So the Supreme Lord is actually the creator and He is actually the enjoyer. And the living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he's not actually the creator or the enjoyer, but he's a cooperator. Just like the whole machine. The part of the machine is the cooperator, is the cooperator. Or if we can study just the constitution of our body. Now, in the body there are hands, there are legs, there are eyes, and all these instruments, working, but all these parts and parcels of the body, they are not enjoyer. The stomach is the enjoyer. The leg is moving from one place to another. The hand is collecting, the hand is preparing foodstuff, and the teeth is chewing, and everything, all parts of body, are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle fact within the organization of this body.
In the body (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Although they were placed, both of them placed at dharma-kṣetra. The effect of dharma-kṣetra was manifest in the body of Arjuna, not Duryodhana. This is the... If one is pure, then the effects of dharma becomes manifest very quickly. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ... (BG 7.15). Kṛṣṇa says in... that those who are too much sinful, sinful, simply their life is sinful, duṣkṛtinaḥ. Duṣkṛtinaḥ. Kṛti. Kṛti means one who has got good brain. But duṣkṛtinaḥ, but the brain is applied for mischievous activities. For mischievous activities, it also requires good brain. And similarly, for pious activities, that also requires brain. But those who are applying their brain for mischievous activities, they are called duṣkṛtinaḥ.
We living entities, we are eternal. Even the creation is annihilated after millions and trillions of years, the living entities, they are not annihilated. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). They remain. So when this whole cosmic manifestation will be annihilated, the living entities will remain in the body of Viṣṇu. Then when again another creation will take place, they will come out again to fulfill their desires. The real desire is how to go to home, back to Godhead.
According to Vedic system, there should be four classes of men: the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, social order; and spiritual order: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, and sannyāsa. This is perfect system of human civilization. So I shall briefly describe. Brāhmaṇa is compared with the head. Just like you have got your body. In the body there are different departments: the head department, the arms department, the belly department, and the leg department. So to maintain your body fit, you must have all these four departments rightly working.
As we become more and more sinful and without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they will be put into difficulties, they will be dying within the womb, they will be killed, within the womb, there will be war, there will be pestilence, there will be famine, there will be earthquake. In so many ways, we have to die. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). Again, take birth, this business will go on. And ultimately, when the whole universe is annihilated, then again we take shelter in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu and live for, in that way, without any body, for many millions of years. Again, there is creation, and then again given chance. "All right, take another chance. Be Kṛṣṇa conscious."
The soul is described here that he does not take birth. It is not that he was not existing in the past; now he has taken birth. It is not like that. It is not like that, that the soul did not exist in the past; now he's existing. There are some philosophers, they think like that, that the living symptom was not existing before, and by the combination of matter the living force is there. But that is not the fact. The living being is there; therefore the life symptoms are there in the body. Therefore, when a man dies, because we do not know about the living force, we cry that "My father, my son, has gone."
Actually spiritual consciousness keeps the body fit. Just like in the body the spirit soul is there and the consciousness is also there, maybe polluted, but as soon as the spirit soul gives up this body, the body immediately begins to decompose. So the decomposition of the body is checked by the spiritual presence. So if you become advanced in spiritual consciousness there is no question of suffering from bodily disease.
Ask anyone what you are. He will say, "I am this body. I am Mr. Such and such." "I am Indian." "I am American." This is all bodily description. And we have already discussed. This body is temporary, but I, the spirit soul, I am permanent. I have already experienced that I had my childhood body, I had my babyhood body, I had my boyhood body, youthhood body, I know it, but the bodies are no more existing, but I am existing. So therefore I am permanent, and the body is nonpermanent. Therefore it is said, nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ: "Permanency is not there in the body." Nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ: "And there is no annihilation of the permanent or the eternal."
Now find out modern science. Both the soul and the Supersoul, they are situated within the heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61). It is not said that "Anywhere in the body it is sitting." No. Hṛd-deśe, in the heart. And actually, by medical science, the heart is the center of all activities of the body, office. And the brain is the manager. The director is there, Kṛṣṇa. He says also in another place, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. Everything is clear. Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ, "I am sitting in everyone's heart." Find out God, find out Kṛṣṇa. In several places, all Vedic literature, guhāyām. Guhāyām means in the heart.
"He who dwells in the body." He began this instruction that deha, dehī—the body and the proprietor of the body or the resident of the body. Just like this hall, and we are a resident of this hall. We are different. We are not this hall. This lecture room, we are within this lecture room, but that does not mean that we are or I am or you are this lecture room. Similarly the soul dwells in this body. The body is changing but the soul is not changing. That was the beginning of conversation with Arjuna after his surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa as disciple. And again He concludes in that way, that the soul... "Take it from Me, because you have accepted Me as your spiritual master." This is the significance. If you accept somebody as spiritual master, you have to accept whatever he says. Otherwise there is no need. But if you cannot understand, you can inquire sincerely.
