Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that this is the condition, suffering condition of the living entity, and he can be rescued by the mercy of sādhu, saintly persons, the scriptures and the spiritual master. They are prepared to bestow their mercy upon everyone, provided people like to take their instruction and mercy. That is the solution.
And in the Bhagavad-gītā the same thing is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter: daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14).
The influx of the disturbances created by this material nature under different forms is very stringent. So anyone who wants to be rescued from these miseries, he should surrender unto the Supreme Lord. Mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te.
This māyā has got two kinds of influence: prakṣepātmikā, āvaraṇātmikā. Āvaraṇātmikā means we are already covered by the illusion. Although we are suffering in every step, we are thinking that we are happy. Just, just the day before yesterday the lady, she said that "Oh, the temperature was so high that I could not tolerate it. I could not . . ." The next moment she said, "Oh, I don't feeling any, any unhappiness." This is called prakṣepātmikā.
First things is that I am so much illusioned that I . . . just like the animals. They are suffering so much, but they have no knowledge that they are suffering. But human being, who are above them, they can understand that what sort of suffering there is. Animal, he's, he's being taken to the slaughterhouse, but it does not know, due to ignorance. So this is called āvaraṇātmikā, covering influence of the material nature. And there is another influence. Suppose one is trying to come out of the covering. Prakṣepātmikā. It throws: "Oh, why you are trying for this? You are very happy. Why do you think . . . why you are so much pessimistic of this life? Just work hard and enjoy life. That's all."
So these things are going on. Actually, we are suffering and we are in dangerous position step by step. But by the influence of this material, external energy, we are covered, illusioned. We are thinking, "Yes, I am very happy." And if somebody tries to come out of it, then he is also advised by the material nature, "Oh, why you are doing all this nonsense? You are very happy."
Yavaj jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet. The atheistic theory . . . the atheist . . . nowadays there are atheist, not that . . . atheist class of men there are always. Maybe number of the atheist are now greater than before, but there was great atheist in India. There are six kinds of philosophical theses. Out of those, atheism is also one of them. So that atheism . . . Cārvāka Muni. He was, Cārvāka, the leader of the atheists. His theory was that ṛṇaṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ pibet: "Just beg, borrow or steal. You must eat butter. Never mind." Ṛṇaṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ pibet, yāvan jīvet sukhaṁ jīvet: "So long you shall live, you must live very comfortably." Then one may say, "Oh, beg, borrow, steal, and who will suffer the sins? If I borrow, if I cannot pay? If I commit sins? If I commit burglary? Oh."
The Cāṇakya . . . the Cārvāka Muni replied, bhasmī-bhūtasya dehasya kutaḥ punar-āgamano bhavet: "Well, when your body will be burnt into ashes, who is coming here and who is going to be responsible? Don't think all this."
So this is atheistic theory. They don't believe that there is transmigration of the soul. He has to take another body and he has to take body according to his work, and there are 8,400,000's of different kinds of bodies, and human body is the most benefactory. So they do not know all these things. So this is called āvaraṇātmikā, covering influence.
So covering influence and throwing influence. Out of these two influences, one can come out if he agrees to surrender unto the Supreme Lord. Otherwise there is no other way. He'll be . . . he'll be always covered or be thrown again.
- daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
- mama māyā duratyayā
- mām eva ye prapadyante
- māyām etāṁ taranti te
- (BG 7.14)
Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, "Anyone who surrenders unto Me fully, he, he alone can get rid of these two kinds of influence of māyā. Others cannot."
- māyā-mugdha jīvera nāhi svataḥ kṛṣṇa-jñāna
- jīvere kṛpāya kailā kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa
- (CC Madhya 20.122)
These, I mean to say, illusioned, māyā-mugdha, illusioned living entity, they have forgotten. They have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord. Mostly: "Oh, what is God?" Somebody says, "God is dead." So these things are going on. Not now; now the number has increased. It is always. So long the world is there, the material world is there, this sort of thing is going on. So māyā-mugdha, illusioned by this external energy, they have no memory that how they are connected with the Supreme Lord. They have no memory. They have forgotten. That there is something like God, altogether they have forgotten by the illusion. Yes.
Māyā-mugdha jīvera nāhi kṛṣṇa smṛti-jñāna. And just to revive their memory, Kṛṣṇa . . . jīvere kṛpāya kaila kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa. Veda-purāṇa. Veda means the Vedic literatures. Veda, real literal meaning is, veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jñāne. There is a Sanskrit root, vid-dhātu. From that vid-dhātu, veda. Veda means knowledge. And purāṇa, purāṇa means supplementary; Vedic instruction described in story form. That is called purāṇa, story. This Bhāgavata is also one of the Mahā-purāṇa. Mahā-purāṇa means the science of Kṛṣṇa is described in story form. This is called purāṇa. People better understands in stories, in history.
So Lord Caitanya says: "Because people in general, by the influence of the illusory energy, they have forgotten their eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, therefore the Lord Himself, as Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa . . ." Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa is considered to be a powerful incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Unless he was a, he was an incarnation, it was not possible to write so many books. There are eighteen Purāṇas and four Vedas and 108 Upaniṣads, and Vedānta, then Mahābhārata, then Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Each of them contains thousands and thousands and millions of verses. So we cannot imagine that a man can write in that way. You see?
So Veda-vyāsa is considered to be incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, and he was very powerful in writing. In the Mahābhārata itself is so many, so big book. And there are . . . each Purāṇa contains thousands and thousands of verses. So these are his gifts. So Kṛṣṇa, means Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa, he . . . because sādhu, sādhu, those who are saintly persons, they're always thinking of the miseries of the people in general. They are not meditating for their own purpose. They are writing books. They are thinking how to establish them in such a way so that they can properly utilize the human form of life. That is their business, sādhu. Sādhu means that they are always compassionate with the sufferings of the people in general. That is sādhu. Because they are devotees.
The Lord comes . . . Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7).
Whenever there is . . . the nature's law is so stringent that if you violate a little, then you have to suffer. There is no mercy. There is no mercy. So as you go on violating the laws of nature, the nature law is so made that the nature is giving you chance to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the whole program. And as soon as you deviate from that law, then you are put into trouble. So we are passing in that way.
So the sādhu and the pious and the devotees of the Lord, out of their compassion, they write books what they have heard in the disciplic succession. They do not manufacture. These Vedas, what is written by Vyāsadeva, you don't think that he has manufactured something. No. Formerly, the Vedic knowledge was simply spoken by the spiritual master, and the disciple simply heard it. Therefore the Veda is known as śruti. There was no need of books. They were so, I mean to say, their memory was so sharp that once heard, they can remember, they could remember. The life was so nice that . . .
In the advancement of Kali-yuga, as I have several times described, that this memory will be decreased. People will be less, less memorious. Their memory will be very shortened. They'll forget. Just like the lady was angry. At once forgets. One moment she says that "Oh, it was terrible heat," and next moment says, "Oh, I don't feel any unhappiness." So that is forgetfulness. So memory will be so short that people will forget. Just like the animals: they forget. There is no memory. In some of the animals there is no mind. That is also analyzed in the Bhagavad-gītā, er, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So memory shortened. Shortened.
So just to give us remembrance again, the books are . . . Vyāsadeva, he wrote those Vedic tradition into books. Vyāsadeva is the first man who wrote this Vedic knowledge into writing. Before that, there was no writing. Only by hearing, by memory, the students will grasp the whole thing, and coming down, tradition, tradition. Yes. Śruti, by hearing. So, jīvere kṛpāya kaila kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa.