PART 2
TEXTS 34–36
The order carriers of Yamarāja said: Your eyes are just like the petals of lotus flowers. Dressed in yellow silken garments, decorated with garlands of lotuses, and wearing very attractive helmets on your heads and earrings on your ears, you all appear fresh and youthful.
Your four long arms are decorated with bows and quivers of arrows and with swords, clubs, conchshells, discs and lotus flowers. Your effulgence has dissipated the darkness of this place with extraordinary illumination. Now, sirs, why are you obstructing us?
PURPORT
Before even being introduced to a foreigner, one becomes acquainted with him through his dress, bodily features and behavior and can thus understand his position. Therefore when the Yamadūtas saw the Viṣṇudūtas for the first time, they were surprised.
They said, “By your bodily features you appear to be very exalted gentlemen, and you have such celestial power that you have dissipated the darkness of this material world with your own effulgences.
Why then should you endeavor to stop us from executing our duty?” It will be explained that the Yamadūtas, the order carriers of Yamarāja, mistakenly considered Ajāmila sinful.
They did not know that although he was sinful throughout his entire life, he was purified by constantly chanting the holy name of Nārāyaṇa. In other words, unless one is a Vaiṣṇava, one cannot understand the activities of a Vaiṣṇava.
The dress and bodily features of the residents of Vaikuṇṭhaloka are properly described in these verses. The residents of Vaikuṇṭha, who are decorated with garlands and yellow silken garments, have four arms holding various weapons. Thus they conspicuously resemble Lord Viṣṇu.
They have the same bodily features as Nārāyaṇa because they have attained the liberation of sārūpya, but they nevertheless act as servants. All the residents of Vaikuṇṭhaloka know perfectly well that their master is Nārāyaṇa, or Kṛṣṇa, and that they are all His servants.
They are all self-realized souls who are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated. Although they could conceivably declare themselves Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu, they never do so; they always remain Kṛṣṇa conscious and serve the Lord faithfully.
Such is the atmosphere of Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Similarly, one who learns the faithful service of Lord Kṛṣṇa through the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will always remain in Vaikuṇṭhaloka and have nothing to do with the material world.
TEXT 37
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Being thus addressed by the messengers of Yamarāja, the servants of Vāsudeva smiled and spoke the following words in voices as deep as the sound of rumbling clouds.
PURPORT
The Yamadūtas were surprised to see that the Viṣṇudūtas, although polite, were hindering the rule of Yamarāja. Similarly, the Viṣṇudūtas were also surprised that the Yamadūtas, although claiming to be servants of Yamarāja, the supreme judge of religious principles, were unaware of the principles of religious action. Thus the Viṣṇudūtas smiled, thinking,
“What is this nonsense they are speaking? If they are actually servants of Yamarāja they should know that Ajāmila is not a suitable candidate for them to carry off.”
TEXT 38
The blessed messengers of Lord Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇudūtas, said: If you are actually servants of Yamarāja, you must explain to us the meaning of religious principles and the symptoms of irreligion.
PURPORT
This inquiry by the Viṣṇudūtas to the Yamadūtas is most important. A servant must know the instructions of his master.
The servants of Yamarāja claimed to be carrying out his orders, and therefore the Viṣṇudūtas very intelligently asked them to explain the symptoms of religious and irreligious principles.
A Vaiṣṇava knows these principles perfectly well because he is well acquainted with the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Lord says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: [Bg. 18.66]
“Give up all other varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.”
Therefore surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the actual principle of religion.
Those who have surrendered to the principles of material nature instead of to Kṛṣṇa are all impious, regardless of their material position.
Unaware of the principles of religion, they do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa, and therefore they are considered sinful rascals, the lowest of men, and fools bereft of all knowledge.
As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.15):
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā
āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.”
One who has not surrendered to Kṛṣṇa does not know the true principle of religion; otherwise he would have surrendered.
The question posed by the Viṣṇudūtas was very suitable. One who represents someone else must fully know that person’s mission.
The devotees in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must therefore be fully aware of the mission of Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya; otherwise they will be considered foolish.
All devotees, especially preachers, must know the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness so as not to be embarrassed and insulted when they preach.
TEXT 39
What is the process of punishing others? Who are the actual candidates for punishment? Are all karmīs engaged in fruitive activities punishable, or only some of them?
