Tag: SB 3.25.13

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SB 2.9.34 – Part 4 – Notes – 1/13/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.34 – Part 4:

  • The illusory energy has two phases of existence, namely the covering influence and the throwing influence.
  • By the throwing influence the illusory energy throws the living entities into the darkness of ignorance, and by the covering influence she covers the eyes of men with a poor fund of knowledge about the existence of the Supreme Person.
  • The scientific studies of the cosmic manifestation or the bodily construction independent of the Supreme Lord are different reflective intellectual gymnastics only, but at the end they are all illusion and nothing more.
  • All such advancement of science and knowledge in the present context of material civilization is but an action of the covering influence of the illusory energy.
  • Demoniac persons who deny the existence of the Lord are thrown more and more into the darkness of ignorance, and thus such demoniac persons transmigrate life after life without any knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • The sane man, however, is enlightened in the disciplic succession from Brahmājī, who was personally instructed by the Lord, or in the disciplic succession from Arjuna, who was personally instructed by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā.
  • In the medical science of the ancient sages, known as the Āyur-veda, there is definite acceptance of the Lord’s supremacy –
  • There is one Supreme Person who is the progenitor of this cosmic manifestation and whose energy acts as prakṛti, or the material nature, dazzling like a reflection. By such illusory action of prakṛti, even dead matter is caused to move by the cooperation of living energy of the Lord, and the material world appears like a dramatic performance to the ignorant eyes.
  • The living entities are also a display of the Lord’s superior energy (parā prakṛti), just as the material world is a display of the Lord’s inferior energy (aparā prakṛti).
  • The living energy represented by the living entities is the reflection of the Lord, and never the Lord Himself. Being the reflection of the Lord, the existence of the living entity is dependent on the Supreme Lord, who is the original light.
  • This material energy may be compared to darkness, as actually it is darkness, and the activities of the living entities in the darkness are reflections of the original light.
  • The reflection of sunlight in the darkness is unable to drive out the darkness, but the sunlight outside the reflection can drive out the darkness completely
  •  one has to take shelter of the light of the Lord, as in the Bhagavad-gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and not the reflective personalities who have no touch with the Lord
  • the action of different energies of the Lord, or the Personality of Godhead Himself, can be realized by the light manifested by the causeless mercy of the Lord.
  • The Lord is a manifestation of His internal energy, and this particular energy is the means of seeing the Lord face to face. Not only Brahmā but anyone who may be graced by the Lord to see such merciful direct internal energy can also realize the Personality of Godhead without any mental speculation.
  • BG 9.13 & 9.14 – Defines the standard of Krsna Consciousness one needs to adhere to be called as a devotee.
  • A devotee is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  • Such a devotee has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas.
  • To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa 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.

Persons with a poor fund of knowledge become illusioned, and therefore the so-called scientists, physiologists, empiric philosophers, etc., become dazzled by the glaring reflection of the sun, moon, electricity, etc., and deny the existence of the Supreme Lord, putting forward theories and different speculations about the creation, maintenance and annihilation of everything material. The medical practitioner may deny the existence of the soul in the physiological bodily construction of an individual person, but he cannot give life to a dead body, even though all the mechanisms of the body exist even after death. The psychologist makes a serious study of the physiological conditions of the brain, as if the construction of the cerebral lump were the machine of the functioning mind, but in the dead body the psychologist cannot bring back the function of the mind. These scientific studies of the cosmic manifestation or the bodily construction independent of the Supreme Lord are different reflective intellectual gymnastics only, but at the end they are all illusion and nothing more. All such advancement of science and knowledge in the present context of material civilization is but an action of the covering influence of the illusory energy. The illusory energy has two phases of existence, namely the covering influence and the throwing influence. By the throwing influence the illusory energy throws the living entities into the darkness of ignorance, and by the covering influence she covers the eyes of men with a poor fund of knowledge about the existence of the Supreme Person who enlightened the supreme individual living being, Brahmā. The identity of Brahmā with the Supreme Lord is never claimed herein, and therefore such a foolish claim by the man with a poor fund of knowledge is another display of the illusory energy of the Lord. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gītā (16.18-20) that demoniac persons who deny the existence of the Lord are thrown more and more into the darkness of ignorance, and thus such demoniac persons transmigrate life after life without any knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The sane man, however, is enlightened in the disciplic succession from Brahmājī, who was personally instructed by the Lord, or in the disciplic succession from Arjuna, who was personally instructed by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā. He accepts this statement of the Lord:

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo

mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

iti matvā bhajante māṁ

budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ

(Bg. 10.8) Alternate Translation

The Lord is the original source of all emanations, and everything that is created, maintained and annihilated exists by the energy of the Lord. The sane man who knows this is actually learned, and therefore he becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

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.

Although the reflectory energy of the Lord displays various illusions to the eyes of persons with a poor fund of knowledge, the sane person knows clearly that the Lord can act, even from far, far beyond our vision, by His different energies, just as fire can diffuse heat and light from a distant place. In the medical science of the ancient sages, known as the Āyur-veda, there is definite acceptance of the Lord’s supremacy in the following words:

Ayurveda is part of Atharvaveda..

jagad-yoner anicchasya

cid-ānandaika-rūpiṇaḥ

puṁso ’sti prakṛtir nityā

praticchāyeva bhāsvataḥ

acetanāpi caitanya-

yogena paramātmanaḥ

akarod viśvam akhilam

anityam nāṭakākṛtim

There is one Supreme Person who is the progenitor of this cosmic manifestation and whose energy acts as prakṛti, or the material nature, dazzling like a reflection. By such illusory action of prakṛti, even dead matter is caused to move by the cooperation of living energy of the Lord, and the material world appears like a dramatic performance to the ignorant eyes. 

