Tag: The Laws of Nature

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SB 2.9.37 – Part 2 – Notes – 1/30/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.37 – Part 2:

  • 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.
  • In the Garuḍa Purāṇa, Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa and Padma Purāṇa, the same is repeated: What is the use of Vedic knowledge and penances for one who is devoid of devotional service to the Lord?
  • What is the comparison of thousands of prajāpatis to one devotee of the Lord?
  • Śukadeva Gosvāmī said (Bhāg. 2.4.17) that neither the ascetic, nor one who is greatly munificent, nor one who is famous, nor the great philosopher, nor the great occultist, nor anyone else can achieve the desired result without being engaged in the service of the Lord.
  • Even if a place is more glorious than heaven, if there is no glorification of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha or His pure devotee, it should at once be quitted.
  • The pure devotee refuses to accept all the five different types of liberation in order to be engaged in the service of the Lord.
  • The final conclusion, therefore, is that the glories of the Lord must be always and everywhere proclaimed. One should hear about His glories, one should chant about His glories, and one should always remember His glories because that is the highest perfectional stage of life. 
  • As far as fruitive work is concerned, it is limited to an enjoyable body;  as far as yoga is concerned, it is limited to the acquirement of mystic power; as far as empiric philosophy is concerned, it is limited to the attainment of transcendental knowledge; and as far as transcendental knowledge is concerned, it is limited to attainment of salvation. 
  • But adoption of the transcendental devotional service of the Lord has no limit, nor is there fear of falling down. The process automatically reaches the final stage by the grace of the Lord. In the preliminary stage of devotional service there is an apparent requisite for knowledge, but in the higher stage there is no necessity of such knowledge. 
  • The best and guaranteed path of progress is therefore engagement in bhakti-yoga, pure devotional service.
  • In the Vedic disciplic succession, the spiritual masters always base their statements on what they have heard from authoritative sources, never on personal experience. 
  • Trying to understand things by one’s own direct experience is the material process of gaining knowledge, technically called pratyaksa. The Vedic method is different. It is called sruti, which means “to hear from authoritative sources.” That is the secret of Vedic understanding.
  • People search for God by the experimental process, but after much searchingthey fail. Then they say, “Oh, there is no God. I am God.” But the Isopanisadsays that one should try to learn about God not by the experimental process but by hearing. 
  • From whom should one hear? From a shopkeeper? From fanatics? No. One should hear from those who are dhira. Dhira means “one whose senses are not agitated by material influence.”
  • If there is some very nice food, my tongue should not be agitated to taste it. If there is a very nice girl or boy, still I should not be agitated sexually. In this way one who is dhira is able to control the six agitating forces (the speech, the mind, anger, the tongue, the belly, and the genitals). It is not that Lord Siva was impotent: he was dhira. Similarly, Krsna danced with so many girls, but there was no sex appetite. So, you have to hear from a person who is dhira. If you hear from the adhira, from those who are not self-controlled, then whatever knowledge you learn will be useless.
  • The spiritual master is not inventing something from his own experience. He is presenting exactly what he has heard. So we have nothing to research. Everything is there. We simply have to hear from a person who is dhira, who is not agitated by the six urges. That is the Vedic process of gaining knowledge. And if we try to use some other process, we will remain covered by nescience
  • The culture of vidyā is summarized in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.14) in the following words:  “Therefore, with one-pointed attention one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees.”

SB 2.9.37 TRANSLATION:

O Brahmā, just follow this conclusion by fixed concentration of mind, and no pride will disturb you, neither in the partial nor in the final devastation.

In the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad (śruti) it is said, gopa-veśo me puruṣaḥ purastād āvirbabhuva: the Lord appeared before Brahmā as a cowboy, that is, as the original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, who is later described by Brahmājī in his Brahma-saṁhitā (5.29):

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpavṛkṣa-

lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam

lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Brahmājī desires to worship the original Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who resides in the topmost Vaikuṇṭha planet, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, where He is in the habit of keeping surabhi cows as a cowboy and where He is served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune (the gopīs) with love and respect.