PURPORT
One who has the power to punish others should not punish everyone. There are innumerable living entities, the majority of whom are in the spiritual world and are nitya-mukta, everlastingly liberated.
There is no question of judging these liberated living beings. Only a small fraction of the living entities, perhaps one fourth, are in the material world.
And the major portion of the living entities in the material world—8,000,000 of the 8,400,000 forms of life—are lower than human beings. They are not punishable, for under the laws of material nature they are automatically evolving.
Human beings, who are advanced in consciousness, are responsible, but not all of them are punishable. Those engaged in advanced pious activities are beyond punishment.
Only those who engage in sinful activities are punishable. Therefore the Viṣṇudūtas particularly inquired about who is punishable and why Yamarāja has been designated to discriminate between who is punishable and who is not.
How is one to be judged? What is the basic principle of authority? These are the questions raised by the Viṣṇudūtas.
TEXT 40
The Yamadūtas replied: That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, the religious principles, and the opposite of that is irreligion.
The Vedas are directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamarāja.
PURPORT
The servants of Yamarāja replied quite properly. They did not manufacture principles of religion or irreligion. Instead, they explained what they had heard from the authority Yamarāja.
Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ: one should follow the mahājana, the authorized person. Yamarāja is one of twelve authorities. Therefore the servants of Yamarāja, the Yamadūtas, replied with perfect clarity when they said śuśruma (“we have heard”).
The members of modern civilization manufacture defective religious principles through speculative concoction. This is not dharma. They do not know what is dharma and what is adharma.
Therefore, as stated in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra: [SB 1.1.2] dharma not supported by the Vedas is rejected from śrīmad-bhāgavata-dharma.
Bhāgavata-dharma comprises only that which is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhāgavata-dharma is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: [Bg. 18.66] one must accept the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and surrender to Him and whatever He says.
That is dharma. Arjuna, for example, thinking that violence was adharma, was declining to fight, but Kṛṣṇa urged him to fight.
Arjuna abided by the orders of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore he is actually a dharmī because the order of Kṛṣṇa is dharma.
Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: “The real purpose of veda, knowledge, is to know Me.” One who knows Kṛṣṇa perfectly is liberated. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”
One who understands Kṛṣṇa and abides by His order is a candidate for returning home, back to Godhead. It may be concluded that dharma, religion, refers to that which is ordered in the Vedas, and adharma, irreligion, refers to that which is not supported in the Vedas.
Dharma is not actually manufactured by Nārāyaṇa. As stated in the Vedas, asya mahato bhūtasya niśvasitam etad yad ṛg-vedaḥ iti: the injunctions of dharma emanate from the breathing of Nārāyaṇa, the supreme living entity.
Nārāyaṇa exists eternally and breathes eternally, and therefore dharma, the injunctions of Nārāyaṇa, also exist eternally. Śrīla Madhvācārya, the original ācārya for those who belong to the Mādhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya, says:
vedānāṁ prathamo vaktā
harir eva yato vibhuḥ
ato viṣṇv-ātmakā vedā
ity āhur veda-vādinaḥ
The transcendental words of the Vedas emanated from the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Vedic principles should be understood to be Vaiṣṇava principles because Viṣṇu is the origin of the Vedas.
The Vedas contain nothing besides the instructions of Viṣṇu, and one who follows the Vedic principles is a Vaiṣṇava. The Vaiṣṇava is not a member of a manufactured community of this material world.
A Vaiṣṇava is a real knower of the Vedas, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg. 15.15]).
TEXT 41
The supreme cause of all causes, Nārāyaṇa, is situated in His own abode in the spiritual world, but nevertheless He controls the entire cosmic manifestation according to the three modes of material nature—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.
In this way all living entities are awarded different qualities, different names [such as brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya and vaiśya], different duties according to the varṇāśrama institution, and different forms. Thus Nārāyaṇa is the cause of the entire cosmic manifestation.
PURPORT
The Vedas inform us:
na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate
na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate
parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate
svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8)
Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is almighty, omnipotent. He has multifarious energies, and therefore He is able to remain in His own abode and without endeavor supervise and manipulate the entire cosmic manifestation through the interaction of the three modes of material nature—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa.
