Becoming free from the material illusion (Srimad Bhagavatam #34)

In this part we will study how the material illusion works, how we become entangled in it, and how can we become free.

Nov 15, 2024

Krishna explains in the second verse of the chatuh-sloki of the Srimad Bhagavatam that "whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality". We become entangled in the material world by seeing the material creation as separate from Krishna and therefore trying to enjoy it. When we start seeing everything in connection with Krishna, we start using it in His service, and in this way we start our process back home, back to Godhead.

Mayavadis see this material world as false, and in this way they reject it. As Vaishnavas we don't accept this material world as false, nor do we reject it. The material world is the energy of the Lord and is a place for His pastimes. What we reject is the illusory concept of seeing this world as separate from Krishna. This illusory concept is what is called Maya, and that's what keeps us bound in material existence. Many pure devotees live in this material world, such as Arjuna and Narada Muni. Although they technically live here, they are not bound by Maya.

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The creation of the senses

From the same combination of false ego and the material mode of passion from the creation of intelligence, the senses are created. The five senses for acquiring knowledge (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) depend on the intelligence to work, while the senses of action (the tongue, hands, legs, genital and excretory system) depend on the vital energy (prana) to operate. In this way, the vital airs are also created at this stage. There are ten types of vital airs: five gross (which are destroyed together with the body at the time of death) and five subtle, that follow the soul from one body to the other.

Although maintained by the intelligence and prana, all of the ten senses are controlled by the mind, which is supposed to be restrained by the intelligence. When we can purify the mind and the intelligence, all the ten senses can be used in the service of Krishna, following the process of action in Krishna Consciousness explained in the Bhagavad-Gita. Otherwise, they will just follow the dictation of the mind and be engaged in material activities, bringing us further down in the material ocean.

The creation of sound

There is no point in having eyes if there is nothing to be seen, and there is no point in having ears if there is nothing to hear. The creation of the four internal senses, as well as the five senses of action and the five senses for acquiring knowledge, happen together with the creation of the material elements and the objects of the senses. The eye is thus created together with the sense of vision, the demigod that controls it, and the light that allows one to see the world. The ear is part of a package that includes the sense of hearing, the demigod who controls it, sound, the element ether that transports the sound, and so on. The creation of all these components adds more material layers to the material conditioning of the soul, already covered by material consciousness, false ego, mind, etc. This is all described by Lord Kapila in the following verses.

"When egoism in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the subtle element sound is manifested, and from sound come the ethereal sky and the sense of hearing.

Persons who are learned and who have true knowledge define sound as that which conveys the idea of an object, indicates the presence of a speaker screened from our view and constitutes the subtle form of ether." (SB 3.26.32-33)

The same false ego in ignorance that produces the senses, produces also the first of the objects of the senses: sound, which is created together with the element ether, the most subtle of the material elements. As with all other permutations, all happens due to the presence of the Lord.

The sex energy of the Lord that Prabhupada mentions in his translation is the bhagavat-vīrya, the creative potency of the Lord that agitates the mahat-tattva; it is not a new energy. This is still part of the analogy of the souls injected into the material nature by the look of the Lord being like the semen of the Lord that impregnates the material energy, generating all living beings.

Sound is the beginning of our conditioned existence in this material world, and it is also the end of it. In his purport, Prabhupada quotes the last sutra of the Vedanta-sutra, "anāvṛttiḥ śabdāt", which explains the final process of liberation, after which one doesn't have to come back to this material world. This liberation is achieved by sound, by chanting the holy name of the Lord. We can see that all material creations, which are the source of our conditioned material life, become also the source of our liberation when we use them for Krishna, culminating with sound.

Sound is also the medium for obtaining knowledge, both material and spiritual. By hearing material knowledge we learn to manipulate matter and thus we become more entangled in it. Similarly, by hearing spiritual knowledge we become progressively purified. Sound doesn't just apply to gross material sound but to all forms of transmission of ideas and knowledge. Inhabitants of the higher planets don't communicate by gross sounds, based on sound waves transmitted through physical particles formed by atoms, as we do, but they use subtle forms of sound, all the way to the direct transmission of knowledge to the mind, like when the lord transmitted transcendental knowledge to Dhruva Maharaja by just touching his head with His conchshell, or as Sarasvati Devi gives knowledge to her followers without physically speaking to them.