SB 2.9.36

“Even though one may have gone to the other side of all the Vedas, and even though one is well versed in all the revealed scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he must be considered the lowest of mankind.” Similarly, it is also stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.18.12) indirectly as follows:

We have no dearth to listen from Srila Prabhupada. One of the purest devotees. We are so fortunate to have his association.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said (Bhāg. 2.4.17) that neither the ascetic, nor one who is greatly munificent, nor one who is famous, nor the great philosopher, nor the great occultist, nor anyone else can achieve the desired result without being engaged in the service of the Lord.

  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.
  2. In the Garuḍa Purāṇa, Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa and Padma Purāṇa, the same is repeated: What is the use of Vedic knowledge and penances for one who is devoid of devotional service to the Lord?
  3. What is the comparison of thousands of prajāpatis to one devotee of the Lord?
  4. Śukadeva Gosvāmī said (Bhāg. 2.4.17) that neither the ascetic, nor one who is greatly munificent, nor one who is famous, nor the great philosopher, nor the great occultist, nor anyone else can achieve the desired result without being engaged in the service of the Lord.
  5. Even if a place is more glorious than heaven, if there is no glorification of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha or His pure devotee, it should at once be quitted.
  6. The pure devotee refuses to accept all the five different types of liberation in order to be engaged in the service of the Lord.

The final conclusion, therefore, is that the glories of the Lord must be always and everywhere proclaimed. One should hear about His glories, one should chant about His glories, and one should always remember His glories because that is the highest perfectional stage of life. 

  • As far as fruitive work is concerned, it is limited to an enjoyable body;
  •  as far as yoga is concerned, it is limited to the acquirement of mystic power; 
  • as far as empiric philosophy is concerned, it is limited to the attainment of transcendental knowledge; 
  • and as far as transcendental knowledge is concerned, it is limited to attainment of salvation. 
  • Even if they are adopted, there is every chance of discrepancies in discharging the particular type of functions. 
  • But adoption of the transcendental devotional service of the Lord has no limit, nor is there fear of falling down. The process automatically reaches the final stage by the grace of the Lord. In the preliminary stage of devotional service there is an apparent requisite for knowledge, but in the higher stage there is no necessity of such knowledge. The best and guaranteed path of progress is therefore engagement in bhakti-yoga, pure devotional service.

The Goswamis even though very wealthy left everything, slept under a different tree each day.. Fully engaged in DS and built many temples.. 

It is a very rare thing to be in a genuine temple and hear the genuine message from the Lord Himself in disciplic succession. 

Therefore Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original form of the Supreme Lord (kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam). This is also clear from this instruction. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Lord Kṛṣṇa, and not directly Nārāyaṇa or the puruṣa-avatāras, which are subsequent manifestations. Therefore Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam means consciousness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the sound representation of the Lord as much as the Bhagavad-gītā is. Thus the conclusion is that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the science of the Lord in which the Lord and His abode are perfectly realized.

The residents of Vrndavan dont even have the knowledge that Krsna is God, but they are completely in pure love and devotion with Krsna… 

The Way of Knowing God (http://files.krishna.com/en/pdf/e-books/Laws_of_Nature.pdf)

In the Vedic disciplic succession, the spiritual masters always base their

statements on what they have heard from authoritative sources, never on personal experience. Trying to understand things by one’s own direct experience is the material process of gaining knowledge, technically called pratyaksa. The Vedic method is different. It is called sruti, which means “to hear from authoritative sources.” That is the secret of Vedic understanding.

 With your imperfect senses you should not try to understand things that are

beyond your experimental powers. That is not possible. Suppose you want to know

who your father is. Can you find out by experimenting? Is it possible? No. Then

how can you know who your father is? By hearing from the proper authority, your

mother. This is common sense. And if you cannot know your material father by the experimental process, how can you know the Supreme Father by the experimental process? Krsna is the original father. He is the father of the father of the father, all the way down to you. So if you cannot understand your immediate father, the previous generation, by the experimental process, how can you know God, or Krsna, in this way?

People search for God by the experimental process, but after much searching

they fail. Then they say, “Oh, there is no God. I am God.” But the Isopanisad

says that one should try to learn about God not by the experimental process but by hearing. From whom should one hear? From a shopkeeper? From fanatics? No. One should hear from those who are dhira. Dhira means “one whose senses are not agitated by material influence.”