No, first of all try to understand this, that piercing the knife in the body is not always bad. Similarly, war or fighting is not always bad, provided it is done for right cause. That should be understood. So when the director is Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, is directing, so there is no cause of stopping it. He has His plan, He knows. We cannot judge. So He's the Supreme. So that war is necessary because it is desired by the Supreme Lord. To maintain the laws of the world, as to maintain the laws and order of a state, there is violence department, the police department, the military department.
Indestructible, immutable. It does not take birth, it does not die, it is always, constantly the same. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). In this way, again he says nityam, eternal. Avadhya, nobody can kill. In the body, he is there. But dehe sarvasya bhārata. This is very important. Not that simply in human body the soul is there and not in other bodies. That is rascaldom. Sarvasya. In every body. Even within the ant, even within the elephant, even within the gigantic banyan tree or within the microbe. Sarvasya. The soul is there. But some rascals, they say the animals have no soul. This is wrong.
The miserable condition of this material world is due to this body, but if I don't identify with this body, then what relationship I have got with all this miseries? This is theoretical knowledge, of course, but one has to practice. But this is a fact. Just like for the time being, if there is any pain in the body... I feel pain because I am absorbed in this bodily concept of life, but actually, I am not this body. That is a fact. It is due to my absorption of bodily concept of life; therefore I feel. The more I become enlightened, the more I shall not be affected by all these miseries.
Just like the, the entity, living entity is in the body... Just like a child. The living entity's there. The body is very small. But that small body is growing, growing. That is changing. And growing, growing, that small child becomes a boy, grown up boy. And that grown up boy gradually becomes a youth. And then that youth becomes an old man, old man. And then, after, at the end, when the body's no more useful, he changes to another body. So this death means the ultimate change of the present body. So this body's changing. Now, Kṛṣṇa says that as the body is changing, still, the person whose body is this, he's there.
In Hindu it is called kṣatra. So kṣat trāyate. A kṣatriya's business is one who can save you from being injured by others. That is kṣatriya. And brāhmaṇa means the intelligent class. So as in the body, the brain is also required the hand is also required the belly is also required, and the leg is also required. Although the activities of the leg is not so important than the activity of the brain. Comparatively studying, the brain is most important part of the body, this head. If you cut the head of a man, then, in spite of possessing the arms, belly and legs, he is dead man. But if you cut the hand or the leg, he can live, and the brain can work. This is an example.
Just like my parts and part of the body, it has got a specific relationship with my body. Just like this hand is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in the body. My ear is the part and parcel of my body. It has got a specific position in this.
Parāṁ gatim, that is open for everyone. It is not that because one is śūdra or one is caṇḍāla, he is not allowed to enter into the kingdom of God. Only the brāhmaṇas are allowed. No, it is not like that. The same thing, same example, that in the body there are four divisions: the head division, the arm division, the belly division, and the leg division. It is not that only the head get the facilities of living condition. No. Everyone.
Prahlāda Mahārāja said that the gṛhamedhi attached to this material life, gṛhamedhi... Gṛha means compact in a room. So I am the living entity, spirit soul, I am compact within this body, encaged, or I am encaged within this universe. This is also compact. So one who is attached to this compact position, packed up in the body or within this universe, they are called gṛhamedhi. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām (SB 2.1.2). They cannot see what is ātma-tattva, self-realization. Apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām (SB 2.1.2).
So there is soul and there is the gross material body and there is the subtle material body. The soul is the basic principle, but to get a body, as I have already explained, the secretion discharged by the father and the mother, they mix up, they are emulsified and forms in the body of a pea. And the soul comes through the semina of the father and he's situated there. Then the body develops. Now, just try to understand. Because the spirit soul is there, therefore matter is developing. If the soul is not there, if the child is dead, no more development.
Any medical scientist knows. And we know from the Vedic literatures that this small particle, atomic particle of spiritual spark, takes shelter in the semina of the father, and the father injects the semina in the womb of the mother. Then, if the situation is favorable, then it takes a form of body just like a pea in the first night. That pealike body develops. Then different holes are manifested. They are developed into eyes, ears, mouth, and so many holes, nine holes in the body. So anyone can understand that that small particle of atomic portion of a spiritual spark develops this body, big body. Not only human body, all sorts of bodies. Similarly, this whole universe is also a development of the spiritual body of Kṛṣṇa, Paramātmā.
But he remains in the body. He remains in the body. But the extra covering which had, he had grown, that is also gone once he gives up. Everything, every education, is there in the nature's study. We can see the, the snake give up the covering, but he remains in his form. Similarly, we... Muktvā kalevaram means this extra... Just like this dress, this is covering. I can give it up, but I remain in my original body. Similarly, mukti means I have got my original body already. It is covered by this material coating. So when there is no more material coating, that is called mukti. That can be achieved when you go to Kṛṣṇa, back to home, back to Godhead.