Sound is originally a very subtle manifestation, transmitted through the ether. Just as sound can be recorded and later reproduced by an electronic device, sound can also be recorded in written form in books, and when these books are read, the sound vibrates inside the mind. Books can be distributed, and through the distribution of such spiritual books, people can hear the words of the previous acaryas and thus associate with them, starting their path back to Godhead.

As Prabhupada mentions in his purport: "Arjuna was a gross materialist in the bodily conception of life and was suffering from the bodily concept very acutely. But simply by hearing, Arjuna became a spiritualized, Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Hearing is very important, and that hearing is produced from the sky. By hearing only can we make proper use of that which already exists. The principle of hearing to properly utilize preconceived materials is applicable to spiritual paraphernalia as well. We must hear from the proper spiritual source."

The creation of ether (sky)

Together with sound, the element ether is created. Ether is the medium in which sound is transmitted. The Sanskrit word is nabhaḥ or ākāśa, which can be translated as ether, sky or space. Most of the time, when Prabhupada speaks about "sky", he is speaking about the element ether, and not about the sky where the clouds stay.

Nabhaḥ, sky, is the most subtle of the material elements, so subtle in fact that a scientist would not recognize it as matter. Nabhaḥ is just space, excluding any atoms or other forms of gross energy, such as light. Nabhaḥ or ether is what scientists call the "fabric of space and time", where all material events happen.

Lord Kapila explains the nature of the ethereal element in verse 34:

"The activities and characteristics of the ethereal element can be observed as the accommodation of room for the external and internal existences of all living entities, namely the field of activities of the vital air, the senses and the mind." (SB 3.26.34)

In his purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada mentions that this verse could become the basis for great scientific research because it deals with the creation of reality from the element ether. The Vedic conception of ether, or sky, is a subtle element that serves as a fabric for all the other gross manifestations by the interaction with the mind, intelligence, and false ego. In other words: the reality in which each and every conditioned soul lives is created from his own consciousness.

The subtle elements (the mind, intelligence, and false ego, as well as all desires, ideas, and so on) are created from the ether, and from the further interaction of these subtle elements with the ether, gross elements (earth, water, air, and fire), as well as all physical manifestations are created. Everything that exists starts in the form of an idea, created as part of the primary creation by Maha-Vishnu. As different souls desire to create different objects and go through different experiences, the knowledge about all these creations is revealed to them from inside the heart and they use this knowledge to create the material forms and objects they desire. In other words, the ideas and desires stored in our minds are the basis for the gross forms and experiences that will be experienced in our future lives.

When Lord Maha Vishnu performs the primary creation, he creates all possible forms and experiences that exist in the material universe. During the secondary creation, Brahma creates a number of different levels of existence that correspond to the different levels of consciousness of the different living entities. There are thus 14 levels of planetary systems, subdivided into millions of planets and stars, corresponding to different levels of consciousness of the different living entities who populate the universe. Each of these planets and stars contains an enormous volume of forms and experiences. According to the level of our consciousness, we take birth into one of these places and we perform our small role in the creation, manipulating the different material objects and interacting with other living entities.

This corroborates what Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita when He explains that one's mental situation at death is the basis for his next birth. Srila Prabhupada explains that mental existence transforms into tangible form as soon as there is an opportunity. In other words, all the desires stored in the mind serve as the basis for the development of a new body, which will lead to a new birth in a situation that will allow the soul to act upon such desires.

By carefully studying these teachings we can understand the ephemeral (although not false) nature of this world, and how our reality is created from our consciousness, through the interactions of the mind, intelligence, and ego with the element ether. Just as a material consciousness creates a material body and numerous material objects and experiences, a spiritual consciousness fixed in service to Krishna leads us to the spiritual, eternal reality.

