accepting a rope as a snake is illusion, but the rope is not false. The rope, as it exists in the front of the illusioned person, is not at all false, but the acceptance is illusory. Therefore the wrong conception of accepting this material manifestation as being divorced from the energy of the Lord is illusion, but it is not false. And this illusory conception is called the reflection of the reality in the darkness of ignorance. Anything that appears as apparently not being “produced out of My energy” is called māyā. The conception that the living entity is formless or that the Supreme Lord is formless is also illusion. In the Bhagavad-gītā (2.12) it was said by the Lord in the midst of the battlefield that the warriors standing in front of Arjuna, Arjuna himself, and even the Lord had all existed before, they were existing on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and they would all continue to be individual personalities in the future also, even after the annihilation of the present body and even after being liberated from the bondage of material existence. In all circumstances, the Lord and the living entities are individual personalities, and the personal features of both the Lord and living beings are never abolished; only the influence of the illusory energy, the reflection of light in the darkness, can, by the mercy of the Lord, be removed. In the material world, the light of the sun is also not independent, nor is that of the moon. The real source of light is the brahmajyoti, which diffuses light from the transcendental body of the Lord, and the same light is reflected in varieties of light: the light of the sun, the light of the moon, the light of fire, or the light of electricity. So the identity of the self as being unconnected with the Supreme Self, the Lord, is also illusion, and the false claim “I am the Supreme” is the last illusory snare of the same māyā, or the external energy of the Lord.
Dialectic Spiritualism
Durga – Duty is to punish, She Awards things and slowly takes them away
Durga – Confidential maid servant of Krsna, Thankless task of punishing
This is nature’s law – Nature is functioning under Krsna.
Goddess Durga
If we follow the lord’s instructions we will all go back to Godhead..
Srila Prabhupada: All the laws of nature are working
under Krsna’s direction.
mayadhya�e1Ja prakr:til}
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
“This material nature is working under My direction, 0 son of Kunt’i,
and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this
manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (Bg. 9. 10)
Material nature is the goddess Durga. It is she who is the superintendent
of the fort. Material nature is like a fort which no one can leave. Durga
is the confidential maidservant of Krsna, but she has a very thankless
task of punishing the demoniac living entities, who are thinking, “I will
worship my mother Durga,” not knowing that her engagement is punishment. She is not an ordinary mother. She gives the demonic living entity
whatever he wants. “Give me money. Give me a good wife. Give me
reputation. Give me strength.” Goddess Durga says, “All right, take
these things, but at the same time you will be frustrated with them.” On
the one hand, the living entity is given whatever he wants, and on the
other there is frustration and punishment. This is nature’s law, and nature
is functioning under the instructions of Krsna. The living entity in the
material world has revolted against Krsna. He wants to imitate Krsna
and become the enjoyer; therefore Krsna gives him all the resources of
material enjoyment, but at the same time He punishes him. The goddess
Durga is so powerful that she can create, maintain, and dissolve, but
she is working just like a shadow. A shadow does not move independently. The movement is coming from Krsna. A fool thinks that material
nature is there for his enjoyment. This is the materialistic view. When
he sees a flower, he thinks, “Nature has produced this flower for me.
Everything is for me.” In the Bible, it is stated that animals are placed
under the dominion or protection of men, but men mistakenly think,
“They are given to us to kill and eat.” If I entrust you to someone, is it
proper that he eat you? What kind of intelligence is this? This is all due
to a lack of Krsna consciousness.
The real truth is that God has a plan, and one has
to be taught that plan by one who knows it. This is explained in Caitanyacaritamr:ta:
nitya-siddha KrsnarJa-prema ‘siidhya’ kabhu naya
sraval]iidi-suddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the
heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally
awakens.” (Caitanya-caritiimr:ta, Madh. 22. 107) The truth is there, but
we have forgotten it. Through the process of chanting and hearing, we
can revive the truth, which is that we are eternal servants of Krsna. The
living entity is good by nature because he is part and parcel of the supreme good, but due to material association, he has become conditioned.
Now we have to again draw forth this goodness through the process of
Krsna consciousness.
Laws of Nature
BG 5.22
The more one is addicted to material pleasures, the more he is entrapped by material miseries.
BG 3.39
While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.
BG 3.43
Desire for overlording and for sense gratification is the greatest enemy of the conditioned soul;
SB 3.25.13
In the material world, everyone is trying to get some material happiness, but as soon as we get some material happiness, there is also material distress. This is the law of the material world.
Whenever we do something independent of Krsna for our own sense gratification, we fall in the trap of Durga devi.. We get punished..
BG 7.16
As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, the search for mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.