Tag: BG 14.20

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SB 2.9.36 – Part 4 – Notes – 1/25/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.36 – Part 4 (1/25/22):

  • Generally men may say that whatever they are doing is inspired by God, but that is not all. One should actually work on behalf of God as a servant of God.
  • “be a servant of God and live peacefully in that consciousness, ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.” – is the guiding principle of our life
  • Skanda Purāṇa: “I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed.”
  • One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead.
  • As by pouring water on the root of the tree one serves and enlivens all the branches and leaves, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord one automatically serves every god and goddess without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading.
  • SB (12.3.52): Even during the annihilation of the material world, the process of bhakti-yoga can be applied. Kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyam: the Lord is worshiped in devastation because He protects the Vedas from being annihilated. He is worshiped in every millennium or yuga
  • In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is written: “If even for a moment remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.”
  • “Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord the inhabitants of hell became released from their hellish persecution.” 
  • So the conclusion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, is: “O King, it is finally decided that everyone, namely those in the renounced order of life, the mystics, and the enjoyers of fruitive work, should chant the holy name of the Lord fearlessly to achieve the desired success in their pursuits.” (Bhāg. 2.1.11)
  •  Even though one is well versed in all the Vedas and scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, he is considered to be the lowest of mankind.
  • SB 10.84.13 – “One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.”
  • It is the duty of the father, duty of the state, duty of the teachers to educate them in real knowledge from the very beginning. Bhāgavata says that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a king unless they are able to elevate their dependents to this spiritual knowledge, which can save him from repeated birth and death.
  • In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. 
  • Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries.
  • University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. 
  • Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.
  • BG 14.20 – When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

SB 2.9.36 TRANSLATION:

A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, must certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that one can serve the Lord by offering the result of one’s own work; it does not matter what one does. Generally men may say that whatever they are doing is inspired by God, but that is not all. One should actually work on behalf of God as a servant of God. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27):

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi

yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya

tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Do whatever you like or whatever may be easier for you to do, eat whatever you may eat, sacrifice whatever you can sacrifice, give whatever you may give in charity, and do whatever you may undertake in penance, but everything must be done for Him only. If you do business or if you accept some employment, do so on behalf of the Lord. Whatever you may eat, you may offer the same to the Lord and be assured that He will return the food after eating it Himself. He is the complete whole, and therefore whatever He may eat as offered by the devotee is accepted because of the devotee’s love, but again it is returned as prasāda for the devotee so that he can be happy by eating. In other words, “be a servant of God and live peacefully in that consciousness, ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.” GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF OUR LIFE 

Today we will learn – 

What is knowledge and what is ignorance?

The way of knowing Krsna. 

Most parents are not teaching their kids Krsna Consciousness.. 

It is said in the Skanda Purāṇa:

yasya smṛtyā ca nāmoktyā

tapo-yajña-kriyādiṣu

nūnaṁ sampūrṇatām eti

sadyo vande tam acyutam

“I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed.” It is enjoined (Bhāg. 2.3.10):

In puranas they do not name Krsna they say Him.. Shivas say that it is referring to Krsna. Sometimes in some context it will be referring to Shiva but majority of times it is Krsna.

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā

mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ

tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena

yajeta puruṣaṁ param

Though a person be full of desires or have no desires, he may follow this path of infallible bhakti-yoga for complete perfection.” One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead.

We don’t engage in worship demigods but we respect them.. 

 As by pouring water on the root of the tree one serves and enlivens all the branches and leaves, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord one automatically serves every god and goddess without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading. This fact is corroborated in the Skanda Purāṇa as follows:

arcite deva-deveśe

śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-dhare

arcitāḥ sarva-devāḥ syur

yataḥ sarva-gato hariḥ

When the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, who carries in His hands a conchshell, wheel, club and lotus flower, is worshiped, certainly all other demigods are worshiped automatically because Hari, the Personality of Godhead, is all-pervading. Therefore, in all cases, namely nominative, objective, causative, dative, ablative, possessive and supportive, everyone is benefited by such transcendental loving service to the Lord. The man who worships the Lord, the Lord Himself who is worshiped, the cause for which the Lord is worshiped, the source of supply, the place where such worship is done, etc. — everything is benefited by such an action.