The basis of material existence is that we accept the world around us, composed of so many material objects as real, and then we try to change and adapt this physical reality to our taste by obtaining, moving, and transforming these different material objects into something that fulfills our desires. This explanation of the element ether by Lord Kapila, however, explains that this is not a very effective way to change our reality. Instead of trying to move material objects around, we have to change our consciousness. Only by changing our consciousness can we effectively change the reality around us.

This change happens in two stages. The first stage is that a change of consciousness leads to a change in the way we perceive the reality around us. Two persons living exactly in the same place can have completely different perceptions and experiences according to what is inside their minds. This change of perspective is, by itself, much more effective in changing our experience than any amount of money or material comfort. The second stage is that a change in mentality leads to a new destination at the time of death, where our mentality and desires will assume concrete forms. One can thus go to the celestial planets to enjoy great opulences, become a perfectly peaceful sage in the higher planetary systems of Maharloka, Tapoloka, Janaloka, or Satyaloka, enjoy the subtle objects of the senses available at the coverings of the universe, or finish his material experience and go back to Godhead. In this way, we can see that this change of consciousness results in much more concrete and persistent changes than just buying a new car or furniture.

The creation of touch and air

"From ethereal existence, which evolves from sound, the next transformation takes place under the impulse of time, and thus the subtle element touch and thence the air and sense of touch become prominent. Softness and hardness and cold and heat are the distinguishing attributes of touch, which is characterized as the subtle form of air. The action of the air is exhibited in movements, mixing, allowing approach to the objects of sound and other sense perceptions, and providing for the proper functioning of all other senses." (SB 3.26.35-37)

All the material forms exist first in ether, as subtle forms, or ideas. Later, they manifest into tangible forms we can experience with our senses. A similar order also exists in the sequence of the creation of the elements. When the element ether is combined with the time energy and the primordial matter of the mahat-tattva, it generates the sensation of touch, together with the element air. Touch allows us to perceive attributes such as soft or hard, hot or cold, etc. By the sense of touch, we become thus more absorbed in the material duality.

In the spiritual world, there is no duality. There is no dichotomy of good and bad; everything is good. This however doesn't mean there is no variety there. Here variety manifests in terms of good or bad, while in the spiritual world, there are simply many varieties of good. In other words, the spiritual world has much more variety than here and is of a superior quality. However, because we become so absorbed in the material duality, seeking things that we consider pleasant, and avoiding what is unpleasant, we become incapable of experiencing this absolute plane. By the process of Krishna Consciousness, we can focus our attention on things connected with the Lord and become thus indifferent to this material duality.

In modern anatomy, it is believed that the sense of touch is the result of nerves all over the skin. The Vedas however mention that apart from the nerves, there is a layer of subtle air flowing both inside and outside the skin, and this subtle air is also essential for the sense of touch. The element air is thus not just the origin, but also an essential component of the sense of touch.

Apart from being connected with touch, air brings movement. It is the basis for the vital airs, which move and control the functions of all bodies. As Prabhupada mentions in his purport, the vital airs circulate inside the body, and when this circulation is disturbed, many health problems can appear, as studied in Ayurvedic medicine. These disturbances in the circulation of the vital airs can't be detected by modern medicine but they result in the appearance of different physical malfunctions in the organs and other symptoms. In previous ages, these systems were better understood, and doctors were able to directly treat disease by identifying and correcting the disturbances in the vital airs, while nowadays medicine mostly tries to act in the resultant symptoms.

A small observation is that one may notice small differences in the description of the creation of the elements in the explanation of Lord Kapila and the explanation of Maitreya Muni in chapter 3.5 of Srimad Bhagavatam. These differences are just because each explanation emphasizes different aspects. For example, Maitreya mentions that ether combines with time and mahat-tattva to create air, while Kapila mentions only the combination with time, giving instead more details about the properties of the air element. The two explanations should thus be seen as complementary, and not as contradictory.

The creation of form and fire

"By interactions of the air and the sensations of touch, one receives different forms according to destiny. By evolution of such forms, there is fire, and the eye sees different forms in color.