Kṛṣṇa can eat, just like we eat through our mouth, but Kṛṣṇa can eat with His eyes. That is absolute. We have, because we are not absolute, we have got distinction between my, our eyes and our hands, our mouth. There are distinction which is called sagata viveḥ. We have got difference of body between yourself and myself, and in the body also there are differences. My eyes are different from my hands, my hands are different from my legs. But Kṛṣṇa, being Absolute, He has no such distinction. That they do not understand. Therefore they can not imagine how God, Kṛṣṇa, can have a form.
The problems are created. Just like if I do not give food to the driver, and he is entrusted with a nice car, and he is not happy on account of not being properly taken care of, then he must create disaster. There will be car accident. So that is happening. Nobody is taking care of the driver of this body. No education is there. They are simply trying to rectify the defects in the body.
Just like these boys and girls have become liberated from all bad habits. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya. Daivī sampad vimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā. And if you develop demonic qualities, then you become more and more entangled in this material existence. It is very risky. We are thinking that "Let me enjoy this life to my best capacity," as the atheist class of people think, but they do not know how much risk they are taking. If I develop my characteristics like cats and dogs, then my next life is becoming bound up in the body of cats and dogs. But they do not know the science. How the transmigration of the soul is evolving in 8,400,000 species of life, the modern science they do not know. They do not know, but there is, there is law.
Arjuna accepts Kṛṣṇa, after understanding Bhagavad-gītā, paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitram-paramaṁ bhavān: (BG 10.12) "You are paraṁ pavitra." And God is paraṁ pavitra is admitted in the Īśopaniṣad. Apāpa-viddham, asnāviram. Asnāviram means in the body of God there are no veins, and therefore apāpa-viddham. Veins, as soon as you have got this veins, that is material body. The body is maintained under certain material condition. You eat, and this eating substance transformed into secretion, then through the veins this comes to the heart, and heart it becomes red, corpuscle, the blood, the blood is diffused. Therefore there are so many channels, veins.
Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, therefore, deha smṛti nāhi jār, saṁsāra bandhan kaha tār:(?) "If one becomes free from the bodily concept of life, then where is material miseries?" Material miseries does not affect him. He know that... Just like I am putting on this shirt. If it is torn, so am I affected? I am not affected. I am within this shirt. Similarly, if I am fully convinced that I am not this body, then if there is some injury or some disease or some mishap in the body, I am not concerned because I know that I am not this body. That is self-realization.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So everyone is trying to be liberated. So in the bodies lower than the human being, there is no question of liberation. There is no question. Out of the 8,400,000's of species of life, 8,000,000 and at least 300 species, aḥ, 3,000 species of life, there is no question of liberation. They must live under the conditions of material nature. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). You have accepted this material body voluntarily for enjoying this material world. You enjoy it to the fullest extent under the condition of stringent laws of material nature. Now, in the human form of life, civilized human form of life, your consciousness is now developed. There is a chance to understand why you are conditioned.
In Sanskrit grammar there are vargas, ka-varga, ca-varga, ṭa-varga, ta-varga, pa-varga—five vargas. So pa-varga means pa pha ba bha ma, five letters. Pa means pariśrama, hard labor. And pha means foaming. Because when you work very hard, from your mouth some foam comes out. Sometimes we see in the body of the horse, or any animal. Pa, pha, ba. Ba means vyarthatā, frustration. Instead of, in spite of working very hard, there is frustration in this material world. Pa, pha, ba, bha. Bha means bhaya, fearfulness. Although I am working very hard, still, I am fearful what will happen. I am not sure that things will be done properly, in spite of my working very hard. Pa, pha, ba, bha, and ma. Ma means mṛtyu, death.
Just like the same example can be given that in the body, I am this body, everything "I," or "mine," but when foodstuff is to be taken, it is not to be pushed through the rectum, but through the mouth. That is the only one. You cannot say, "The body has got nine holes: two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, one rectum, one genital-nine holes. So why not push the food in any hole?" That is Māyāvādī theory. "After all," they say, "the foodstuff has to be given to the body, inside the body. So I can push the foodstuff through any hole. There are so many holes." Sometimes in medical science, when it is impossible to push food through the mouth, they push through the rectum. That is artificial. But emergency, they do sometimes.
Viśvarūpa, as Kṛṣṇa showed, the Viśvarūpa, external feature. This gigantic cosmic manifestation. That is Kṛṣṇa's external body. These are described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The, the hills, the mountains, they are described as the bones. Just like we have got in our body some part raised by the bones, similarly these big, big mountains and hills, they have been described as the bones. And the big, big oceans they have been described as different holes in the body, down and up. Similarly the Brahmaloka is the skull, upper skull.