Even during the annihilation of the material world, the process of bhakti-yoga can be applied. Kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyam: the Lord is worshiped in devastation because He protects the Vedas from being annihilated. He is worshiped in every millennium or yuga. As it is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.3.52):

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ

tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ

dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ

kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is written:

sa hānis tan mahac chidraṁ

sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ

yan-muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi

vāsudevaṁ na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” The Lord can be worshiped in all stages of life. For instance, even in the wombs of their mothers Mahārāja Prahlāda and Mahārāja Parīkṣit worshiped the Lord; even in his very childhood, at the age of only five years, Dhruva Mahārāja worshiped the Lord; even in full youth, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa worshiped the Lord; and even at the last stage of his frustration and old age Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra worshiped the Lord. Ajāmila worshiped the Lord even at the point of death, and Citraketu worshiped the Lord even in heaven and in hell. In the Narasiṁha Purāṇa it is said that as the hellish inhabitants began to chant the holy name of the Lord they began to be elevated from hell towards heaven. Durvāsā Muni has also supported this view: mucyeta yan-nāmny udite nārako ’pi. “Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord the inhabitants of hell became released from their hellish persecution.” So the conclusion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, as given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit, is:

This refutes the christian belief..

etan nirvidyamānānām

icchatām akuto-bhayam

yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ

harer nāmānukīrtanam

“O King, it is finally decided that everyone, namely those in the renounced order of life, the mystics, and the enjoyers of fruitive work, should chant the holy name of the Lord fearlessly to achieve the desired success in their pursuits.” (Bhāg. 2.1.11)

Similarly, as indicated indirectly in various places in revealed scriptures:

1. Even though one is well versed in all the Vedas and scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, he is considered to be the lowest of mankind.

SB 10.84.13 

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.

Many people have mixed desires that they want to achieve through Krsna Consciousness or some other spiritual process. 

They do not understand the law of karma

They do not perform devotional service..

So Bhāgavata says, therefore, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13]. This body is made of three primary elements: mucus, bile and air. That is the Vedic version and Āyurvedic treatment. This body is a bag of mucus, bile and air. In old age the air circulation becomes disturbed; therefore old man becomes rheumatic, so many bodily ailments. So Bhāgavata says, “One who has accepted this combination of bile, mucus and air as self, he is an ass.” Yes.

Actually, this is the fact. If we accept this combination of bile, mucus and air as myself… So intelligent person, a very great philosopher, very great scientist, does it mean that he’s a combination of bile, mucus and air? No. This is the mistake. He’s different from this bile or mucus or air. He’s soul. And according to his karma, he’s exhibiting, manifesting his talents.

So they do not understand this karma, the law of karma. Why we find so many different personalities? If it is a combination of bile, mucus and air, why they are not similar? So they do not cultivate this knowledge. Why there are dissimilarities? One man is born millionaire; another man is born, he cannot even have full meals twice a day, although he’s struggling very hard. Why this discrimination? Why one is put into such favorable condition, why the other is not? So there is law of karma, the individuality.

But it is the duty of the father, duty of the state, duty of the teachers to educate from the very beginning. Bhāgavata says that one should not become a father, one should not become a mother, one should not become a teacher, one should not become a king unless they are able to elevate their dependents to this spiritual knowledge, which can save him from repeated birth and death.

BG 15.8 

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.

Here the living entity is described as īśvara, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body. If he has made his consciousness like that of a cat or dog, he is sure to change to a cat’s or dog’s body. And if he has fixed his consciousness on godly qualities, he will change into the form of a demigod. And if he is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be transferred to Kṛṣṇaloka in the spiritual world and will associate with Kṛṣṇa. It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course. It is stated here that the subtle body, which carries the conception of the next body, develops another body in the next life. This process of transmigrating from one body to another and struggling while in the body is called karṣati, or struggle for existence.

BG 13.18 

He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart.

The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of light in all luminous objects like the sun, moon and stars. In the Vedic literature we find that in the spiritual kingdom there is no need of sun or moon, because the effulgence of the Supreme Lord is there. In the material world that brahma-jyotir, the Lord’s spiritual effulgence, is covered by the mahat-tattva, the material elements; therefore in this material world we require the assistance of sun, moon, electricity, etc., for light. But in the spiritual world there is no need of such things. It is clearly stated in the Vedic literature that because of His luminous effulgence, everything is illuminated. It is clear, therefore, that His situation is not in the material world. He is situated in the spiritual world, which is far, far away in the spiritual sky. That is also confirmed in the Vedic literature. Āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8). He is just like the sun, eternally luminous, but He is far, far beyond the darkness of this material world.

His knowledge is transcendental. The Vedic literature confirms that Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge. To one who is anxious to be transferred to that spiritual world, knowledge is given by the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart. One Vedic mantra (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.18) says, taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye. One must surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he at all wants liberation. As far as the goal of ultimate knowledge is concerned, it is also confirmed in Vedic literature: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti. “Only by knowing Him can one surpass the boundary of birth and death.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8)

He is situated in everyone’s heart as the supreme controller. The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity – the individual soul and the Supersoul – must be admitted. One’s hands and legs are distributed locally, but Kṛṣṇa’s hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.17): sarvasya prabhum īśānaṁ sarvasya śaraṇaṁ bṛhat. That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the prabhu, or master, of all living entities; therefore He is the ultimate shelter of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different.

Ksetram, Jnanam, Jneyam.. 

BG 13.19 

Thus the field of activities [the body], knowledge and the knowable have been summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to My nature.

Body, material nature, process of knowledge

BG 13.8 – 12 – knowledge

BG 13.13 , 14 – Goal of knowledge

BG 13.13

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.

Purport

The Lord has explained the field of activities and the knower of the field. He has also explained the process of knowing the knower of the field of activities. Now He begins to explain the knowable, first the soul and then the Supersoul. By knowledge of the knower, both the soul and the Supersoul, one can relish the nectar of life. As explained in the Second Chapter, the living entity is eternal. This is also confirmed here. There is no specific date at which the jīva was born. Nor can anyone trace out the history of the jīvātmā’s manifestation from the Supreme Lord. Therefore it is beginningless. The Vedic literature confirms this: na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścit (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.18). The knower of the body is never born and never dies, and he is full of knowledge.

The Supreme Lord as the Supersoul is also stated in the Vedic literature (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.16) to be pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ, the chief knower of the body and the master of the three modes of material nature. In the smṛti it is said, dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasvaiva kadācana. The living entities are eternally in the service of the Supreme Lord. This is also confirmed by Lord Caitanya in His teachings. Therefore the description of Brahman mentioned in this verse is in relation to the individual soul, and when the word Brahman is applied to the living entity, it is to be understood that he is vijñāna-brahma as opposed to ānanda-brahma. Ānanda-brahma is the Supreme Brahman Personality of Godhead.

ISO Mantra – 10 

In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries. University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacarya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.

Nationalism has developed in different parts of the world due to the cultivation of nescience by the general people. No one considers that this tiny earth is just a lump of matter floating in immeasurable space along with many other lumps. In comparison to the vastness of space, these material lumps are like dust particles in the air. Because God has kindly made these lumps of matter complete in themselves, they are perfectly equipped with all necessities for floating in space. The drivers of our spaceships may be very proud of their achievements, but they do not consider the supreme driver of these greater, more gigantic spaceships called planets.

13th chapter – teaches us Body and soul, soul and super soul and the process of knowledge. What is knowledge and what is ignorance.

Extremely important chapter. 

BG 14.20 

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

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SB 2.9.26 & 27 Notes – 12/25/21

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.26 & 27:

  • The whole manifestation is the Lord Himself by diffusion of His different energies only, namely the internal, external and marginal, just as the sunlight is the manifestation of the energy of the sun planet. 
  • Such energy is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, just as the sunshine is simultaneously one with and different from the sun planet. 
  • The energies are acting by combination and permutation by the indication of the Lord, and the acting agents, like Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, are also different incarnations of the Lord.
  • Perfection of desires may be achieved when one desires to serve the Lord, and the Lord also desires that every living entity banish all personal desires and cooperate with His desires. That is the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā. 
  • Brahmājī agreed to this proposal, and therefore he is given the responsible post of creating generations in the vacant universe. 
  • Oneness with the Lord therefore consists of dovetailing one’s desires with the desires of the Supreme Lord. That makes for the perfection of all desires.
  • BG 14.19- When one properly sees that in all activities no other performer is at work than these modes of nature and he knows the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental to all these modes, he attains My spiritual nature.
  • One can transcend all the activities of the modes of material nature simply by understanding them properly by learning from the proper souls. 
  • The real spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa, and He is imparting this spiritual knowledge to Arjuna.
  • Similarly, it is from those who are fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that one has to learn this science of activities in terms of the modes of nature. Otherwise, one’s life will be misdirected. 
  • Unless one has the help of spiritual authority, he cannot understand in what position he is actually situated.
  • A man in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not controlled by the spell of the material modes of nature. 
  • Although one is within this material body, by his advancement in spiritual knowledge he can be free from the influence of the modes of nature. 
  • Devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the sign of liberation from material entanglement. When one is freed from the influence of the modes of material nature, he enters into devotional service.
  • BG 14.20 – When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.
  • When one is conscious of the material body, he acts only for sense gratification, but when one transfers the consciousness to Kṛṣṇa, sense gratification automatically stops.
  • One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body
  • He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it. Thus transcendentally situated, the devotee becomes automatically free. 
  • He need not try to become free from the influence of the modes of material nature.
  • When one acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. 
  • When one applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc. – whatever he may have within his possession – to Kṛṣṇa’s service, he is at once dovetailed with Kṛṣṇa.
  • He is one with Kṛṣṇa and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
  • All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva.
  • A person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. 
  • All living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore when they revive their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they possess all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa in a small quantity. 
  • When one engages himself in the nine processes of devotional service (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ …), one’s heart becomes purified, and he immediately understands his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. He then revives his original quality of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 2.9.26 TRANSLATION

In spite of that, my Lord, I am praying to You to kindly fulfill my desire. May I please be informed how, in spite of Your transcendental form, You assume the mundane form, although You have no such form at all.