These interactions create different forms, bodies, activities and changes, which all occur perfectly. Because the Lord is perfect, everything works as if He were directly supervising and taking part in it.
Atheistic men, however, being covered by the three modes of material nature, cannot see Nārāyaṇa to be the supreme cause behind all activities.
As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.13):
tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
“Deluded by the three modes, the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.”
Because unintelligent agnostics are mohita, illusioned by the three modes of material nature, they cannot understand that Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, is the supreme cause of all activities.
As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1):
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
“Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes.”
TEXT 42
The sun, fire, sky, air, demigods, moon, evening, day, night, directions, water, land and Supersoul Himself all witness the activities of the living entity.
PURPORT
The members of some religious sects, especially Christians, do not believe in the reactions of karma.
We once had a discussion with a learned Christian professor who argued that although people are generally punished after the witnesses of their misdeeds are examined, where are the witnesses responsible for one’s suffering the reactions of past karma? To such a person the answer by the Yamadūtas is given here.
A conditioned soul thinks that he is working stealthily and that no one can see his sinful activities, but we can understand from the śāstras that there are many witnesses, including the sun, fire, sky, air, moon, demigods, evening, day, night, directions, water, land and the Supersoul Himself, who sits with the individual soul within his heart.
Where is the dearth of witnesses? The witnesses and the Supreme Lord both exist, and therefore so many living entities are elevated to higher planetary systems or degraded to lower planetary systems, including the hellish planets.
There are no discrepancies, for everything is arranged perfectly by the management of the Supreme God (svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca).
The witnesses mentioned in this verse are also mentioned in other Vedic literatures:
āditya-candrāv anilo ’nalaś ca
dyaur bhūmir āpo hṛdayaṁ yamaś ca
ahaś ca rātriś ca ubhe ca sandhye
dharmo ’pi jānāti narasya vṛttam
TEXT 43
The candidates for punishment are those who are confirmed by these many witnesses to have deviated from their prescribed regulative duties. Everyone engaged in fruitive activities is suitable to be subjected to punishment according to his sinful acts.
TEXT 44
O inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, you are sinless, but those within this material world are all karmīs, whether acting piously or impiously.
Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly.
One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable.
PURPORT
The difference between human beings and nonhuman beings is that a human is supposed to act according to the direction of the Vedas. Unfortunately, men manufacture their own ways of acting, without reference to the Vedas. Therefore all of them commit sinful actions and are punishable.
TEXT 45
In proportion to the extent of one’s religious or irreligious actions in this life, one must enjoy or suffer the corresponding reactions of his karma in the next.
PURPORT
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (14.18):
ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā
madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
Those who act in the mode of goodness are promoted to higher planetary systems to become demigods, those who act in an ordinary way and do not commit excessively sinful acts remain within this middle planetary system, and those who perform abominable sinful actions must go down to hellish life.
TEXT 46
O best of the demigods, we can see three different varieties of life, which are due to the contamination of the three modes of nature. The living entities are thus known as peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious and semireligious. We can deduce that in the next life these three kinds of material nature will similarly act.
PURPORT
The actions and reactions of the three modes of material nature are visible in this life. For example, some people are very happy, some are very distressed, and some are in mixed happiness and distress.
This is the result of past association with the modes of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance. Since these varieties are visible in this life, we may assume that the living entities, according to their association with the different modes of material nature, will be happy, distressed or between the two in their next lives also.
Therefore the best policy is to disassociate oneself from the three modes of material nature and be always transcendental to their contamination. This is possible only when one fully engages in the devotional service of the Lord.
As Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (14.26):
māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down under any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the spiritual platform.”
Unless one is fully absorbed in the service of the Lord, one is subject to the contamination of the three modes of material nature and must therefore suffer from distress or mixed happiness and distress.
TEXT 47
Just as springtime in the present indicates the nature of springtimes in the past and future, so this life of happiness, distress or a mixture of both gives evidence concerning the religious and irreligious activities of one’s past and future lives.
PURPORT
Our past and future are not very difficult to understand, for time is under the contamination of the three modes of material nature.
As soon as spring arrives, the usual exhibition of various types of fruits and flowers automatically becomes manifest, and therefore we may conclude that spring in the past was adorned with similar fruits and flowers and will be so adorned in the future also.