Just like the very high mountains, the sky, the big, big planet. So the description is there. You can think of. That is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If you think that: "This mountain is the bone of Kṛṣṇa," that is also Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Actually that is so. If you think that big Pacific Ocean is the navel of Kṛṣṇa. These big, big trees, plants, they are hairs in the body of Kṛṣṇa. Then the head, the skull of Kṛṣṇa, is the Brahmaloka. The sole is the Pātālaloka. Similarly... This is mahato mahīyān. When you think of Kṛṣṇa as the greater than the greatest, you can think like this. And if you think Kṛṣṇa is both, smaller than the smallest. That is also greatness. That is also greatness. Kṛṣṇa can manufacture this gigantic cosmic manifestation and He can manufacture also a small insect, smaller than the point.
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, as the most pious king of the world, takes for himself the responsibility of killing such a huge number of living beings because the battle was fought to reinstate him on the throne. This body is, after all, meant for others. While there is life in the body, it is meant for the service of the others, and (when) it is dead it is meant to be eaten up by the dogs and jackals." Even it is dead body, that is also meant for others. If you throw it on the street, then it will be eaten by the animals and the vultures. So body is meant for others. Or if you don't throw, if you burn it, then—it is right of the sons to burn it—then it belongs to them. So either living or dead, logically the body belongs to others.
So the Pāṇḍavas proved their bodily strength, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra was under the impression that because actually the kingdom belonged to him, but on account of his becoming blind, he could not inherit on the throne. Defective in the body. A king should be all complete. So not a blind man can be king. That is not possible. So after the death of his younger brother Pāṇḍu, he thought, actually the kingdom belonged to him. Now, after the death of his brother, his sons should inherit. That was the political conspiracy of the battle of Kurukṣetra. Now everything finished, decided by the battle.
So religion means, we have already explained, religion means the science of God. So the chance is there in the human form of body to understand the science of God. In the body of cats and dogs, it is not possible. Therefore this life should be fully utilized for understanding the science of God, and understanding... As Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja... Now he is closing the business. The business is that "I am creating this body." Just like a businessman opens a business house. Sometimes when the business is simply troublesome, he liquidates. Similarly, we should come into the understanding that our material business is always troublesome.
So if we qualify ourself as Vaiṣṇava and devotee, then all other good qualities will automatically manifest in the body. That is the purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that you accept this movement... For example... There are many examples. This is also one practical example. In your state the government has spent millions and millions of dollars to stop the intoxication habit, but it was failure. But as soon as the same person comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness camp, he immediately gives up. This is practical. And there cannot be any comparison of the qualities of our students with any religious institution or any school, college. You cannot have.
"This kaumāra, this age, from the very beginning of life, you take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." He was advising. They, they were all asuras. They were asking, "Why Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Let us play now, jump like monkey." So he was not... "No, no. Let us take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness." "Now, why we should take Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" Now, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma: "Oh, it is very valuable. This human form of life is very valuable." Because in this life only you can become Kṛṣṇa conscious, not in the body of cats and dogs. That is not possible. Or trees.
Kṛṣṇa is situated within your heart. He's your best friend. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. He's always willing how your perfect welfare can be done. Kṛṣṇa is so nice friend. You are... I am taking the body of a hog. There is also Kṛṣṇa advising me. And when I am in the body of a human being, there also Kṛṣṇa is advising me. Kṛṣṇa is so kind. Therefore suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. He's friend not only of human being, even the hogs, dogs, cats—everyone. Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. This is the science, one has to know. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29).
This is universal movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, because it is concerned with the soul, consciousness. Therefore you have named the word consciousness. Consciousness belongs to the soul, that is the symptom of presence of soul. At the present moment because the soul is in the body, if I pinch your body then you will feel, consciousness, feel pains or pleasure. But as soon as the soul is gone out of the body, if I chop off your body with a dagger, you will not protest. The consciousness is gone. Yena sarvam idaṁ tatam avināśi tu tad viddhi, yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. Sarvam idam, this body. This body, wherever you pinch it you feel pain. Why? Because consciousness is there. So Kṛṣṇa advises that consciousness is eternal.
So one has to complete the term of one particular type of body. That is the law of nature. So they remain in dormant stage in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu at the time of dissolution. Prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām, in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said. Prakṛtiṁ yānti māmi... Then, at the time of creation, they come out again in the same body as it was in the last creation. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, anādi karama-phale, paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale. Of course, the evolution takes place, but at the time of creation the particular type of body which I inherited in my last birth or millennium I get again, and again begin evolution. This is the process, going on. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). The dissolution takes place.
Just like at night we are forgetting everything of this bodily activities, and again, during daytime, we are forgetting everything of the night dream. This is going on. Similarly, at the time of annihilation, prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām. Kalpa-kṣaye. When this millennium will be ended, at the end of Brahmā's life, at that time the living entities will stay in the body of the Mahā-Viṣṇu. (aside:) What is that sound? And again, when we are let loose from the deha, and there is creation, our old remembrances all come in, and we begin our life. This is the process of going... Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate (BG 8.19). Sva-tejasā apibat tīvram ātma-prasvāpanaṁ tamaḥ.