SB 2.9.27 TRANSLATION

And [please inform me] how You, by Your own Self, manifest different energies for annihilation, generation, acceptance and maintenance by combination and permutation.

The whole manifestation is the Lord Himself by diffusion of His different energies only, namely the internal, external and marginal, just as the sunlight is the manifestation of the energy of the sun planet. Such energy is simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, just as the sunshine is simultaneously one with and different from the sun planet. The energies are acting by combination and permutation by the indication of the Lord, and the acting agents, like Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, are also different incarnations of the Lord. In other words, there is nothing but the Lord, and still the Lord is different from all such manifestive activities. How it is so will be explained later on.

SB 2.9.25 

The impersonalists recommend that one should become desireless, and others recommend banishing desires altogether. That is impossible; no one can banish desires altogether because desiring is the living symptom. Without having desires a living entity would be dead, which he is not. Therefore, living conditions and desire go together. Perfection of desires may be achieved when one desires to serve the Lord, and the Lord also desires that every living entity banish all personal desires and cooperate with His desires. That is the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā. Brahmājī agreed to this proposal, and therefore he is given the responsible post of creating generations in the vacant universe. Oneness with the Lord therefore consists of dovetailing one’s desires with the desires of the Supreme Lord. That makes for the perfection of all desires.

Understanding this point is the turning point in out life. 

BG 14.19 

When one properly sees that in all activities no other performer is at work than these modes of nature and he knows the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental to all these modes, he attains My spiritual nature.

Understand in the material life that we are forced to do things by the influence of the modes of the material nature. Krsna is above the modes of material nature. Mayavadis say that Krsna is also under the influence of the modes. 

One can transcend all the activities of the modes of material nature simply by understanding them properly by learning from the proper souls. The real spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa, and He is imparting this spiritual knowledge to Arjuna. Similarly, it is from those who are fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that one has to learn this science of activities in terms of the modes of nature. Otherwise, one’s life will be misdirected. By the instruction of a bona fide spiritual master, a living entity can know of his spiritual position, his material body, his senses, how he is entrapped, and how he is under the spell of the material modes of nature. He is helpless, being in the grip of these modes, but when he can see his real position, then he can attain to the transcendental platform, having the scope for spiritual life. Actually, the living entity is not the performer of different activities. He is forced to act because he is situated in a particular type of body, conducted by some particular mode of material nature. Unless one has the help of spiritual authority, he cannot understand in what position he is actually situated. With the association of a bona fide spiritual master, he can see his real position, and by such an understanding he can become fixed in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A man in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not controlled by the spell of the material modes of nature. It has already been stated in the Seventh Chapter that one who has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa is relieved from the activities of material nature. For one who is able to see things as they are, the influence of material nature gradually ceases.

BG 14.20

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

How one can stay in the transcendental position, even in this body, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is explained in this verse. The Sanskrit word dehī means “embodied.” Although one is within this material body, by his advancement in spiritual knowledge he can be free from the influence of the modes of nature. He can enjoy the happiness of spiritual life even in this body because, after leaving this body, he is certainly going to the spiritual sky. But even in this body he can enjoy spiritual happiness. In other words, devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the sign of liberation from material entanglement, and this will be explained in the Eighteenth Chapter. When one is freed from the influence of the modes of material nature, he enters into devotional service.

BG 14.21

Arjuna inquired: O my dear Lord, by which symptoms is one known who is transcendental to these three modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?

the symptoms of such a transcendental person?

how he lives and what his activities are. Are they regulated or nonregulated? 

the means by which he can attain the transcendental nature?

Symptoms of a pure devotee – 

Reduce eating mating sleeping mating 

Will not waste even one second of their life. 

Gautama muni – 

Is always chanting. Narada muni asked him to build a hut so you can be protected from weather. He refused to because he did not want to even waste one second. Krishna has given different possibilities. You can sit under a tree and chant. 

Dictations of the mind – 

Beat your head a hundred times with an old show, as soon as you wake up. 

Work so hard in KC all day long so you forget everything and sleep as soon as you hit the bed. 

BG 14.22-25

How to identify a person who has transcended the modes

The qualities of a person who transcended the modes

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O son of Pāṇḍu, he who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present or long for them when they disappear; who is unwavering and undisturbed through all these reactions of the material qualities, remaining neutral and transcendental, knowing that the modes alone are active; who is situated in the self and regards alike happiness and distress; who looks upon a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is equal toward the desirable and the undesirable; who is steady, situated equally well in praise and blame, honor and dishonor; who treats alike both friend and enemy; and who has renounced all material activities – such a person is said to have transcended the modes of nature.

Arjuna submitted three different questions, and the Lord answers them one after another. In these verses, Kṛṣṇa first indicates that a person transcendentally situated has no envy and does not hanker for anything. When a living entity stays in this material world embodied by the material body, it is to be understood that he is under the control of one of the three modes of material nature. When he is actually out of the body, then he is out of the clutches of the material modes of nature. But as long as he is not out of the material body, he should be neutral. He should engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord so that his identity with the material body will automatically be forgotten. When one is conscious of the material body, he acts only for sense gratification, but when one transfers the consciousness to Kṛṣṇa, sense gratification automatically stops. One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities. How does he become aloof? He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it. Thus transcendentally situated, the devotee becomes automatically free. He need not try to become free from the influence of the modes of material nature.

The next question concerns the dealings of a transcendentally situated person. The materially situated person is affected by so-called honor and dishonor offered to the body, but the transcendentally situated person is 

  • not affected by such false honor and dishonor. He performs his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and does not mind whether a man honors or dishonors him. 
  • He accepts things that are favorable for his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, otherwise he has no necessity of anything material, either a stone or gold. 
  • He takes everyone as his dear friend who helps him in his execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he does not hate his so-called enemy. 
  • He is equally disposed and sees everything on an equal level because he knows perfectly well that he has nothing to do with material existence. 
  • Social and political issues do not affect him, because he knows the situation of temporary upheavals and disturbances. 
  • He does not attempt anything for his own sake. He can attempt anything for Kṛṣṇa, but for his personal self he does not attempt anything. By such behavior one becomes actually transcendentally situated.

Two types of devotional service – by working for Krsna, or by offering the results of the work to Krsna. 

Kolavecha Sridhar 

BG 5.11

The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.

When one acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Therefore purified activities, which are generally called sad-ācāra, can be easily performed by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.187) describes this as follows:

īhā yasya harer dāsye

karmaṇā manasā girā

“A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities.” He has no false ego, for he does not believe that he is this material body, or that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and the body too belongs to Kṛṣṇa. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc. – whatever he may have within his possession – to Kṛṣṇa’s service, he is at once dovetailed with Kṛṣṇa. He is one with Kṛṣṇa and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Identification with the  body is the source of false ego. 

Gopis think that their bodies belong to Krsna and not them,

CC ADI 4.181

Now, whatever affection we see the gopīs show for their own bodies, know it for certain to be only for the sake of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

The selfless love of Godhead exhibited by the gopīs cannot have any parallel. We should not, therefore, misunderstand the carefulness of the gopīs in their personal decoration. The gopīs dressed themselves as beautifully as possible just to make Kṛṣṇa happy by seeing them. They had no ulterior desires. They dedicated their bodies, and everything they possessed, to the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, taking it for granted that their bodies were meant for His enjoyment. They dressed themselves with the understanding that Kṛṣṇa would be happy by seeing and touching them.

CC ADI 4.182

[The gopīs think:] “I have offered this body to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is its owner, and it brings Him enjoyment.

CC ADI 4.183

“Kṛṣṇa finds joy in seeing and touching this body.” It is for this reason that they cleanse and decorate their bodies.

SP one said – Why are women going topless and bottomless. They are inviting you to enjoy them.. 

CC ADI 4.184

“O Arjuna, there are no greater receptacles of deep love for Me than the gopīs, who cleanse and decorate their bodies because they consider them Mine.”

CC ADI 4.185

There is another wonderful feature of the emotion of the gopīs. Its power is beyond the comprehension of the intelligence.

CC ADI 4.186

When the gopīs see Lord Kṛṣṇa, they derive unbounded bliss, although they have no desire for such pleasure.

CC ADI 4.187

The gopīs taste a pleasure ten million times greater than the pleasure Lord Kṛṣṇa derives from seeing them.

Purport

The wonderful characteristics of the gopīs are beyond imagination. They have no desire for personal satisfaction, yet when Kṛṣṇa is happy by seeing them, that happiness of Kṛṣṇa makes the gopīs a million times more happy than Kṛṣṇa Himself.

CC ADI 4.188

The gopīs have no inclination for their own enjoyment, and yet their joy increases. That is indeed a contradiction.

SB 5.18.12

All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord’s external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?

As explained in the next verse, Kṛṣṇa is the original source of all living entities. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), wherein Kṛṣṇa says:

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” All living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore when they revive their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they possess all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa in a small quantity. When one engages himself in the nine processes of devotional service (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam/ arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam), one’s heart becomes purified, and he immediately understands his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. He then revives his original quality of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In the Ādi-līlā of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Chapter Eight, there is a description of some of the qualities of devotees. For example, Śrī Paṇḍita Haridāsa is described as being 

very well-behaved,  tolerant,  peaceful,  magnanimous and grave. he spoke very sweetly, his endeavors were very pleasing, he was always patient, he respected everyone, he always worked for everyone’s benefit, his mind was free of duplicity, and he was completely devoid of all malicious activities. These are all originally qualities of Kṛṣṇa, and when one becomes a devotee they automatically become manifest. Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, the author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, says that all good qualities become manifest in the body of a Vaiṣṇava and that only by the presence of these good qualities can one distinguish a Vaiṣṇava from a non-Vaiṣṇava. 

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja lists the following twenty-six good qualities of a Vaiṣṇava: 

(1) He is very kind to everyone. (2) He does not make anyone his enemy. (3) He is truthful. (4) He is equal to everyone.  (5) No one can find any fault in him.  (6) He is magnanimous. (7) He is mild.  (8) He is always clean.  (9) He is without possessions.  (10) He works for everyone’s benefit. (11) He is very peaceful.  (12) He is always surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. (13) He has no material desires.  (14) He is very meek. (15) He is steady. (16) He controls his senses. (17) He does not eat more than required.  (18) He is not influenced by the Lord’s illusory energy. (19) He offers respect to everyone.  (20) He does not desire any respect for himself.  (21) He is very grave. (22) He is merciful.  (23) He is friendly.  (24) He is poetic. (25) He is expert. (26) He is silent.

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SB 2.9.10 Notes – 12/14/21

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.10:

  • God’s creations are always innumerable. 
  • All the millions and billions of universes combined together constitute only one fourth of the magnitude of the whole creation of the Lord.
  • The kingdom of God, or the atmosphere of the Vaikuṇṭha nature, which is called the tripād-vibhūti, is three times bigger than the material universes.
  • We can know, through the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of the nature and constitution of the transcendental world beyond the material sky.
  • In that sky the material qualities, especially the modes of ignorance and passion, are completely absent. 
  • The inhabitants of the Vaikuṇṭha planets are all brahma-bhūta living entities, as distinguished from the mundane creatures who are all compact in hankering and lamentation. 
  • Goodness in the material world also at times becomes contaminated by touches of the modes of passion and ignorance. In the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, it is unalloyed goodness only.
  • In Vaikuṇṭhalokas, there is no ignorance, no passion, no illusion and no past and present. 
  • Nārada-pañcarātra states that the transcendental world or Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere is enriched with transcendental qualities. These transcendental qualities, as revealed through the devotional service of the Lord, are distinct from the mundane qualities of ignorance, passion and goodness. These qualities are described in SB 1.16.26-30
  • In Padma Purana it is stated that – The marginal line between the material manifestation and the spiritual manifestation is the Virajā River, and beyond the Virajā, which is a transcendental current flowing from the perspiration of the body of the Lord, there is the three-fourths manifestation of God’s creation. This part is eternal, everlasting, without deterioration, and unlimited, and it contains the highest perfectional stage of living conditions.
  •  All living entities there are eternally associated without any break, and the Lord is the chief and prime entity. 
  • The associated members there are free to go everywhere within the creation of the Lord, and there is no limit to such creation, particularly in the region of the three-fourths magnitude. Since the nature of that region is unlimited, there is no history of such association, nor is there end of it.
  • In the transcendental realm there is no creation and no destruction, and thus the duration of life is eternal unlimitedly. In other words, everything in the transcendental world is everlasting, full of knowledge and bliss without deterioration. Since there is no deterioration, there is no past, present and future in the estimation of time. 
  • The influence of time is conspicuous by its absence. The whole material existence is manifested by actions and reactions of elements which make the influence of time prominent in the matter of past, present and future. 
  • There are no such actions and reactions of cause and effects there, so the cycle of birth, growth, existence, transformations, deterioration and annihilation — the six material changes — are not existent there.
  • The whole Vaikuṇṭha existence proclaims that everyone there is a follower of the Lord. The Lord is the chief leader there, without any competition for leadership, and the people in general are all followers of the Lord.
  •  It is confirmed in the Vedas, therefore, that the Lord is the chief leader and all other living entities are subordinate to Him, for only the Lord satisfies all the needs of all other living entities.

SB 2.9.10 TRANSLATION:

In that personal abode of the Lord, the material modes of ignorance and passion do not prevail, nor is there any of their influence in goodness. There is no predominance of the influence of time, so what to speak of the illusory, external energy; it cannot enter that region. Without discrimination, both the demigods and the demons worship the Lord as devotees.

The kingdom of God, or the atmosphere of the Vaikuṇṭha nature, which is called the tripād-vibhūti, is three times bigger than the material universes and is described here, as also in the Bhagavad-gītā, in a nutshell. This universe, containing billions of stars and planets, is one of the billions of such universes clustered together within the compass of the mahat-tattva. And all these millions and billions of universes combined together constitute only one fourth of the magnitude of the whole creation of the Lord. There is the spiritual sky also; beyond this sky are the spiritual planets under the names of Vaikuṇṭha, and all of them constitute three fourths of the entire creation of the Lord. God’s creations are always innumerable. Even the leaves of a tree cannot be counted by a man, nor can the hairs on his head. However, foolish men are puffed up with the idea of becoming God Himself, though unable to create a hair of their own bodies. Man may discover so many wonderful vehicles of journey, but even if he reaches the moon by his much-advertised spacecraft, he cannot remain there. The sane man, therefore, without being puffed up, as if he were the God of the universe, abides by the instructions of the Vedic literature, the easiest way to acquire knowledge in transcendence. So let us know through the authority of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of the nature and constitution of the transcendental world beyond the material sky. 