Our repetition of birth and death is taking place within time, and according to the influence of the modes of nature, we are receiving various types of bodies and being subjected to various conditions.
TEXT 48
The omnipotent Yamarāja is as good as Lord Brahmā, for while situated in his own abode or in everyone’s heart like the Paramātmā, he mentally observes the past activities of a living entity and thus understands how the living entity will act in future lives.
PURPORT
One should not consider Yamarāja an ordinary living being. He is as good as Lord Brahmā. He has the complete cooperation of the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart, and therefore, by the grace of the Supersoul, he can see the past, present and future of a living being from within.
The word anumīmāṁsate means that he can decide in consultation with the Supersoul. Anu means “following.”
The actual decisions concerning the next lives of the living entities are made by the Supersoul, and they are carried out by Yamarāja.
TEXT 49
As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams and accepts it to be himself, so one identifies with his present body, which he acquired because of his past religious or irreligious actions, and is unable to know his past or future lives.
PURPORT
A man engages in sinful activities because he does not know what he did in his past life to get his present materially conditioned body, which is subjected to the threefold miseries.
As stated by Ṛṣabhadeva in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.5.4), nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma: a human being who is mad after sense gratification does not hesitate to act sinfully.
Yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti: he performs sinful actions simply for sense gratification. Na sādhu manye: this is not good.
Yata ātmano ’yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ: because of such sinful actions, one receives another body in which to suffer as he is suffering in his present body because of his past sinful activities.
It should be understood that a person who does not have Vedic knowledge always acts in ignorance of what he has done in the past, what he is doing at the present and how he will suffer in the future. He is completely in darkness.
Therefore the Vedic injunction is, tamasi mā: “Don’t remain in darkness.” Jyotir gama: “Try to go to the light.”
The light or illumination is Vedic knowledge, which one can understand when he is elevated to the mode of goodness or when he transcends the mode of goodness by engaging in devotional service to the spiritual master and the Supreme Lord.
This is described in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23):
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
[ŚU
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
“Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23)
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ
“No one can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.234)
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti
yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ
tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā
viśate tad-anantaram
“One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” (Bg. 18.55)
These are Vedic instructions.
One must have full faith in the words of the spiritual master and similar faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then the real knowledge of ātmā and Paramātmā and the distinction between matter and spirit will be automatically revealed.
This ātma-tattva, or spiritual knowledge, will be revealed within the core of a devotee’s heart because of his having taken shelter of the lotus feet of a mahājana such as Prahlāda Mahārāja.6.23]
“Unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of Vedic knowledge are automatically revealed.”
The Vedas enjoin, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: [MU
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham
“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.” [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12]
One must approach a spiritual master who has full knowledge of the Vedas and be faithfully directed by him in order to become a devotee of the Lord.
Then the knowledge of the Vedas will be revealed. When the Vedic knowledge is revealed, one need no longer remain in the darkness of material nature.
According to his association with the material modes of nature—goodness, passion and ignorance—a living entity gets a particular type of body.
The example of one who associates with the mode of goodness is a qualified brāhmaṇa.
Such a brāhmaṇa knows past, present and future because he consults the Vedic literature and sees through the eyes of śāstra (śāstra-cakṣuḥ).
He can understand what his past life was, why be is in the present body, and how he can obtain liberation from the clutches of māyā and not accept another material body.
This is all possible when one is situated in the mode of goodness. Generally, however, the living entities are engrossed in the modes of passion and ignorance.
In any case, one receives an inferior or superior body at the discretion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramātmā. As stated in the previous verse:
manasaiva pure devaḥ
pūrva-rūpaṁ vipaśyati
anumīmāṁsate ’pūrvaṁ
manasā bhagavān ajaḥ
Everything depends on bhagavān, or ajaḥ, the unborn. Why doesn’t one please Bhagavān to receive a better body?
The answer is ajñas tamasā: because of gross ignorance. One who is in complete darkness cannot know what his past life was or what his next life will be; he is simply interested in his present body.
Even though he has a human body, a person in the mode of ignorance and interested only in his present body is like an animal, for an animal, being covered by ignorance, thinks that the ultimate goal of life and happiness is to eat as much as possible.
A human being must be educated to understand his past life and how he can endeavor for a better life in the future.
