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| A Wise Man |
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recites a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam taken from the instructions of Narada Muni
to Vasudeva, the father of Krishna (Bhag. 11.2.37):
bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad
isad apetasya viparyayo 'smritih
tan-mayayato budha abhajet tam
bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma
In this quotation from the nine sages who were instructing Maharaja Nimi, maya is defined as "forgetfulness of
one's relationship with Krishna."
Actually, maya means "that which is not." It has no existence. Thus it is false to think that the living entity has no
connection with the Supreme Lord. He may not believe in the existence of God, or he may think that he has no
relationship with God, but these are all "illusions," or maya. Due to absorption in this false conception of life, man
is always fearful and full of anxieties. In other words, a godless concept of life is maya. One who is actually
learned in the Vedic literatures surrenders unto the Supreme Lord with great devotion and accepts Him as the
supreme goal. When a living entity forgets the constitutional nature of his relationship with God, he is at once
overwhelmed by the external energy. This is the cause of his false ego, his false identification of the body with
the self. Indeed, his whole conception of the material universe arises from this false identification with the body,
for he becomes attached to the body and its by-products. To escape this entanglement, he has only to perform
his duty and to surrender unto the Supreme Lord with intelligence and devotion and with sincere Krishna
consciousness.
A conditioned soul falsely thinks himself happy in the material world, but if he is favored by the instructions of an
unalloyed devotee, he gives up his desire for material enjoyment and becomes enlightened in Krishna
consciousness. As soon as one enters into Krishna consciousness, his desire for material enjoyment is at once
vanquished, and he gradually becomes free from material entanglement. There is no question of darkness where
there is light, and Krishna consciousness is the light that dispels the darkness of material sense enjoyment.
A Krishna conscious person is never under the false conception that he is one with God. Knowing that he would
not be happy by working for himself, he engages all his energies in the service of the Supreme Lord and thereby
gains release from the clutches of illusory material energy. In this connection, Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes the
following verse from Bhagavad-gita:
daivi hy esha guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
"The divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those
who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." (Bg. 7.14)
Caitanya Mahaprabhu went on to teach that for each and every moment he is engaged in some fruitive activity,
the conditioned soul forgets his real identity. Sometimes when he is fatigued, when he is tired of material
activities, he wants liberation and hankers to become one with the Supreme Lord, but at other times he thinks
that by working hard to gratify his senses he will be happy. In either case, he is covered by material energy. For
the enlightenment of such bewildered conditioned souls, the Supreme Lord has presented voluminous Vedic
literatures such as the Vedas, the puranas and the Vedanta-sutra. These are all intended to guide the human
being back to Godhead. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given further instructions by explaining that when a
conditioned soul is accepted by the mercy of the spiritual master and is guided by the Supersoul and the various
Vedic scriptures, he becomes enlightened and makes progress in spiritual realization. It is because Lord Krishna is
always merciful upon His devotees that He has presented all these Vedic literatures by which one can understand
his relationship with Him and can act on the basis of that relationship. In this way one is gifted with the ultimate
goal of life.
Actually every living entity is destined to reach the Supreme Lord. Indeed, it is possible for everyone to
understand his relationship with the Supreme. The execution of duties to attain perfection is known as devotional
service, and in maturity such devotional service becomes love of God, the factual goal of life for every living being.
Actually the living entity is not intended to achieve success in religious rituals, economic development or sense
enjoyment. The living entity should not even desire success in liberation, what to speak of success in religion,
economics and sense enjoyment. One's real desire should only be to achieve the stage of loving transcendental
service to the Lord. The all-attractive features of Lord Krishna help one in attaining this transcendental service,
and it is by such service in Krishna consciousness that one can realize the relationship between Krishna and
himself.
Concerning man's search for the ultimate goal of life, Caitanya Mahaprabhu relates a story from the commentary
of Madhva which occurs in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Madhva-bhashya) Sarvajna to a poor man who
came to him to have his future told. When Sarvajna saw the horoscope of the man, he was at once astonished
that the man was so poor, and he said to him, "Why are you so unhappy? From your horoscope I can see that
you have a hidden treasure left to you by your father. However, the horoscope indicates that your father could
not disclose this to you because he died in a foreign place, but now you can search out this treasure and be
happy." This story is cited because the living entity is suffering due to his ignorance of the hidden treasure of his
Supreme Father, Krishna. That treasure is love of Godhead, and in every Vedic scripture the conditioned soul is
advised to find it. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, although the conditioned soul is the son of the wealthiest
personality -- the Personality of Godhead -- he does not realize it. Therefore Vedic literatures are given to him to
help him search out his father and his paternal property.