  • In that sky the material qualities, especially the modes of ignorance and passion, are completely absent. The mode of ignorance influences a living entity to the habit of lust and hankering, and this means that in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas the living entities are free from these two things. 
  • As confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the brahma-bhūta stage of life one becomes free from hankering and lamentation. Therefore the conclusion is that the inhabitants of the Vaikuṇṭha planets are all brahma-bhūta living entities, as distinguished from the mundane creatures who are all compact in hankering and lamentation. 
  • When one is not in the modes of ignorance and passion, one is supposed to be situated in the mode of goodness in the material world. Goodness in the material world also at times becomes contaminated by touches of the modes of passion and ignorance. In the Vaikuṇṭhaloka, it is unalloyed goodness only.

The whole situation there is one of freedom from the illusory manifestation of the external energy. Although illusory energy is also part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, illusory energy is differentiated from the Lord. The illusory energy is not, however, false, as claimed by the monist philosophers. The rope accepted as a snake may be an illusion to a particular person, but the rope is a fact, and the snake is also a fact. The illusion of water on the hot desert may be illusion for the ignorant animal searching for water in the desert, but the desert and water are actual facts. Therefore the material creation of the Lord may be an illusion to the nondevotee, but to a devotee even the material creation of the Lord is a fact, as the manifestation of His external energy. But this energy of the Lord is not all. The Lord has His internal energy also, which has another creation known to be the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, where there is no ignorance, no passion, no illusion and no past and present. With a poor fund of knowledge one may be unable to understand the existence of such things as the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere, but that does not nullify its existence. That spacecraft cannot reach these planets does not mean that there are no such planets, for they are described in the revealed scriptures.

As quoted by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, we can know from the Nārada-pañcarātra that the transcendental world or Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere is enriched with transcendental qualities. These transcendental qualities, as revealed through the devotional service of the Lord, are distinct from the mundane qualities of ignorance, passion and goodness. Such qualities are not attainable by the nondevotee class of men. 

These transcendental qualities are described in the SB 1.16.26-30. 

SB 1.16.26-30

In Him reside (1) truthfulness, (2) cleanliness, (3) intolerance of another’s unhappiness, (4) the power to control anger, (5) self-satisfaction, (6) straightforwardness, (7) steadiness of mind, (8) control of the sense organs, (9) responsibility, (10) equality, (11) tolerance, (12) equanimity, (13) faithfulness, (14) knowledge, (15) absence of sense enjoyment, (16) leadership, (17) chivalry, (18) influence, (19) the power to make everything possible, (20) the discharge of proper duty, (21) complete independence, (22) dexterity, (23) fullness of all beauty, (24) serenity, (25) kindheartedness, (26) ingenuity, (27) gentility, (28) magnanimity, (29) determination, (30) perfection in all knowledge, (31) proper execution, (32) possession of all objects of enjoyment, (33) joyfulness, (34) immovability, (35) fidelity, (36) fame, (37) worship, (38) pridelessness, (39) being (as the Personality of Godhead), (40) eternity, and many other transcendental qualities which are eternally present and never to be separated from Him. That Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all goodness and beauty, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, has now closed His transcendental pastimes on the face of the earth. In His absence the Age of Kali has spread its influence everywhere, so I am sorry to see this condition of existence.

In the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, it is stated that beyond the one-fourth part of God’s creation is the three-fourths manifestation. The marginal line between the material manifestation and the spiritual manifestation is the Virajā River, and beyond the Virajā, which is a transcendental current flowing from the perspiration of the body of the Lord, there is the three-fourths manifestation of God’s creation. This part is eternal, everlasting, without deterioration, and unlimited, and it contains the highest perfectional stage of living conditions. 

In the Sāṅkhya-kaumudī it is stated that unalloyed goodness or transcendence is just opposite to the material modes. All living entities there are eternally associated without any break, and the Lord is the chief and prime entity. 

In the Āgama Purāṇas also, the transcendental abode is described as follows: The associated members there are free to go everywhere within the creation of the Lord, and there is no limit to such creation, particularly in the region of the three-fourths magnitude. Since the nature of that region is unlimited, there is no history of such association, nor is there end of it.

nowhere else are we going are you going to get such detailed information of the

difference between the spiritual world and the material world everything is mixed in the material world in the spiritual everything is pure but krishna encompasses everything material and spiritual  “Aham Saravsva prabhavo… “ so in other words he says i am the source of everything material and spiritual those persons who know this engage in my devotional service. BG 10.8

BG 10.8 

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.