There is even a book, called Bhṛgu-saṁhitā, which reveals information about one’s past, present and future lives according to astrological calculations. Somehow or other one must be enlightened about his past, present and future.
One who is interested only in his present body and who tries to enjoy his senses to the fullest extent is understood to be engrossed in the mode of ignorance. His future is very, very dark. Indeed, the future is always dark for one who is grossly covered by ignorance.
Especially in this age, human society is covered by the mode of ignorance, and therefore everyone thinks his present body to be everything, without consideration of the past or future.
TEXT 50
Above the five senses of perception, the five working senses and the five objects of the senses is the mind, which is the sixteenth element.
Above the mind is the seventeenth element, the soul, the living being himself, who, in cooperation with the other sixteen, enjoys the material world alone. The living being enjoys three kinds of situations, namely happy, distressful and mixed.
PURPORT
Everyone engages in work with his hands, legs and other senses just to achieve a certain goal according to his concocted ideas. One tries to enjoy the five sense objects, namely form, sound, taste, aroma and touch, not knowing the actual goal of life, which is to satisfy the Supreme Lord.
Because of disobeying the Supreme Lord, one is put into material conditions, and he then tries to improve his situation in a concocted way, not desiring to follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Lord is so kind that He comes Himself to instruct the bewildered living entity how to act obediently and then gradually return home, back to Godhead, where he can attain an eternal, peaceful life of bliss and knowledge.
The living entity has a body, which is a very complicated combination of the material elements, and with this body he struggles alone, as indicated in this verse by the words ekas tu. For example, if one is struggling in the ocean, he must swim through it alone.
Although many other men and aquatics are swimming in the ocean, he must take care of himself because no one else will help him.
Therefore this verse indicates that the seventeenth item, the soul, must work alone. Although he tries to create society, friendship and love, no one will be able to help him but Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord.
Therefore his only concern should be how to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. That is also what Kṛṣṇa wants (sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66]).
People bewildered by material conditions try to be united, but although they strive for unity among men and nations, all their attempts are futile.
Everyone must struggle alone for existence with the many elements of nature.
Therefore one’s only hope, as Kṛṣṇa advises, is to surrender to Him, for He can help one become free from the ocean of nescience. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore prayed:
ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya
“O Kṛṣṇa, beloved son of Nanda Mahārāja, I am Your eternal servant, but somehow or other I have fallen into this ocean of nescience, and although I am struggling very hard, there is no way I can save myself. If You kindly pick me up and fix me as one of the particles of dust at Your lotus feet, that will save me.”
In a similar way, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sang:
anādi karama-phale, paḍi’ bhavārṇava-jale,
taribāre nā dekhi upāya
“My dear Lord, I cannot remember when I somehow or other fell into this ocean of nescience, and now I can find no way to rescue myself.”
We should remember that everyone is responsible for his own life. If an individual becomes a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he is then delivered from the ocean of nescience.
TEXT 51
The subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts—the five knowledge-acquiring senses, the five working senses, the five objects of sense gratification, and the mind.
This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature. It is composed of insurmountably strong desires, and therefore it causes the living entity to transmigrate from one body to another in human life, animal life and life as a demigod.
When the living entity gets the body of a demigod, he is certainly very jubilant, when he gets a human body he is always in lamentation, and when he gets the body of an animal, he is always afraid.
In all conditions, however, he is actually miserable. His miserable condition is called saṁsṛti, or transmigration in material life.
PURPORT
The sum and substance of material conditional life is explained in this verse. The living entity, the seventeenth element, is struggling alone, life after life.
This struggle is called saṁsṛti, or material conditional life. In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that the force of material nature is insurmountably strong (daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā).
Material nature harasses the living entity in different bodies, but if the living entity surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he becomes free from this entanglement, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te [Bg. 7.14]). Thus his life becomes successful.
TEXT 52
The foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind, is forced to act according to the influence of the modes of material nature, against his desires.
He is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then becomes trapped in it, with no possibility of getting out.
The living entity traps himself in a network of his own fruitive activities and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered, and repeatedly he dies.