So dravya, the physical body, that is influenced by the taijasāt vikurvāṇāt . This physical body is developed by the mode of passion, the ego. The false ego of the spirit soul, when it is influenced by the mode of passion, then these indriyas, different indriyas, senses-eyes, ear, nose, tongue, hands, legs, genital, rectum—all these things—nine chidras, holes in the body—develop. And they ultimately come to become the different parts and limbs of the senses of the body.
Not only the fingers which have picked up the foodstuff, not only his interested, tasmin tuṣṭe jagat tuṣṭaḥ. Yathā taror mūla, prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇām. If you put the foodstuff through this one way, not foolish way, that we have to put the foodstuff within the body. So there are nine holes in the body, this mouth, the eyes, the ears, the genital, the rectum the navel. There are nine holes. If some rascal says that any hole will do, you put the foodstuff through any hole. Sometimes it is done.
We are not only living very unhappy while we are in life; after death there are so many miserable conditions, hellish conditions, transmigration of the soul from one body to another. That is also very miserable condition. And to remain in the body of a dog or hog, that sort of degradation is also there. And again to come even in the human body, in the womb of the mother, that is also very miserable condition. Now this child, the small child, he's protesting that "I'm not in comfortable condition. Mother, take me in this way." So mother is trying to satisfy him. So always, always. That thing has to be understood, that so long we are in this material world, the miseries will continue. So a very intelligent question, that "How one can get out of this miserable life?"
Just like you are living in an apartment according to your position, but if I forcibly I ask you, "Go out of this apartment," then I will be punishable by the law. I have no right to get you out from that apartment. Similarly, every living entity by the laws of nature, all laws of nature, is imprisoned or allowed under certain apartment, either in the body of a tree or a human being or demigod or cat or dog. These are all ordained. So you cannot get out the living entity, soul, by force from that body. Then you will be punishable. The living entity is never killed, but you have no right to get him out from that body. That is sinful.
Just like this finger is part and parcel of my body; this finger is not enjoyer. The body, or the chief place in the body, the stomach, he's the enjoyer. Similarly, God is the center of all creation, the whole universal body. Therefore He's enjoyer; we are servitor. So our conception is very clear. Therefore we are liberated. Liberation means to become free from all false conception of life. That is liberation. Liberation does not mean that you have got now two hands, and, as soon as you are liberated, you'll have ten hands. No. Liberation means that you become free from all nonsensical, false conception of life. That is liberation.
Everything asat. The body's asat, perishable, temporary. So whatever you have got in relationship with this body—my country, my society, my bank balance, my money, my wife, children—everything in the body, they're also temporary. So they are very, very anxiety. Tat sādhu manye. So "I want to relieve them from this anxiety." What is that? Tad sādhu manye asura-vārya dehināṁ sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt. Then, what you advise? Hitvātmā-pātaṁ gṛham andha-kūpam. He's fallen in this dark region of black well, this family life.
If there is some danger I try to protect myself from the danger. That means I love my body. So the next question will be: "Then why don't you love a dead body?" Suppose your wife or husband, you love, because the husband and wife is in the body, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). So I love the body because the spirit soul is there. This is right conclusion. Otherwise who is going to love a dead body? Nobody. Now if wife's husband has died, son has died, he's crying. You can say that "Why you are crying?" "Oh, my son is gone, my husband is gone." "Nobody gone. It is lying here." "No, no, no. He's not." So after death we understand that this dead body is neither my husband nor my son. Late experience.
This transaction is going on in the body of Maha-Viṣṇu. The material world is being created and annihilated. When there is exhaling, the universes are coming into existence; when there is inhaling, it is all finished. This material world is like that. It is not permanent. Everyone got such experience. Your body, it has a beginning at a certain date from your father and mother. It stays for some time, it develops, it gives some by-products, then it becomes old and you finish. This is material body. Everybody knows it.
Actually, happiness is not there in the body, nor in the mind. Read happiness is in the spirit. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam (BG 6.21). The real, the ultimate happiness is that which is beyond this material senses. Ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya. Atīndriya means—indriya means the senses—transcendental to the senses. That means that spiritual. There are many instructions and practical also.
The soul is there in the body; therefore the body is changing or developing. From a small body in the womb of mother, we have developed so big. So it is developing on account of the presence of the soul. This change of body is within the experience of everyone. You can very easily remember that you had a childhood body, very small, and now you have got a bigger body. Therefore, although the body is changing, you are the same. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, when ultimately we change this body and accept another body, so there is no question of being, how to say, struck with wonder.
As soon as there is creation... Brahmā was created and he was given the Vedic knowledge. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. We get it. Brahmā was born. He was to establish the kingdom of God or, as Brahmā was born, the other living entities also were in the body of Garbhodakaśayī Viṣṇu. They were also to take birth later on. And before their birth, Brahmā was instructed Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge means these bewildered living entities struggling for existence may get Vedic knowledge so that they can revive their old, original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the purpose of Vedic knowledge.