There are different kinds of agitation–agitations of the mind, the power of

speech, and anger, and agitations of the tongue, belly, and genitals. When we

become angry, we forget everything and can do any nonsense and speak so much

nonsense. For the agitation of the tongue there are so many advertisements:

“Here is liquor, here is chicken, here is beef.” Will we die without liquor,

chicken, or beef? No. For the human beings Krsna has given so many nice things

to eat–grains, fruits, milk, and so on. The cow produces milk abundantly, not for herself but for human beings. That is proper human food. God says, “Mrs. Cow, although you are producing milk, you cannot drink it. It is for the human beings, who are more advanced than animals.” Of course, in the infant stage animals live off their mother’s milk, so the calves drink some of the cow’s milk. But the cow gives excess milk, and that excess is specifically meant for us.

Most vegans become very YIN – Not grounded, flights of speculation, Flaky, determination to follow spiritual life is very low,, they become angry easily.. 


YAN – grounded.. easily

We should accept whatever God has ordained as our proper food. But no,

because of the agitation of the tongue, we think, “Why should I be satisfied eating grains, milk products, vegetables, and fruits? Let me maintain a slaughterhouse and kill these cows. After drinking their milk, just as I drank my mother’s milk, let me kill them to satisfy my tongue.” You shouldn’t think such nonsense but should hear from the dhiras, or svamis, who have controlled their senses. A svami, or gosvami, is one who has control over the six agitations: the speech, the mind, anger, the tongue, the belly, and the genitals.

There is a nice poem by Kalidasa called Kumara-sambhava describing how Lord

Siva is dhira. When Lord Siva’s wife, Sati, heard Siva being blasphemed at a

sacrifice performed by her father, she committed suicide. Upon hearing about his

wife’s suicide, Lord Siva became very angry and left this planet to meditate

elsewhere. During that time there was a war between the demons and the demigods.

The demigods needed a good general. They concluded that if Lord Siva were to

beget a son, the son would be able to lead them in the fight against the demons.

Lord Siva was completely naked while meditating. So Parvati, the reincarnation

of Sati, was sent to agitate his genitals for sex. But he was not agitated. He

remained silent. At this point Kalidasa remarks, “Here is a dhira. He is naked,

and a young girl is touching his genitals, but still he is not agitated.”Dhira

means that even if there is some cause for agitation, one will not be agitated.

If there is some very nice food, my tongue should not be agitated to taste it.

If there is a very nice girl or boy, still I should not be agitated sexually. In

this way one who is dhira is able to control the six agitating forces mentioned

above. It is not that Lord Siva was impotent: he was dhira. Similarly, Krsna

danced with so many girls, but there was no sex appetite. So, you have to hear from a person who is dhira. If you hear from the adhira, from those who are not self-controlled, then whatever knowledge you learn will be useless. In the Isopanisad, a student has approached his spiritual master to inquire from him, and the spiritual master is saying, “This is what I have heard from authoritative sources.” The spiritual master is not inventing something from his own experience. He is presenting exactly what he has heard. So we have nothing to research. Everything is there. We simply have to hear from a person who is dhira, who is not agitated by the six urges. That is the Vedic process of gaining knowledge. And if we try to use some other process, we will remain covered by nescience.

ISO – Text 11

Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.

The path of vidyā is most perfectly presented in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which directs a human being to utilize his life to inquire into the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is realized step by step as Brahman, Paramātmā and finally Bhagavān, the Personality of Godhead. The Absolute Truth is realized by the broadminded man who has attained knowledge and detachment by following the eighteen principles of the Bhagavad-gītā described in the purport to Mantra Ten. The central purpose of these eighteen principles is the attainment of transcendental devotional service to the Personality of Godhead. Therefore all classes of men are encouraged to learn the art of devotional service to the Lord.

The guaranteed path to the aim of vidyā is described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have presented in English as The Nectar of Devotion. The culture of vidyā is summarized in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.14) in the following words:

tasmād ekena manasā

bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ

śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca

dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā

“Therefore, with one-pointed attention one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees.”

Unless religion, economic development and sense gratification aim toward the attainment of devotional service to the Lord, they are all simply different forms of nescience, as Śrī Īśopaniṣad indicates in the following mantras.

Brahma meditated millions of years to see Krsna.. The process now is very simple.. Lord Caitanya recommended 5 things – 

  • Regularly Hear Srimadbhagavatam 
  • Chant the Holy names 
  • Associate and serve pure devotees
  • Live in holy places Mathura 
  • Deity worship

Purpose of temple – help transition from all day maya to Krsna.. 