PURPORT
As already explained, the influence of the modes of nature is very strong. The living entity entangled in different types of fruitive activity is like a silkworm trapped in a cocoon. Getting free is very difficult unless he is helped by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 53
Not a single living entity can remain unengaged even for a moment. One must act by his natural tendency according to the three modes of material nature because this natural tendency forcibly makes him work in a particular way.
PURPORT
The svābhāvika, or one’s natural tendency, is the most important factor in action. One’s natural tendency is to serve because a living entity is an eternal servant of God.
The living entity wants to serve, but because of his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Lord, he serves under the modes of material nature and manufactures various modes of service, such as socialism, humanitarianism and altruism.
However, one should be enlightened in the tenets of Bhagavad-gītā and accept the instruction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that one give up all natural tendencies for material service under different names and take to the service of the Lord.
One’s original natural tendency is to act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because one’s real nature is spiritual. The duty of a human being is to understand that since he is essentially spirit, he must abide by the spiritual tendency and not be carried away by material tendencies.
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has therefore sung:
(miche) māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese’,
khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi
“My dear brothers, you are being carried away by the waves of material energy and are suffering in many miserable conditions.
Sometimes you are drowning in the waves of material nature, and sometimes you are tossed like a swimmer struggling in the ocean.”
As confirmed by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, this tendency to be battered by the waves of māyā can be changed to one’s original, natural tendency, which is spiritual, when the living entity comes to understand that he is eternally kṛṣṇa-dāsa, a servant of God, Kṛṣṇa.
(jīva) kṛṣṇa-dāsa, ei viśvāsa,
karle ta’ āra duḥkha nāi
If instead of serving māyā under different names, one turns his service attitude toward the Supreme Lord, he is then safe, and there is no more difficulty.
If one returns to his original, natural tendency in the human form of life by understanding the perfect knowledge given by Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Vedic literature, one’s life is successful.
TEXT 54
The fruitive activities a living being performs, whether pious or impious, are the unseen cause for the fulfillment of his desires. This unseen cause is the root for the living entity’s different bodies.
Because of his intense desire, the living entity takes birth in a particular family and receives a body which is either like that of his mother or like that of his father. The gross and subtle bodies are created according to his desire.
PURPORT
The gross body is a product of the subtle body. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (8.6):
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.”
The atmosphere of the subtle body at the time of death is created by the activities of the gross body. Thus the gross body acts during one’s lifetime, and the subtle body acts at the time of death.
The subtle body, which is called liṅga, the body of desire, is the background for the development of a particular type of gross body, which is either like that of one’s mother or like that of one’s father.
According to the Ṛg Veda, if at the time of sex the secretions of the mother are more profuse than those of the father, the child will receive a female body, and if the secretions of the father are more profuse than those of the mother, the child will receive a male body.
These are the subtle laws of nature, which act according to the desire of the living entity.
If a human being is taught to change his subtle body by developing a consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, at the time of death the subtle body will create a gross body in which he will be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, or if he is still more perfect, he will not take another material body but will immediately get a spiritual body and thus return home, back to Godhead.
This is the process of the transmigration of the soul.
Therefore instead of trying to unite human society through pacts for sense gratification that can never be achieved, it is clearly desirable to teach people how to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and return home, back to Godhead. This is true now and, indeed, at any time.
TEXT 55
Since the living entity is associated with material nature, he is in an awkward position, but if in the human form of life he is taught how to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, this position can be overcome.
PURPORT
The word prakṛti means material nature, and puruṣa may also refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
If one wants to continue his association with prakṛti, the female energy of Kṛṣṇa, and be separated from Kṛṣṇa by the illusion that he is able to enjoy prakṛti, he must continue in his conditional life.
If he changes his consciousness, however, and associates with the supreme, original person (puruṣaṁ śāśvatam), or with His associates, he can get out of the entanglement of material nature.
As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9), janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ: one must simply understand the Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, in terms of His form, name, activities and pastimes. This will keep one always in the association of Kṛṣṇa.
Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so’rjuna: [Bg. 4.9] thus after giving up his gross material body, one accepts not another gross body but a spiritual body in which to return home, back to Godhead. Thus one ends the tribulation caused by his association with the material energy.
In summary, the living entity is an eternal servant of God, but he comes to the material world and is bound by material conditions because of his desire to lord it over matter.
Liberation means giving up this false consciousness and reviving one’s original service to the Lord. This return to one’s original life is called mukti, as confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (muktir hitvānyathā rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ).