A dead child never grows, but a living child grows or changes body. So where is the difficulty to understand that there is something in the body, therefore the body is changing? Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā (BG 2.13). A child is becoming a baby, baby is becoming a boy, a boy is becoming a young man, young man is becoming a middle aged, a middle-aged man is becoming old man, so the old man, now, after giving up when it is useless, this body, no more workable, then he must get another body, as we have experienced after one stage of life another stage, another body. Where is the difficulty? Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, dhīras tatra na muhyati. Those who are intelligent, they are not, I mean to say, bewildered. They accept, "Yes, there is." Only the rascals, they cannot understand, the rascals. The opposite number of dhīra, the crazy rascals, they cannot understand. Simple thing.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So the Kāraṇābdhiśāyī Viṣṇu another name is ajāṇḍa aṅghāśrayanda. His whole body is producing universes. Ajāṇḍa-saṅghāśraya. Saṅghāśraya means aggregate, congregation. Just like we have got holes on the body, pores in the body. So we do not know even how many pores are there in my body, but it is a fact. We cannot, even in a localized head, we cannot count how many pores are there from which the hairs are coming. Is it possible to count? And how many pores are there in our body? This is a little body. And just imagine Mahā-Viṣṇu. Therefore His name is Mahā-Viṣṇu. From His pores of the body, the universes are coming.
Just imagine, if you were put in airtight bag at the present moment, within three seconds you will die. You cannot live without air, even for three seconds. This is our position. And by māyā's arrangement, we have to remain at least for ten months within the airtight bag, embryo, within the abdomen of our mother. So if we cannot live for even three seconds without air, how it was possible to remain in that airtight bag for ten months? That is also Kṛṣṇa's mercy, to allow us to develop the body, so that coming out of the mother's womb we can live independently. To make us strong in the body. But the māyā is so strong that even within that position, the mother is also killing the child. This is Kali-yuga.
Just like there is a form in the body, but when that spirit is passing from this body, we cannot see. A medical man cannot see because he hasn't the eyes to see. But it is not that a jīvātmā is formless. No. He hasn't got the eyes to see. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Just like I am seeing you, you are seeing me. But what I am seeing? I am seeing your body, shirt and coat. You are seeing my shirt and coat. But when I pass away from this body or you pass away from this body, neither I can see you, neither you can see me.
Then there will be analysis of the body, where is that "I"? Everyone knows "my," but who knows "I"? That is education. That is being submitted by Sanātana Gosvāmī. Ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya. So tāpa-traya means three kinds of miserable condition: ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika. Ādhyātmika means pertaining to the body and mind. Sometimes we are feeling some ailments in the body-mind is not in good order. This is called ādhyātmika. And ādhibhautika. Ādhibhautika means miseries inflicted by other living entities.
The intellectual persons are considered the mouth of the Supreme Lord. And the next, the administrators, or the protector class of men... Not administrators; practically protector... Kṣatriya means protector. Protector class of men, they are considered to be the arms of the Supreme Lord. And the productive class of men, they are considered as the waist of the Supreme Lord. And the laborer class of men, they are considered to be the legs of the Supreme Lord. So anyone in this society, or in this human society or material world, they must have some situation. There is some positive position of everyone in the body of the Supreme Lord.
One who does not serve according to his position, then sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ, he falls down from that position, and this falldown is this material body. It is very nice example. We have got a particular position in the body of the Supreme Lord. Just consider the viśva-mūrti, the gigantic universal form of the Lord. And we are situated in different parts of the body of the Supreme Lord. So as parts and parcels of the body, we have got particular duty.
So we should not make progress in the negative way, leaving aside... Just like you do not know what you are. You are studying this body. If I do not find out who is the proprietor of the body, who is sitting in the body so that this body is so nice, fresh, and walking and moving... That you do not find. But you simply... You're studying, what is called? Physiological condition, anatomical condition, and metabolism, this or that. There are so many big, big names. But real, the proprietor of the body... The doctors are sitting, analyzing. But as soon as the soul passes, they cannot explain what happened, what happened to this meta..., I mean to say, anatomy and physiology. They stand fools. So this is going on.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
Take for example your body, my body. What is the important thing in the body? The soul. Without the soul, you may be very big man, even Napoleon Bonaparte, but as soon as the soul is gone, it is useless. The whole world is useless. Anyone can understand. Where is now Napoleon Bonaparte who struggled so much for glorifying France. But where is that gentleman? Finished. As soon as the soul is gone... You may keep one statue, dead statue, that is another thing. But you do not know where the soul has gone and what he is doing now.