My dear mother, the characteristics of form are understood by dimension, quality and individuality. The form of fire is appreciated by its effulgence. Fire is appreciated by its light and by its ability to cook, to digest, to destroy cold, to evaporate, and to give rise to hunger, thirst, eating and drinking." (SB 3.26.38-40)

In the next stage, the element air combines with the previously manifested element ether. Ether contains forms, but in a subtle stage. When combined with air, these forms become expressible in the physical realm. The manifestation of form leads to the manifestations of material bodies, and the soul goes from one body to the other according to his activities and consciousness. This transmigration of bodies is done with the help of the five vital airs that surround the soul. It's said that the soul floats inside the heart, sustained by the five types of vital air, and the same vital airs carry the soul at the time of death to a new body, according to the direction of Paramatma.

Here on our planet, our bodies are manifested mainly from the earth element, being a combination of bones, flesh, skin, etc. However, the scriptures explain that on other planets there are bodies made predominantly of water, fire, or air. The soul can live anywhere, and therefore on any planet the soul goes, it creates bodies for itself by using the material elements available there. Bodies can be thus made from any available material elements, but the concept of a physical body starts with this combination of air and ether.

We can see that the creation of the material elements is also explained in previous chapters of the Srimad Bhagavatam, but Lord Kapila explains the relations and interactions between these elements in more detail. The simple fact that the material world is so intricate and formed by so many interconnected and interdependent energies is by itself proof of a conscious and intelligent creator. Modern theories conclude that the universe organized itself the way it is by chance, Mayavadis believe that it is the fruit of the illusion of an unconscious Brahman, while the followers of the Sankhya of the atheistic Kapila believe it is manifested from the unconscious material energy. The theistic explanation given by Lord Kapila makes much more sense.

Together with the creation of form, comes the element fire, tejaḥ, which also refers to light, electricity, radiation and other manifestations, such as certain chemical reactions, such as acids burning. Fire has form, and the light emitted by it allows us to see the forms of different objects, and understand their dimensions, quality, individuality, colors, etc. Together with the possibility of seeing form, the eye also appears. Fire, form, light and vision are thus intimately connected.

Fire has also other functions, such as transforming matter. The nuclear fusion that goes on inside the sun produces great quantities of light and heat, and similarly, the fire of digestion inside the body (the result of many complex chemical reactions) produces energy and sustenance from the food we eat. Fire burning wood or other types of fuel produces heat that dissipates cold, and so on.

The description of the soul living inside the heart, and being carried by the vital airs from one body to the other is quite mysterious, because the soul is not a physical particle that is physically moved from one place to the other. In Sanskrit, the word for soul is "ātmā", which can be translated as "self". The word ātmā receives many meanings according to the context, meaning sometimes the soul, the mind, or even the body.

What is exactly carried from one body to the other at the time of death is discussed in the Taittiriya Upanisad. A gross materialist thinks that death is the end because he can't see anything leaving the body when it dies. Someone more advanced can see the vital air moving from one body to the other, and think that the vital air is the real person. One who is still more advanced can see the subtle body being carried by the vital air, just like passengers inside a plane. In a higher stage of understanding, however, one may understand that in reality the consciousness is included in the subtle body, the combination of ego, mind, intelligence, desires, subtle senses, and so on, which is transported by the vital air. This consciousness is the manifestation of the soul, and this consciousness is carried by the vital air, together with the subtle body from one body to the other. The spirit soul is however still subtler, being just reflected in this consciousness, as we will see later in the teachings of Lord Kapila.

The creation of taste and water, odor and earth

"By the interaction of fire and the visual sensation, the subtle element taste evolves under a superior arrangement. From taste, water is produced, and the tongue, which perceives taste, is also manifested. Although originally one, taste becomes manifold as astringent, sweet, bitter, pungent, sour and salty due to contact with other substances. The characteristics of water are exhibited by its moistening other substances, coagulating various mixtures, causing satisfaction, maintaining life, softening things, driving away heat, incessantly supplying itself to reservoirs of water, and refreshing by slaking thirst." (SB 3.26.41-43)

By the combination of fire and form with air, time, and mahat-tattva, taste together with the element water is manifested. The original taste is the taste of pure water, but when water is mixed with other substances, different tastes appear, which are perceived by the tongue. Just like fire, water has many other properties that are essential for life. Just as in all the previous permutations, this doesn't happen by chance, but by the superior arrangement of the Lord.