TEXTS 56–57
In the beginning this brāhmaṇa named Ajāmila studied all the Vedic literatures. He was a reservoir of good character, good conduct and good qualities.
Firmly established in executing all the Vedic injunctions, he was very mild and gentle, and he kept his mind and senses under control. Furthermore, he was always truthful, he knew how to chant the Vedic mantras, and he was also very pure.
Ajāmila was very respectful to his spiritual master, the fire-god, guests, and the elderly members of his household. Indeed, he was free from false prestige. He was upright, benevolent to all living entities, and well behaved. He would never speak nonsense or envy anyone.
PURPORT
The order carriers of Yamarāja, the Yamadūtas, are explaining the factual position of piety and impiety and how a living entity is entangled in this material world.
Describing the history of Ajāmila’s life, the Yamadūtas relate that in the beginning he was a learned scholar of the Vedic literature. He was well behaved, neat and clean, and very kind to everyone. In fact, he had all good qualities.
In other words, he was like a perfect brāhmaṇa. A brāhmaṇa is expected to be perfectly pious, to follow all the regulative principles and to have all good qualities.
The symptoms of piety are explained in these verses. Śrīla Vīrarāghava Ācārya comments that dhṛta-vrata means dhṛtaṁ vrataṁ strī-saṅga-rāhityātmaka-brahmacarya-rūpam.
In other words, Ajāmila followed the rules and regulations of celibacy as a perfect brahmacārī and was very softhearted, truthful, clean and pure.
How he fell down in spite of all these qualities and thus came to be threatened with punishment by Yamarāja will be described in the following verses.
TEXTS 58–60
Once this brāhmaṇa Ajāmila, following the order of his father, went to the forest to collect fruit, flowers and two kinds of grass, called samit and kuśa.
On the way home, he came upon a śūdra, a very lusty, fourth-class man, who was shamelessly embracing and kissing a prostitute.
The śūdra was smiling, singing and enjoying as if this were proper behavior. Both the śūdra and the prostitute were drunk. The prostitute’s eyes were rolling in intoxication, and her dress had become loose. Such was the condition in which Ajāmila saw them.
PURPORT
While traveling along the public way, Ajāmila came upon a fourth-class man and a prostitute, who are vividly described here.
Drunkenness was sometimes manifest even in bygone ages, although not very frequently. In this age of Kali, however, such sin is to be seen everywhere, for people all over the world have become shameless.
Long ago, when he saw the scene of the drunken śūdra and the prostitute, Ajāmila, who was a perfect brahmacārī, was affected.
Nowadays such sin is visible in so many places, and we must consider the position of a brahmacārī student who sees such behavior.
For such a brahmacārī to remain steady is very difficult unless he is extremely strong in following the regulative principles.
Nevertheless, if one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness very seriously, he can withstand the provocation created by sin. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we prohibit illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling.
In Kali-yuga, a drunk, half-naked woman embracing a drunk man is a very common sight, especially in the Western countries, and restraining oneself after seeing such things is very difficult.
Nevertheless, if by the grace of Kṛṣṇa one adheres to the regulative principles and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, Kṛṣṇa will certainly protect him. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa says that His devotee is never vanquished (kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati).
Therefore all the disciples practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness should obediently follow the regulative principles and remain fixed in chanting the holy name of the Lord. Then there need be no fear. Otherwise one’s position is very dangerous, especially in this Kali-yuga.
TEXT 61
The śūdra, his arm decorated with turmeric powder, was embracing the prostitute. When Ajāmila saw her, the dormant lusty desires in his heart awakened, and in illusion he fell under their control.
PURPORT
It is said that if one’s body is smeared with turmeric, it attracts the lusty desires of the opposite sex. The word kāma-liptena indicates that the śūdra was decorated with turmeric smeared on his body.
TEXT 62
As far as possible he patiently tried to remember the instructions of the śāstras not even to see a woman. With the help of this knowledge and his intellect, he tried to control his lusty desires, but because of the force of Cupid within his heart, he failed to control his mind.
PURPORT
Unless one is very strong in knowledge, patience and proper bodily, mental and intellectual behavior, controlling one’s lusty desires is extremely difficult.