Why are we chanting mantras before the class? Are we setting a mood? 

Gajendra – Even though in animal body was able to remember the mantra that he chanted in his previous life by the mercy of the lord. In this context,  SP said to chant 3 mantras – Hare Krsna Mantra, Narasimha Mantra, Brahma Samhith

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SB 2.9.35 – Part 5 – Notes – 1/19/22

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.9.35 – Part 5:

  • Although the Lord is present in every atom, the Supreme Personality of Godhead may not be visible to the dry speculators; still the mystery is unfolded before the eyes of the pure devotees because their eyes are anointed with love of Godhead. 
  • And this love of Godhead can be attained only by the practice of transcendental loving service of the Lord, and nothing else. The vision of the devotees is not ordinary; it is purified by the process of devotional service. 
  • The Lord can award anyone and everyone liberation (mukti) from the bondage of material existence, yet He rarely awards the privilege of love of Godhead, as confirmed by Nārada (muktiṁ dadhāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam). 
  • Those engaged in getting the Lord’s favor attain liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the opportunity to render direct service unto Him. (SB 5.6.18)
  • Directly or indirectly, it is proved that bhakti-yoga is the basis for the supreme relationship with the Supreme Lord. It is far superior to liberation. For a pure devotee of the Lord, mukti is automatically attained.
  • This transcendental devotional service of the Lord is so wonderful that the occupation keeps the deserving devotee always rapt in psychological activities, without deviation from the absolute touch. 
  • As touchstone is rarely found, a pure devotee of the Lord is also rarely to be seen, even amongst millions of liberated souls (koṭiṣv api mahāmune). 
  • Unless the dirt within the core of one’s heart is cleansed away, one cannot become a pure devotee. Therefore the word su-durlabhaḥ (“very rarely found”) is used in this verse. Not only among hundreds and thousands, but among millions of perfectly liberated souls, a pure devotee is hardly ever found. Therefore the words koṭiṣv api are used herein.
  • Śrīla Madhvācārya gives the following quotations from the Tantra Bhāgavata: “There are ninety million demigods and seventy million sages, who are all called nārāyaṇāyana, devotees of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Among them, only a few are called nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa.”
  • “The difference between the siddhas and nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇas is that direct devotees are called nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇas whereas those who perform various types of mystic yoga are called siddhas.”
  • If one is fortunate enough to have received the knowledge in the transcendental disciplic succession, surely he will have the chance to understand the mystery of the Lord and that of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the sound incarnation of the Lord.
  • [The Laws of Nature] We cannot be desireless. We cannot be silent. But our desires and our activities can be
    purified. That is real knowledge. We should desire only to serve Krsna. That is purification of desire. Instead of trying to be still and silent, we should dovetail our activities in Krsna’s service. As living entities, we have activities, desires, and a loving propensity, but they are being misdirected. If we direct them into Krsna’s service, that is the perfection of education.
  • [The Laws of Nature]  So education is required, but if it is simply materialistic–if it is devoid of Krsna consciousness–it is very, very dangerous. That is the teaching of the Isopanisad.

SB 2.9.35 – 1/19/22

O Brahmā, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything.

Last 2 paras – extremely imp to understand the goal of life. 

Therefore, although He is present in every atom, the Supreme Personality of Godhead may not be visible to the dry speculators; still the mystery is unfolded before the eyes of the pure devotees because their eyes are anointed with love of Godhead. And this love of Godhead can be attained only by the practice of transcendental loving service of the Lord, and nothing else. The vision of the devotees is not ordinary; it is purified by the process of devotional service. In other words, as the universal elements are both within and without, similarly the Lord’s name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, etc., as they are described in the revealed scriptures or as performed in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas, far, far beyond the material cosmic manifestation, are factually being televised in the heart of the devotee. The man with a poor fund of knowledge cannot understand, although by material science one can see things far away by means of television. Factually, the spiritually developed person is able to have the television of the kingdom of God always reflected within his heart. That is the mystery of knowledge of the Personality of Godhead.

The Lord can award anyone and everyone liberation (mukti) from the bondage of material existence, yet He rarely awards the privilege of love of Godhead, as confirmed by Nārada (muktiṁ dadhāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam). 

SB 5.6.18 

rājan patir gurur alaṁ bhavatāṁ yadūnāṁ

daivaṁ priyaḥ kula-patiḥ kva ca kiṅkaro vaḥ

astv evam aṅga bhagavān bhajatāṁ mukundo

muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the Supreme Person, Mukunda, is actually the maintainer of all the members of the Pāṇḍava and Yadu dynasties. He is your spiritual master, worshipable Deity, friend, and the director of your activities. To say nothing of this, He sometimes serves your family as a messenger or servant. This means He worked just as ordinary servants do. Those engaged in getting the Lord’s favor attain liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the opportunity to render direct service unto Him.

Someone may be a liberated soul, but they still might not have received the highest perfection of life.  

If one becomes void of all material desires.. Then they not only are liberated but they do they are given the opportunity to serve the lord.. 

While instructing Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Śukadeva Gosvāmī thought it wise to encourage the King because the King might be thinking of the glorious position of various royal dynasties. Especially glorious is the dynasty of Priyavrata, in which the Supreme Lord Ṛṣabhadeva incarnated. Similarly, the family of Uttānapāda Mahārāja, the father of Mahārāja Dhruva, is also glorious due to King Pṛthu’s taking birth in it. The dynasty of Mahārāja Raghu is glorified because Lord Rāmacandra appeared in that family. As far as the Yadu and Kuru dynasties are concerned, they existed simultaneously, but of the two, the Yadu dynasty was more glorious due to the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Mahārāja Parīkṣit might have been thinking that the Kuru dynasty was not as fortunate as the others because the Supreme Lord did not appear in that family, neither as Kṛṣṇa, Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva or Mahārāja Pṛthu. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja was encouraged by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in this particular verse.

The Kuru dynasty may be considered more glorious due to the presence of devotees like the five Pāṇḍavas, who rendered unalloyed devotional service. Although Lord Kṛṣṇa did not appear in the Kuru dynasty, He was so obligated to the Pāṇḍavas’ devotional service that He acted as a maintainer of the family and spiritual master of the Pāṇḍavas. Although He took birth in the Yadu dynasty, Lord Kṛṣṇa was more affectionate to the Pāṇḍavas. By His actions, Lord Kṛṣṇa proved that He was more inclined to the Kuru dynasty than the Yadu dynasty. Indeed, Lord Kṛṣṇa, indebted to the Pāṇḍavas’ devotional service, sometimes acted as their messenger, and He guided them through many dangerous situations. Therefore Mahārāja Parīkṣit should not have been saddened because Lord Kṛṣṇa did not appear in his family. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always inclined toward His pure devotees, and by His action it is clear that liberation is not very important for the devotees. Lord Kṛṣṇa easily gives one liberation, but He does not so easily give one the facility to become a devotee. Muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam. Directly or indirectly, it is proved that bhakti-yoga is the basis for the supreme relationship with the Supreme Lord. It is far superior to liberation. For a pure devotee of the Lord, mukti is automatically attained.

Confidential – it is not kept secret, but it is very hard to understand this. As long as one has even one material desire one cannot even understand this. 

There are millions and billions of jivas.. Billions of universes, vaikuntas,, in that gigantic number .. But only few get an opportunity to render direct service to the Lord… in Goloka.. 

This transcendental devotional service of the Lord is so wonderful that the occupation keeps the deserving devotee always rapt in psychological activities, without deviation from the absolute touch. 

That means what is going on in the mind. That means no material desires.. 

Thus love of Godhead, developed in the heart of the devotee, is a great mystery. Brahmājī previously told Nārada that the desires of Brahmājī are never unfulfilled because he is always absorbed in the transcendental loving service of the Lord; nor has he any desire in his heart save and except the transcendental service of the Lord. 

When one purifies the mind, purges the mind of all the material desires and fantasies and replaces that only with desires to please Krsna and actually engaging in unalloyed devotion only with the intention to please Krsna and Guru, at that time the spiritual television turns on. 

That is the beauty and mystery of the process of bhakti-yoga. As the Lord’s desire is infallible because He is acyuta, similarly the desires of the devotees in the transcendental service of the Lord are also acyuta, infallible. 

Increasing the chanting, hearing, prasadam distribution… only for pleasing Krsna and Guru.. all the desires of the devotee will become true there is no self interest.. There is only selfless service.. 

This is very difficult, however, for the layman to understand without knowledge of the mystery of devotional service, as it is very difficult to know the potency of touchstone. As touchstone is rarely found, a pure devotee of the Lord is also rarely to be seen, even amongst millions of liberated souls (koṭiṣv api mahāmune). 

A devotee like Srila Prabhupada is very rare.. He did it and he left it to his disciples to continue not being attached to it.. He went back to Krsna engaging in transcendental pastimes of the lord, with pure devotees desires to please Krsna and his guru. 

SB 6.14.5:

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives the following purport to this verse. Simply desiring mukti, or liberation, is insufficient; one must become factually liberated. When one understands the futility of the materialistic way of life, one becomes advanced in knowledge, and therefore he situates himself in the vānaprastha order, unattached to family, wife and children. One should then further progress to the platform of sannyāsa, the actual renounced order, never to fall again and be afflicted by materialistic life. Even though one desires to be liberated, this does not mean he is liberated. Only rarely is someone liberated. Indeed, although many men take sannyāsa to become liberated, because of their imperfections they again become attached to women, material activities, social welfare work and so on.

​​Jñānīs, yogīs and karmīs devoid of devotional service are called offenders. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, māyāvādī kṛṣṇe aparādhī: one who thinks that everything is māyā instead of thinking that everything is Kṛṣṇa is called an aparādhī, or offender. Although the Māyāvādīs, impersonalists, are offenders at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, they may nonetheless be counted among the siddhas, those who have realized the self. They may be considered nearer to spiritual perfection because at least they have realized what spiritual life is. If such a person becomes nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa, a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, he is better than a jīvan-mukta, one who is liberated or perfect. This requires higher intelligence.

There are two kinds of jñānīs. One is inclined to devotional service and the other to impersonal realization. Impersonalists generally undergo great endeavor for no tangible benefit, and therefore it is said that they are husking paddy that has no grain (sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinaḥ). The other class of jñānīs, whose jñāna is mixed with bhakti, are also of two kinds — those who are devoted to the so-called false form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and those who understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the actual spiritual form. The Māyāvādī devotees worship Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu with the idea that Viṣṇu has accepted a form of māyā and that the ultimate truth is actually impersonal. The pure devotee, however, never thinks that Viṣṇu has accepted a body of māyā; instead, he knows perfectly well that the original Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person. Such a devotee is actually situated in knowledge. He never merges in the Brahman effulgence:

As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32):

ye ’nye ’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ

āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ

patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ

“O Lord, the intelligence of those who think themselves liberated but who have no devotion is impure. Even though they rise to the highest point of liberation by dint of severe penances and austerities, they are sure to fall down again into material existence, for they do not take shelter at Your lotus feet.” Evidence of this same point is also given in Bhagavad-gītā (9.11), wherein the Lord says:

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā

mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto

mama bhūta-maheśvaram

“Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature and My supreme dominion over all that be.” When rascals (mūḍhas) see that Kṛṣṇa acts exactly like a human being, they deride the transcendental form of the Lord because they do not know the paraṁ bhāvam, His transcendental form and activities. Such persons are further described in Bhagavad-gītā (9.12) as follows:

moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo

mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ

rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva

prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ

“Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demoniac and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.” Such persons do not know that Kṛṣṇa’s body is not material. There is no distinction between Kṛṣṇa’s body and His soul, but because less intelligent men see Kṛṣṇa as a human being, they deride Him. They cannot imagine how a person like Kṛṣṇa could be the origin of everything (govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi). Such persons are described as moghāśāḥ, baffled in their hopes. Whatever they desire for the future will be baffled. Even if they apparently engage in devotional service, they are described as moghāśāḥ because they ultimately desire to merge into the Brahman effulgence.