SP is going a great length to explain the acintya beda abeda tattva of Caitanya MahaPrabhu… 

The ignorant person, therefore, may even be a scientist or physiologist in the drama of prakṛti, while the sane person knows prakṛti as the illusory energy of the Lord. By such a conclusion, as confirmed by the Bhagavad-gītā, it is clear that the living entities are also a display of the Lord’s superior energy (parā prakṛti), just as the material world is a display of the Lord’s inferior energy (aparā prakṛti). The superior energy of the Lord cannot be as good as the Lord, although there is very little difference between the energy and the possessor of the energy, or the fire and the heat. 

Fire is possessed of heat, but heat is not fire. This simple thing is not understood by the man with a poor fund of knowledge who falsely claims that the fire and heat are the same. This energy of the fire (namely heat) is explained here as a reflection, and not directly fire. Therefore the living energy represented by the living entities is the reflection of the Lord, and never the Lord Himself. Being the reflection of the Lord, the existence of the living entity is dependent on the Supreme Lord, who is the original light. 

Einstein and Faraday were all intrigued by the light.. At one point scientists said light is a wave.. Einstein said that light is made of photos. He came a little closer to the truth. Brahma jyothi is made of infinite number of Jivas souls – like pencils of light made of souls which do not have a body.. 

This material energy may be compared to darkness, as actually it is darkness, and the activities of the living entities in the darkness are reflections of the original light. 

There are 2 energies –  Spiritual and material,  One is full of light, heat maintaining the universe and consicous, full of darkness and not conscious. 

Krsna – Internal energy & external energy 

Spirit soul is internal energy of the lord. 

Material world and the body is external energy.

Although soul is eternal, body is temporary and needs maintenance. All that is supplied by Krsna. 

If we cancel Krsna – if we claim we are independent.. We try to control the material energy .. 

Meaning of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra – 

“The transcendental vibration established by the chanting of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is the sublime method for reviving our Krishna consciousness. As living spiritual souls we are all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter from time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by the material atmosphere. The material atmosphere, in which we are now living, is called maya or illusion. Maya means “that which is not.” And what is this illusion? The illusion is that we are all trying to be lords of material nature, while actually we are under the grip of her stringent laws. 

BG 9.13 – explains what a KC person is

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha

daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ

bhajanty ananya-manaso

jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

BG 9.14 

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ

yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ

namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā

nitya-yuktā upāsate

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

Extremely important verses. If we have to be called a devotee we have to comply with these two verses. Rigid adherence to the KC schedule makes one a devotee.

If someone is KC they have to comply with this verse. By the divine nature of the lord, They are fully engaged in devotional service. This describes the devotee,, we have to understand this and teach to our children. 

In this verse the description of the mahātmā is clearly given. The first sign of the mahātmā is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivī prakṛti, divine nature. So when one is promoted in that way – by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead – one attains to the stage of great soul, mahātmā.

Krishna and SP wants us all to become great devotees, that are serious about following KC in a regulated way. 

BG 9.14  – STANDARD OF KC 

The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahma-jyotir, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ and smaraṇam, remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities – mental, bodily and vocal, everything – in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result.

As described in the second verse of this chapter, not only is this devotional service easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul.

We have to be very alert in following what SP is saying in these two verses. Being nonchalant in following KC is a communicable disease. 

MATERIAL ENERGY IS IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERCOME

BG 7.14 

This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.

Book of Laws of Nature – Page 1 

Material energy is Duratyaya – Impossible to overcome. 

ISO Mantra 7

no one but those who surrender at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord can surpass the stringent laws of nature.


STRINGENT LAWS OF NATURE 

BG 5.22

Therefore, those who are true yogīs or learned transcendentalists are not attracted by sense pleasures, which are the causes of continuous material existence. The more one is addicted to material pleasures, the more he is entrapped by material miseries.

SB 3.25.13

As soon as we get some material happiness, there is also material distress.

The Lord should be understood by the context of this verse. Non-dependence of both the energies of the Lord is explained as māyā, or illusion. 

No one can make a solution of the darkness of ignorance simply by the reflection of light. Similarly, no one can come out of material existence simply by the reflected light of the common man; one has to receive the light from the original light itself. The reflection of sunlight in the darkness is unable to drive out the darkness, but the sunlight outside the reflection can drive out the darkness completely. In darkness no one can see the things in a room. Therefore a person in the dark is afraid of snakes and scorpions, although there may not be such things. But in the light the things in the room can be clearly seen, and the fear of snakes and scorpions is at once removed. Therefore one has to take shelter of the light of the Lord, as in the Bhagavad-gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and not the reflective personalities who have no touch with the Lord. No one should hear Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a person who does not believe in the existence of the Lord. Such a person is already doomed, and any association with such a doomed person makes the associater also doomed.

Question: How to preach to someone who does not agree with what we say or how do we preach so people can agree with us.

BG 14th chapter. Modes of material nature. Lust, Greed Anger, 
Three doors to hellish lifeRaga Dvesa Vimuktaisu, Explain the cause of suffering in general terms.BG 5,23They look at you and whether you are following what you are explaining.. They might become argumentative.. don’t get trapped Sources of suffering and why people suffer and how to get out of it.. I want to talk more … how they are able to control senses and  Your example, your friendliness,… you doing good things.. will make them want to talk to you more in future

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SB 2.9.34 – Part 1 – 1/10/22

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.