General Lectures
We are very much serious about the nonpermanent things, the body which will not exist, which will be vanquished after certain period of years, but we do not take care of the eternal consciousness, which is changing from one body to another. This is the defect of the modern civilization. And so long we are unaware of the presence of the spirit soul in the body, so long we do not inquire what is the spirit soul, so long our all activities are simply wasting our time. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that parābhavas tāvad abhodha-jātaḥ. The foolish person or the foolish living entity... Anyone who has accepted this temporary body is understood to be foolish.
This body will go; another body will come. Medical science also says that every second we are changing blood corpuscles, and therefore change in the body is going on. So you say or I say that "Body is growing," but in the Vedic language it is said that "Body is changing." Just like a child is born so small from the mother's womb, and it changes body every second. Then he becomes a young child or a boy, then young man, then old man like me, and so on. In this way this changing, body changing, is going on. And the final change is called death.
So have you seen that thing? You have seen your father, you have seen your mother or you have seen your son. But have you seen the real father who is within the body of the father? Have you seen the real son which is in the body of the son? No. Then your whole conception of education, your whole conception of living condition and problems—in the false world. Therefore this movement is required at the present moment in the world. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). This will cleanse the status of your mental condition. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam.
Paṇḍitāḥ means those who are learned, they are not affected by this body, either dead or alive. So that means one should be inquisitive to learn about the soul which is sitting in the body. That is real knowledge.
So we are trying simply to taste the same water in different pots, sometimes in the pot of the body of a dog, sometimes in the pots of the body of a hog and sometimes in the pot, in the body of a human being. So this taste is common for everyone. The human developed consciousness is meant for something else, not for tasting these things—eating, sleeping, sex life and defending. That developed consciousness is meant for understanding what is God. But in the modern civilization that higher developed consciousness is being utilized for changing the pot.
Philosophy Discussions
Śyāmasundara: His idea is that the body has a monad and the soul has a monad. They are two different monads.
Prabhupāda: The body is a combination at atoms. If Kṛṣṇa is within the atoms, the monads of the atoms and the monad in the body are different.
Śyāmasundara: So that although the monad of the body is acting...
Prabhupāda: What is the meaning of monad?
Śyāmasundara: The only meaning I know is that it means unity or oneness. A small particle of unity or oneness.
Prabhupāda: That is Supersoul. Supersoul, although it appears many, innumerable, it is one. Ekatvam anupaśyataḥ (Iso 7). That is Īśopaniṣad. Although we find there are many Supersouls, but there is one. Yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra, in the Bhagavad-gītā, "One who sees in Me everything, and sees everything in Me, he is really seeing." That is oneness. That means they have no clear idea, but trying to theorize something. Clear idea is in the Vedic literature.
Prabhupāda: Ghost, he is already in the body.
Hayagrīva: Oh, uh huh, the subtle body.
Prabhupāda: The subtle body.
Hayagrīva: He further writes, "God alone is wholly without body."
Prabhupāda: Yes. He has no material body. He does not transmigrate.
Hayagrīva: He didn't...
Prabhupāda: Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritāḥ: (BG 9.11) "The rascals, they think, because I am just like a human being, they think I am another human being." He is not human being; He is the Supreme Person. And when He said that "I remember," this is also another proof, that "I spoke to the sun-god millions of years ago." Because He remembers, that means He does not change His body. Just like we can remember of this body so many things, so long as..., but we do not remember what I was in the past life because the body has changed. And Kṛṣṇa remembers because His body has not changed. He is in the same body.
Śyāmasundara: He says we have to know what conditions are required to show that it is true and then satisfy those conditions. So one condition you say is that as soon as the body dies, then there is no more movement. But what is there to prove that the soul has left the body or that there was ever a soul in the body?
Prabhupāda: That is the proof. Because the soul takes shelter into the womb of the mother, the father injects the soul—that is the statement of the śāstras—in the womb of the mother, and the mother gives shelter. So the body develops from the womb of the mother. There is conception, pregnancy. That is the proof.
Prabhupāda: Consciousness is there, consciousness is always there. As far as there is soul, there is consciousness. But this consciousness is colored. Just like generally water is transparent, but if you mix with color, it becomes reddish. Just like rain falls from the sky, it is distilled water, pure water, but as soon as it touches the earth it becomes muddy. Similarly, the soul is pure consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when it comes in contamination with the three modes of material nature, it becomes a different color. So at that time they fight, "I am Hindu, you are Mussulman," or "You are Christian," "I am (indistinct)" "I am white," "You are black," because he has been contaminated by different colors of the material modes of nature. He is identifying with that colorful position in the body. This is ignorance.
Hayagrīva: The life sequence is interrupted by different reincarnations, but it's not certain whether or not personality survives. There may only continuity of karma.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Personal, personality is there. Suppose a man rebukes a dog. So the dog also responses. Even a small ant, it is going to certain direction, if you check it, it will protest. So personality is there always, either in the body of human being, cats, dogs, even an ant. So the bodily changes do not affect the personality, but one identifies himself according to the body. When a soul is within the, a body of a dog, he thinks in that bodily conception, "I am dog, I have my duty." In the human society also. When one is born in America, he thinks, "I am American, and my duty is like this, my duty is like this, I am..." So this, according to the body the personality manifests, but personality is there.