The astrologer Sarvajna further advised the poor man: "Don't dig on the southern side of your house to find the
treasure, for if you do so you will be attacked by a poisonous wasp and will be baffled. The search should be
conducted on the eastern side where there is actual light, which is called devotional service or Krishna
consciousness. On the southern side there are Vedic rituals, and on the western side there is mental speculation,
and on the northern side there is meditational yoga."
Sarvajna's advice should be carefully noted by everyone. If one searches for the ultimate goal by the ritualistic
process, he will surely be baffled. Such a process involves the performance of rituals under the guidance of a
priest who takes money in exchange for service. A man may think he will be happy by performing such rituals, but
actually if he does gain some result from them, it is only temporary. His material distresses will continue. Thus he
will never become truly happy by following the ritualistic process. Instead, he will simply increase his material
pangs more and more. The same may be said for digging on the northern side, or searching for the treasure by
means of the meditational yoga process. By this process a person thinks of becoming one with the Supreme Lord,
but this merging into the Supreme is like being swallowed by a large serpent. Sometimes a large serpent
swallows a smaller one, and merging into the spiritual existence of the Supreme is analogous. While the small
serpent is searching after perfection, he is swallowed. Obviously there is no solution here. On the western side
there is also an impediment in the form of a yaksha, an evil spirit who protects the treasure. The idea is that a
hidden treasure can never be found by one who asks the favor of a yaksha in order to attain it. The result is that
one will simply be killed. This yaksha is the speculative mind, and in this case the speculative process of
self-realization, or the jnana process, is also suicidal.
The only possibility then is to search for the hidden treasure on the eastern side by the process of devotional
service in full Krishna consciousness. Indeed, that process of devotional service is the perpetual hidden treasure,
and when one attains to it, he becomes perpetually rich. One who is poor in devotional service to Krishna is
always in need of material gain. Sometimes he suffers the bites of poisonous creatures, and sometimes he is
baffled; sometimes he follows the philosophy of monism and thereby loses his identity, and sometimes he is
swallowed by a large serpent. It is only by abandoning all this and becoming fixed in Krishna consciousness,
devotional service to the Lord, that one can actually achieve the perfection of life.
TOP
to Vasudeva, the father of Krishna (Bhag. 11.2.37):
bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad
isad apetasya viparyayo 'smritih
tan-mayayato budha abhajet tam
bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma
In this quotation from the nine sages who were instructing Maharaja Nimi, maya is defined as "forgetfulness of
one's relationship with Krishna."
Actually, maya means "that which is not." It has no existence. Thus it is false to think that the living entity has no
connection with the Supreme Lord. He may not believe in the existence of God, or he may think that he has no
relationship with God, but these are all "illusions," or maya. Due to absorption in this false conception of life, man
is always fearful and full of anxieties. In other words, a godless concept of life is maya. One who is actually
learned in the Vedic literatures surrenders unto the Supreme Lord with great devotion and accepts Him as the
supreme goal. When a living entity forgets the constitutional nature of his relationship with God, he is at once
overwhelmed by the external energy. This is the cause of his false ego, his false identification of the body with
the self. Indeed, his whole conception of the material universe arises from this false identification with the body,
for he becomes attached to the body and its by-products. To escape this entanglement, he has only to perform
his duty and to surrender unto the Supreme Lord with intelligence and devotion and with sincere Krishna
consciousness.
A conditioned soul falsely thinks himself happy in the material world, but if he is favored by the instructions of an
unalloyed devotee, he gives up his desire for material enjoyment and becomes enlightened in Krishna
consciousness. As soon as one enters into Krishna consciousness, his desire for material enjoyment is at once
vanquished, and he gradually becomes free from material entanglement. There is no question of darkness where
there is light, and Krishna consciousness is the light that dispels the darkness of material sense enjoyment.