so this is the symptom of pure krishna consciousness And in in the execution of the devotional service all these good qualities Manifest all these good qualities manifest therefore it’s very important that we try to always be engaged in devotional service and to engage others in devotional service even the person who comes for the first time and sometimes i say hey can you help me sweep this floor oh yeah okay so now they’re sweeping the floor but this is krsna’s floor it’s not you know in some nightclub or a bar right

so they’re making spiritual advancement by by sweeping right and cleaning

The conclusion may be drawn that because of the complete absence of the mundane qualities of ignorance and passion, there is no question of creation nor of annihilation. In the material world everything is created, and everything is annihilated, and the duration of life between the creation and annihilation is temporary. In the transcendental realm there is no creation and no destruction, and thus the duration of life is eternal unlimitedly. In other words, everything in the transcendental world is everlasting, full of knowledge and bliss without deterioration. Since there is no deterioration, there is no past, present and future in the estimation of time. 

that’s what we should aim for that is our real nature that’s who we really are

we should not be prisoners of maya and following the crowds. 

we should not follow the crowd right we should follow the acharyas and ultimately krishna

It is clearly stated in this verse that the influence of time is conspicuous by its absence. The whole material existence is manifested by actions and reactions of elements which make the influence of time prominent in the matter of past, present and future. There are no such actions and reactions of cause and effects there, so the cycle of birth, growth, existence, transformations, deterioration and annihilation — the six material changes — are not existent there. It is the unalloyed manifestation of the energy of the Lord, without illusion as experienced here in the material world. T

in the spiritual world there’s the eternal presence and so they don’t feel the abs the lat the passing of time if anything they experience timeby its non-passage and but even that uh is sort of stunted because every minute things are increasing so they don’t they don’t know they’re not even noticing time because everything is so impelling the beauty of krishna and in relationships are so enthralling that

they’re not they’re not experiencing the passing of time

he whole Vaikuṇṭha existence proclaims that everyone there is a follower of the Lord. The Lord is the chief leader there, without any competition for leadership, and the people in general are all followers of the Lord. It is confirmed in the Vedas, therefore, that the Lord is the chief leader and all other living entities are subordinate to Him, for only the Lord satisfies all the needs of all other living entities.

Material world is full of competition. In spiritual world there is no competiton, if one wants to become Krsna.. They will immediately fall down.. 

kids are taught in ignorance in the schools a concomitant factor of that will be

lust and hankering all of us have gone through that experience by being educated

by materialistic demons we developed this lust and hankering and as long as we have lust and hankering we cannot understand anything about krishna and thus people who

are influenced in that way don’t take a very serious vow to take part in the regular morning Programs and evening programs in the temple they they have piecemeal

part participation but not steady participation that’s because they’re still influenced by lust and hankering which is a product of ignorance ignorance can be eliminated completely by regular hearing of the vedic scriptures and discussion and questions but if it’s not regular the immediately when we’re not paying attention or a little bit negligent maya comes in right away So uh it says that the mode of ignorance influences living energy to the habit of lust and hankering and this means that in the vikrant the locust the living entities are free from these two things because there’s ignorance they know krishna is the supreme personality of godhead they have no doubt about it and they’re engaged in ecstatic transcendental pastimes with the lord hearing chanting and remembering and serving the lotus feet and worshiping

Praying making friendship and completely surrendering to the lord so there they are

they are free of this ignorance and therefore they’re free of this mundane

Passion and or lust and and hankering so as confirmed in the bhagavad-gita stage of life one becomes free from hankering and lamentation so there’s no lamentation also

the devotees are not saying oh this thing happened it’s a terrible thing and what are we gonna do and and uh wish it didn’t happen my father died or my mother died or the child died or my my 401k died that’s even worse right so they’re always lamenting in the material world because they have hankering for so many things and they lose many things

You can know everything about illusory energy, as long as you keep a distance you are not affected. Illusory energy was created by Krsna. 

You cannot understand Krsna as long as you are in three modes – Ignorance, passion and goodness. Even the mode of goodness in material world is affected by the modes of ignorance and passion. 

BG 14.26 

One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.

so you cannot come to the level of brahman or we cannot come to the level of

brahman as long as we are influenced by uh any of the modes of material nature

we have to be completely free from them.

BG 7.28

Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.

so one has to become free of all previous sinful actions or or

their reactions right and you have to be free of the influence of the modes of

material nature then you can engage in devotional service on the transcendental plane

BG 14.20 

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

How one can stay in the transcendental position, even in this body, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is explained in this verse. The Sanskrit word dehī means “embodied.” Although one is within this material body, by his advancement in spiritual knowledge he can be free from the influence of the modes of nature. He can enjoy the happiness of spiritual life even in this body because, after leaving this body, he is certainly going to the spiritual sky. But even in /this body he can enjoy spiritual happiness. In other words, devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the sign of liberation from material entanglement, and this will be explained in the Eighteenth Chapter. When one is freed from the influence of the modes of material nature, he enters into devotional service.