According to Vedic civilization, one who does not follow the Vedic principle, he is called nāstik. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has explained about the Buddhist. Buddhists, they do not believe in the Vedic injunction. Or the Muslims. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that veda nā māniyā bauddha haya ta' nāstika. Buddhists are called nāstik, atheist. Why? Veda nā māniyā: he does not believe in the Vedas.
- veda nā māniyā bauddha haya ta' nāstika
- vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda bauddhake adhika
- (CC Madhya 6.168)
But a person, hypocrite, who accepts the Vedas but he preaches atheism. . . Just like you are praying that śūnyavādi, nirviśeṣa śūnyavādi pāścātya deśa tāriṇe. These two, very dangerous position, nirviśeṣa. The Buddhists, they say there is no God—śūnyavādi. "Everything, at the end, everything is zero. You have got this body. When the body is finished, then everything becomes zero." Because they do not believe in the soul, not in God. There are many nāstik. Vasu bhūta sa dehasya kuta pūrna . . . (indistinct) . . . bhavet: "The body, I see it is burnt into ashes. Where is life? There is no life. There is no soul." So this is bauddhya-vāda, śūnyavāda—everything becomes zero.
And the vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda, the Māyāvādīs, they do not say there is no God, because in the Vedas there is God. So they do not say directly, but they say, "Yes, there is God, but He has no head, no leg, no hand. He cannot talk. He cannot eat." Then what remains? He is making zero, God, zero, by negative definition—"He has no head, He has no hand. He has no leg." So both of them are zero, advocate of zero. But one directly says, "No, there is no God. Everything is zero." And these Māyāvādīs, nirviśeṣa-vādi, they say the same thing—zero—but in a different way.
Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that these Māyāvādīs, zero-vādis, they are more dangerous than this bauddha. Vedāśraya nāstikya-vāda. All these Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, they are very learned, but they'll never accept that God has form. They say it is kalpanā, it is imagination. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has designated them very, very dangerous, these Māyāvādīs. He has therefore strictly forbidden, māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa (CC Madhya 6.169): if you hear this Māyāvādī speaking, then your future is doomed. You are finished. Because as soon as you have become infected with the Māyāvāda philosophy, it will take millions of years to come to the platform of devotional service, it is so dangerous. Māyāvādī-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva-nāśa. Sarva-nāśa means everything is finished when you become godless, or you think yourself as you are God. The Māyāvādī do that. They accept God, Kṛṣṇa as God, but Kṛṣṇa's body is māyā. He has assumed a form, with a body which is created by māyā, just like our body is created by māyā.
That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā:
- īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
- hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati
- bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
- yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
- (BG 18.61)
This body is given by the material nature at the direction of. . . by the direction of Kṛṣṇa. Because the nature is working by the direction of Kṛṣṇa. Nature is not independent. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). So īśvara, Kṛṣṇa, as Supersoul, He is wiyhin the core of my heart, sitting with me. I am also in the heart. And I am desiring, and Kṛṣṇa is fulfilling my desire. Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). Smṛtiḥ. Kṛṣṇa gives a body by the living entity: "You wanted to eat anything and everything, without any discrimination—now take this body of a hog. You can eat even stool. I give you the facility." Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam. "Now, here you have got this body, you eat stool." Smṛtir jñānam.
In this way we are going on, life after life. We are creating different types of body. This is called seasonal changes. Just like there is tree, and every season there are fruits. The fruits, they are undergoing six kinds of transformation. First of all it is just like a small bud, or flower, then grows into a green fruit, then it is ripened fruit, then there is seed, then it is completely ripened, then falls down and finished. The fruit is going on, these six kinds of transformation, but the tree is standing. Similarly, as living entity we are permanent, and according to our karma, fruitive result of our karma, we are getting different body. So I am steady, as spirit soul. My bodies are changing, seasonal changes. But Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Because the fruit is grown, stays for some time, then dwindles, then vanishes, that does not mean the tree is finished. This is a crude example. So this change of body is there on account of presence of the Supersoul. He is noting down. He doesn't require to note down, but He notes that "This living entity wants this kind of facility." So each and every body means a kind of facility for fulfilling our desires. That desire is fulfilled by Kṛṣṇa. He is within our heart. He is giving. . . He has given full independence: "Desire. . . Whatever you desire, I will give you." Ye yathā mām prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham (BG 4.11).