Those who aspire to be elevated to the heavenly planets by devotional service will also be frustrated, because this is not the result of devotional service. However, they are also given a chance to engage in devotional service and be purified. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17):

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ

puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ

hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”

Unless the dirt within the core of one’s heart is cleansed away, one cannot become a pure devotee. Therefore the word su-durlabhaḥ (“very rarely found”) is used in this verse. Not only among hundreds and thousands, but among millions of perfectly liberated souls, a pure devotee is hardly ever found. Therefore the words koṭiṣv api are used herein. Śrīla Madhvācārya gives the following quotations from the Tantra Bhāgavata:

nava-koṭyas tu devānām

ṛṣayaḥ sapta-koṭayaḥ

nārāyaṇāyanāḥ sarve

ye kecit tat-parāyaṇāḥ

“There are ninety million demigods and seventy million sages, who are all called nārāyaṇāyana, devotees of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Among them, only a few are called nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa.”

nārāyaṇāyanā devā

ṛṣy-ādyās tat-parāyaṇāḥ

brahmādyāḥ kecanaiva syuḥ

siddho yogya-sukhaṁ labhan

The difference between the siddhas and nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇas is that direct devotees are called nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇas whereas those who perform various types of mystic yoga are called siddhas.

Out of all kinds of perfections attained by the process of knowledge, yoga perfection in devotional service is the highest of all and the most mysterious also, even more mysterious than the eight kinds of mystic perfection attained by the process of yogic performances. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.64) the Lord therefore advised Arjuna about this bhakti-yoga:

sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ

śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ

“Just hear from Me again about the most confidential part of the instructions in Bhagavad-gītā.” The same was confirmed by Brahmājī to Nārada in the following words:

idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma

yan me bhagavatoditam

saṅgraho ’yaṁ vibhūtīnāṁ

tvam etad vipulīkuru

Brahmājī said to Nārada, “Whatever I have spoken to you about the Bhāgavatam was explained to me by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and I am advising you to expand these topics nicely so that people may easily understand the mysterious bhakti-yoga by transcendental loving service to the Lord.” 

When there is transcendental service of the lord, there is no vacation. Nithyam bhagavata sevaya.. They never want to be separated from devotional service.. 

It is to be noted here that the mystery of bhakti-yoga was disclosed to Brahmājī by the Lord Himself. Brahmājī explained the same mystery to Nārada, Nārada explained it to Vyāsa, Vyāsa explained it to Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and that same knowledge is coming down in the unalloyed chain of disciplic succession. If one is fortunate enough to have received the knowledge in the transcendental disciplic succession, surely he will have the chance to understand the mystery of the Lord and that of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the sound incarnation of the Lord.

Brahmaji was given the eyes by the lord to see Krsna.. To see the kingdom of the God. … 

ISO 9 

andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti

ye ’vidyām upāsate

tato bhūya iva te tamo

ya u vidyāyāḿ ratāḥ

Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge.

Alternate translation of this verse is in The Laws of Nature Compilation – (http://files.krishna.com/en/pdf/e-books/Laws_of_Nature.pdf)

 The Isopanisad states, “Those who are engaged in the culture of nescience

shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. ” There are two kinds of

education, material and spiritual. Material education is called jada-vidya. Jada

means “that which cannot move,” or matter. Spirit can move. Our body is a

combination of spirit and matter. As long as the spirit is there, the body is

moving. For example, a man’s coat and pants move as long as the man wears them.

It appears that the coat and pants are moving on their own, but actually it is

the body that is moving them. Similarly, this body is moving because the spirit

soul is moving it. Another example is the motorcar. The motorcar is moving

because the driver is moving it. Only a fool thinks the motorcar is moving on

its own. In spite of a wonderful mechanical arrangement, the motorcar cannot

move on its own.

 Since they are given only jada-vidya, a materialistic education, people think

that this material nature is working, moving, and manifesting so many wonderful

things automatically. When we are at the seaside, we see the waves moving. But

the waves are not moving automatically. The air is moving them. And something

else is moving the air. In this way, if you go all the way back to the ultimate

cause, you will find Krsna, the cause of all causes. That is real education, to

search out the ultimate cause.

 So the Isopanisad says that those who are captivated by the external

movements of the material energy are worshiping nescience. In the modern

civilization there are big, big institutions for understanding technology, how a

motorcar or an airplane moves. They are studying how to manufacture so much

machinery. But there is no educational institution for investigating how the

spirit soul is moving. The actual mover is not being studied. Instead they are

studying the external movements of matter.

 When I lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I asked the

students, “Where is the technology to study the soul, the mover of the body?”

They had no such technology. They could not answer satisfactorily because their

education was simply jada-vidya. The Isopanisad says that those who engage in

the advancement of such materialistic education will go to the darkest region of

existence. Therefore the present civilization is in a very dangerous position

because there is no arrangement anywhere in the world for genuine spiritual

education. In this way human society is being pushed to the darkest region of

Existence.