Prabhupāda: That is Vedic conception. The soul, he, as he is, he is part and parcel of God, but he is imprisoned in different types of body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that "I am the seed-giving father of all different forms of life, and the mother, material nature is the mother." That is actually very logical. Through the matter different varieties of living entities are coming out. From water, from earth, from air, even from fire, ether, everywhere, sarva-gataḥ, life, living entities are visible. Therefore the combination of five elements—earth, water, fire, air—that is the body of the living entities. And the soul is the part and parcel of the Supreme, and the souls are impregnated within this material world by God, and they come out through the womb of the mother, nature or individual mother, whatever you say. The soul is coming out of matter but it is not matter. The living entities, part and parcel of God, assuming different types of body, either you say according to pious or impious activities, or according to his pious and impious desires. Vāsanāḥ. So the desire actually is the cause of higher and lower grades of body, but the soul is the same. Therefore those who are advanced in spiritual consciousness, they see the same soul in, in each and every body. Either in the body of a dog or in the body of a brāhmaṇa, the same soul is existing, but according to different desires and karma one gets a different types of body.
Prabhupāda: If you take authority of the Vedic śās..., very, very minute, one ten-thousandth part of the top of the hair, a very small particle that we cannot find it where it is in the body. It is very small. So with your material eyes and material instruments it can not be found. We are missing. But this thing is there, we get information from the śāstra. Therefore the life is going on, it is so powerful. Just like the sun is ninety-three million miles away, but it is keeping the whole universe illuminated. Similarly, although the soul is very, very small particle, it is keeping this body alive, fresh.
Prabhupāda: That is also not. He is not separated. He is, brahman and ātmān, they are existing, co-existing, and that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā in the chapter "Kṣetra and Kṣetrajña." The body is the field, and the ātmā, individual soul, is the owner of the field or the worker in the field. So it is also said there is another owner, kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ vidhi. As the individual is working in the body, similarly, there is another soul working in the body. So what is the difference between the two? The two is different that the individual soul knows only about his own body, but the other soul, Supersoul, He knows everything of every body. That is the difference. I know the pains and pleasure of my body. I do not know the pains and pleasure of your body. But this Supersoul, He knows the pains and pleasure of this body, of that body, of millions and millions of bodies. That is the difference between the two souls. But the two souls are there. One is called Supersoul, paramātmā, and the individual soul is called ātmā. So ātmā and paramātmā are there. The difference between them is that ātmā knows about his own body and the paramātmā knows everything of all bodies. That is the difference.
Hayagrīva: His understanding was the understanding of the Sankarites, that the ātmā is imprisoned in the body. When the man is enlightened and sees apparent reality as mere illusion, the bubble of illusion will burst, and the freed individual ātmān will lose itself in the universal brahman.
Purports to Songs
The body's supposed to be conducted by three elements, kapha pitta vāyu, cold, and bile, and air. So when these three elements work simultaneously, there is no disease in the body, but, as soon as there is overlapping disruption of these three elements, the body becomes diseased. And when it is not possible to bring them again in their regulative principle, a man dies. That is the verdict of Āyurveda śāstra. So death takes place when these three elements become overlapped with one another. And the symptom is that there is a sound on the throat which is called: garhh, garhh. That means the patient cannot speak. The throat is choked up and he becomes suffocated and dies. So this is the last stage, symptom of his body.
He has sung the songs in simple Bengali language, but the purport and the deep meaning of the song is very significant. He says: gaurāṅga bolite habe pulaka-śarīra. This is the perfection of chanting, that as soon as we chant or take the name of Lord Gaurāṅga, who initiated the Saṅkīrtana Movement, at once there will be a shivering in the body. So it is not to be imitated. But Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is recommending when that opportune moment will come to us, that as soon as we shall chant Lord Gaurāṅga's name, there will shivering in the body. And, after the shivering, hari hari bolite nayane ba'be nīr, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa there will be tears in the eyes. Then again he says āra kabe nitāicand koruṇā karibe. We are all asking about the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. Nityānanda is supposed to be the original spiritual master.
So we have to follow the footprints of Lord Caitanya. And Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura teaches that "First of all, try to chant the name of Gaursundara." Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. In this way, when we are a little bit attached with Gaurasundara, Lord Caitanya, then we automatically feel transcendental emotion. And that emotional stage is exhibited by shivering in the body. We should not, however, imitate such shivering to show to the public that "I have become a great devotee," but we should execute devotional service nicely and faithfully.; then that stage will come automatically, shivering. As soon as one will chant the name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, there will be shivering. This is the first symptom that one is getting advanced in the perfectional stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
| Page Title: | In the body (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 21 of Sep, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=79, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 79 |