Thus after seeing a man embracing a young woman and practically doing everything required for sex life, even a fully qualified brāhmaṇa, as described above, could not control his lusty desires and restrain himself from pursuing them.
Because of the force of materialistic life, to maintain self-control is extremely difficult unless one is specifically under the protection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service.
TEXT 63
In the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a low planet, the brāhmaṇa lost all his good sense. Taking advantage of this situation, he always thought of the prostitute, and within a short time he took her as a servant in his house and abandoned all the regulative principles of a brāhmaṇa.
PURPORT
By speaking this verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī wants to impress upon the mind of the reader that Ajāmila’s exalted position as a brāhmaṇa was vanquished by his association with the prostitute, so much so that he forgot all his brahminical activities.
Nevertheless, at the end of his life, by chanting the four syllables of the name Nārāyaṇa, he was saved from the gravest danger of falling down. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt: even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger.
Devotional service, which begins with chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if one falls down from the exalted position of a brāhmaṇa through sexual indulgence, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord.
This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. Therefore in Bhagavad-gītā it is advised that one not forget the chanting of the holy name even for a moment (satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg. 9.14]).
There are so many dangers in this material world that one may fall down from an exalted position at any time. Yet if one keeps himself always pure and steady by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he will be safe without a doubt.
TEXT 64
Thus Ajāmila began spending whatever money he had inherited from his father to satisfy the prostitute with various material presentations so that she would remain pleased with him. He gave up all his brahminical activities to satisfy the prostitute.
PURPORT
There are many instances throughout the world in which even a purified person, being attracted by a prostitute, spends all the money he has inherited.
Prostitute hunting is so abominable that the desire for sex with a prostitute can ruin one’s character, destroy one’s exalted position and plunder all one’s money.
Therefore illicit sex is strictly prohibited. One should be satisfied with his married wife, for even a slight deviation will create havoc.
A Kṛṣṇa conscious gṛhastha should always remember this. He should always be satisfied with one wife and be peaceful simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Otherwise at any moment he may fall down from his good position, as exemplified in the case of Ajāmila.
TEXT 65
Because his intelligence was pierced by the lustful glance of the prostitute, the victimized brāhmaṇa Ajāmila engaged in sinful acts in her association. He even gave up the company of his very beautiful young wife, who came from a very respectable brāhmaṇa family.
PURPORT
Customarily everyone is eligible to inherit his father’s property, and Ajāmila also inherited the money of his father. But what did he do with the money?
Instead of engaging the money in the service of Kṛṣṇa, he engaged it in the service of a prostitute. Therefore he was condemned and was punishable by Yamarāja. How did this happen? He was victimized by the dangerous lustful glance of a prostitute.
TEXT 66
Although born of a brāhmaṇa family, this rascal, bereft of intelligence because of the prostitute’s association, earned money somehow or other, regardless of whether properly or improperly, and used it to maintain the prostitute’s sons and daughters.
TEXT 67
This brāhmaṇa irresponsibly spent his long lifetime transgressing all the rules and regulations of the holy scripture, living extravagantly and eating food prepared by a prostitute. Therefore he is full of sins. He is unclean and is addicted to forbidden activities.
PURPORT
Food prepared by an unclean, sinful man or woman, especially a prostitute, is extremely infectious. Ajāmila ate such food, and therefore he was subject to be punished by Yamarāja.
TEXT 68
This man Ajāmila did not undergo atonement. Therefore because of his sinful life, we must take him into the presence of Yamarāja for punishment. There, according to the extent of his sinful acts, he will be punished and thus purified.
PURPORT
The Viṣṇudūtas had forbidden the Yamadūtas to take Ajāmila to Yamarāja, and therefore the Yamadūtas explained that taking such a man to Yamarāja was appropriate.
Since Ajāmila had not undergone atonement for his sinful acts, he was to be taken to Yamarāja to be purified.
When a man commits murder he becomes sinful, and therefore he also must be killed; otherwise after death he must suffer many sinful reactions.
Similarly, punishment by Yamarāja is a process of purification for the most abominable sinful persons.
Therefore the Yamadūtas requested the Viṣṇudūtas not to obstruct their taking Ajāmila to Yamarāja.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Sixth Canto, First Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The History of the Life of Ajāmila.”