A Krishna conscious person is never under the false conception that he is one with God. Knowing that he would
not be happy by working for himself, he engages all his energies in the service of the Supreme Lord and thereby
gains release from the clutches of illusory material energy. In this connection, Caitanya Mahaprabhu quotes the
following verse from Bhagavad-gita:
daivi hy esha guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
"The divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those
who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." (Bg. 7.14)
Caitanya Mahaprabhu went on to teach that for each and every moment he is engaged in some fruitive activity,
the conditioned soul forgets his real identity. Sometimes when he is fatigued, when he is tired of material
activities, he wants liberation and hankers to become one with the Supreme Lord, but at other times he thinks
that by working hard to gratify his senses he will be happy. In either case, he is covered by material energy. For
the enlightenment of such bewildered conditioned souls, the Supreme Lord has presented voluminous Vedic
literatures such as the Vedas, the puranas and the Vedanta-sutra. These are all intended to guide the human
being back to Godhead. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given further instructions by explaining that when a
conditioned soul is accepted by the mercy of the spiritual master and is guided by the Supersoul and the various
Vedic scriptures, he becomes enlightened and makes progress in spiritual realization. It is because Lord Krishna is
always merciful upon His devotees that He has presented all these Vedic literatures by which one can understand
his relationship with Him and can act on the basis of that relationship. In this way one is gifted with the ultimate
goal of life.
Actually every living entity is destined to reach the Supreme Lord. Indeed, it is possible for everyone to
understand his relationship with the Supreme. The execution of duties to attain perfection is known as devotional
service, and in maturity such devotional service becomes love of God, the factual goal of life for every living being.
Actually the living entity is not intended to achieve success in religious rituals, economic development or sense
enjoyment. The living entity should not even desire success in liberation, what to speak of success in religion,
economics and sense enjoyment. One's real desire should only be to achieve the stage of loving transcendental
service to the Lord. The all-attractive features of Lord Krishna help one in attaining this transcendental service,
and it is by such service in Krishna consciousness that one can realize the relationship between Krishna and
himself.
Concerning man's search for the ultimate goal of life, Caitanya Mahaprabhu relates a story from the commentary
of Madhva which occurs in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Madhva-bhashya) Sarvajna to a poor man who
came to him to have his future told. When Sarvajna saw the horoscope of the man, he was at once astonished
that the man was so poor, and he said to him, "Why are you so unhappy? From your horoscope I can see that
you have a hidden treasure left to you by your father. However, the horoscope indicates that your father could
not disclose this to you because he died in a foreign place, but now you can search out this treasure and be
happy." This story is cited because the living entity is suffering due to his ignorance of the hidden treasure of his
Supreme Father, Krishna. That treasure is love of Godhead, and in every Vedic scripture the conditioned soul is
advised to find it. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, although the conditioned soul is the son of the wealthiest
personality -- the Personality of Godhead -- he does not realize it. Therefore Vedic literatures are given to him to
help him search out his father and his paternal property.
The astrologer Sarvajna further advised the poor man: "Don't dig on the southern side of your house to find the
treasure, for if you do so you will be attacked by a poisonous wasp and will be baffled. The search should be
conducted on the eastern side where there is actual light, which is called devotional service or Krishna
consciousness. On the southern side there are Vedic rituals, and on the western side there is mental speculation,
and on the northern side there is meditational yoga."
Sarvajna's advice should be carefully noted by everyone. If one searches for the ultimate goal by the ritualistic
process, he will surely be baffled. Such a process involves the performance of rituals under the guidance of a
priest who takes money in exchange for service. A man may think he will be happy by performing such rituals, but
actually if he does gain some result from them, it is only temporary. His material distresses will continue. Thus he
will never become truly happy by following the ritualistic process. Instead, he will simply increase his material
pangs more and more. The same may be said for digging on the northern side, or searching for the treasure by
means of the meditational yoga process. By this process a person thinks of becoming one with the Supreme Lord,
but this merging into the Supreme is like being swallowed by a large serpent. Sometimes a large serpent
swallows a smaller one, and merging into the spiritual existence of the Supreme is analogous. While the small
serpent is searching after perfection, he is swallowed. Obviously there is no solution here. On the western side
there is also an impediment in the form of a yaksha, an evil spirit who protects the treasure. The idea is that a
hidden treasure can never be found by one who asks the favor of a yaksha in order to attain it. The result is that
one will simply be killed. This yaksha is the speculative mind, and in this case the speculative process of
self-realization, or the jnana process, is also suicidal.
The only possibility then is to search for the hidden treasure on the eastern side by the process of devotional
service in full Krishna consciousness. Indeed, that process of devotional service is the perpetual hidden treasure,
and when one attains to it, he becomes perpetually rich. One who is poor in devotional service to Krishna is
always in need of material gain. Sometimes he suffers the bites of poisonous creatures, and sometimes he is
baffled; sometimes he follows the philosophy of monism and thereby loses his identity, and sometimes he is
swallowed by a large serpent. It is only by abandoning all this and becoming fixed in Krishna consciousness,
devotional service to the Lord, that one can actually achieve the perfection of life.
TOP