 In a song, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has declared that materialistic

education is simply an expansion of maya. The more we advance in this

materialistic education, the more our ability to understand God will be

hampered. And at last we will declare, “God is dead.” This is all ignorance and

darkness.

So, the materialists are certainly being pushed into darkness. But there is

another class–the so-called philosophers, mental speculators, religionists, and

yogis–who are going into still greater darkness because they are defying Krsna.

They are pretending to cultivate spiritual knowledge, but because they have no

information of Krsna, or God, their teachings are even more dangerous than those

of the outright materialists. Why? Because they are misleading people into

thinking they are giving real spiritual knowledge. The so-called yoga system

they are teaching is misleading people: “Simply meditate, and you will

understand that you are God.” Krsna never meditated to become God. He was God from His very birth. When He was a three-month-old baby, the Putana demon

attacked Him–and Krsna sucked out her life air along with her breast milk. So

Krsna was God from the very beginning. That is God.

 The nonsense so-called yogis teach, “You become still and silent, and you

will become God.” How can I become silent? Is there any possibility of becoming

silent? No, there is no such possibility. “Become desireless and you will become

God.” How can I become desireless? These are all bluffs. We cannot be

desireless. We cannot be silent. But our desires and our activities can be

purified. That is real knowledge. We should desire only to serve Krsna. That is

purification of desire. Instead of trying to be still and silent, we should

dovetail our activities in Krsna’s service. As living entities, we have

activities, desires, and a loving propensity, but they are being misdirected. If

we direct them into Krsna’s service, that is the perfection of education.

 We don’t say that you should not become advanced in material education. You

may, but at the same time you should become Krsna conscious. That is our

message. We don’t say that you shouldn’t manufacture motorcars. No. We say, “All right, you have manufactured these motorcars. Now employ them in Krsna’s

service.” That is our proposal.

 So education is required, but if it is simply materialistic–if it is devoid

of Krsna consciousness–it is very, very dangerous. That is the teaching of the Isopanisad.

ISO 9 Purport

This mantra offers a comparative study of vidyā and avidyā. Avidyā, or ignorance, is undoubtedly dangerous, but vidyā, or knowledge, is even more dangerous when mistaken or misguided. This mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad is more applicable today than at any time in the past. Modern civilization has advanced considerably in the field of mass education, but the result is that people are more unhappy than ever before because of the stress placed on material advancement to the exclusion of the most important part of life, the spiritual aspect.

As far as vidyā is concerned, the first mantra has explained very clearly that the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of everything and that forgetfulness of this fact is ignorance. The more a man forgets this fact of life, the more he is in darkness. In view of this, a godless civilization directed toward the so-called advancement of education is more dangerous than a civilization in which the masses of people are less “educated.”

Of the different classes of men – karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs – the karmīs are those who are engaged in the activities of sense gratification. In the modern civilization, 99.9 percent of the people are engaged in the activities of sense gratification under the flags of industrialism, economic development, altruism, political activism, and so on. All these activities are more or less based on satisfaction of the senses, to the exclusion of the kind of God consciousness described in the first mantra.

In the language of the Bhagavad-gītā (7.15), people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are mūḍhas – asses. The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless pursuit of sense gratification are worshiping avidyā, according to Śrī Īśopaniṣad. And those who play the role of helping this sort of civilization in the name of educational advancement are actually doing more harm than those who are on the platform of gross sense gratification. The advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11.12), the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All such activities are aimed toward sense gratification. But above the senses is the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization, realization of the spiritual values of the soul. Any education which does not lead to such realization must be considered avidyā, or nescience. And to culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.

According to the Bhagavad-gītā (2.42, 7.15), mistaken mundane educators are known as veda-vāda-rata and māyayāpahṛta-jñāna. They may also be atheistic demons, the lowest of men. Those who are veda-vāda-rata pose themselves as very learned in the Vedic literature, but unfortunately they are completely diverted from the purpose of the Vedas. In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) it is said that the purpose of the Vedas is to know the Personality of Godhead, but these veda-vāda-rata men are not at all interested in the Personality of Godhead. On the contrary, they are fascinated by such fruitive results as the attainment of heaven.