Previously it was mentioned that the ten senses were created from the false ego in ignorance (including the sense of taste), and now it is described that the tongue is created. This may sound like a contradiction, but it is not. In the first stage, the subtle sense of taste is created, as part of the subtle body that covers the soul. Now, the idea of a physical organ called the tongue that allows one to perceive taste by contact with different material substances is created, and later different bodies including different types of tongues will be created.

Next is the creation of odor and earth, the last of the five elements:

"Due to the interaction of water with the taste perception, the subtle element odor evolves under superior arrangement. Thence the earth and the olfactory sense, by which we can variously experience the aroma of the earth, become manifest. Odor, although one, becomes many — as mixed, offensive, fragrant, mild, strong, acidic and so on — according to the proportions of associated substances. The characteristics of the functions of earth can be perceived by modeling forms of the Supreme Brahman, by constructing places of residence, by preparing pots to contain water, etc. In other words, the earth is the place of sustenance for all elements." (SB 3.26.44-46)

From the interaction of water and taste, the property of odor appears. Together with odor, the element earth manifests, and together with both, the sensory organ we use to perceive odors, the nose, appears. Odor is basically the same as smell, but odor refers to the physical property of the elements, while smell refers to the sensation we experience when our nose detects an odor. There is thus odor, which is an attribute of the element earth, and the sense of smell used to perceive it.

As explained by Maitreya Muni to Vidhura, earlier in the third canto, at each stage of the creation of the elements, the previous element is mixed again with time and mahat-tattva. The first element, ether, is very subtle, created from the false ego, but as it is successively recombined with time and the primordial matter of the mahat-tattva, it gives birth to progressively grosser elements: air, fire, water, and finally earth, together with their properties and the sense organs used to experience them.

Although earth is the grossest of the elements, it can be directly connected to the Lord because of its property of assuming forms. The element earth includes all solid materials, such as clay, metals, rocks, wood, and so on. Just as these materials can be used to construct houses and other things, they can be used to make deities of the Lord, as indicated by the words bhāvanaṁ brahmaṇaḥ. In this way, the element earth can manifest different forms of the Lord and thus allows us to serve Him.

Mayavadis believe that the Supreme Brahman has no form or qualities, and thus they interpret the words "bhāvanaṁ brahmaṇaḥ" as "imagining a form of Brahman". However, just as many other interpretations offered by the Mayavadis, it is not correct. As Prabhupada explains, bhāvana means to give actual shape to the descriptions of the forms of the Lord found in the scriptures. The Lord is everywhere, and therefore He has no difficulty in becoming visible in the form of the deity to accept the service of His devotees. Because the Lord accepts this form, the deity is transcendental, although visible to us in a form made of material elements.

Although technically still metal, a bar of iron made red hot by a strong fire, will burn just like fire. In the same way, the Lord manifests His transcendental form and full spiritual potency in the deity, although the form is technically made of metal, wood, or stone.

A short conclusion

In verses 47 to 49, Lord Kapila gives a summary of the elements described. In the Sankhya system, taste, form, sound, etc. are counted as material elements, just as the senses and physical organs used to experience them, resulting in the 24 elements, to which time is added, completing 25. As explained in the 11th canto, different sages prefer to count the elements in different ways, examining the question from different points of view. As Krishna explains, their conclusions are also correct.

"The sense whose object of perception is sound is called the auditory sense, and that whose object of perception is touch is called the tactile sense. The sense whose object of perception is form, the distinctive characteristic of fire, is the sense of sight. The sense whose object of perception is taste, the distinctive characteristic of water, is known as the sense of taste. Finally, the sense whose object of perception is odor, the distinctive characteristic of earth, is called the sense of smell. Since the cause exists in its effect as well, the characteristics of the former are observed in the latter. That is why the peculiarities of all the elements exist in the earth alone." (SB 3.26.47-49)

Here is a list of the material elements that were described in this chapter, with their properties, the sensory organs, and the senses connected with them.

1- nabha or ākāśa (space, or ether) - sound - ear - hearing.

2- vāyu or marut (air) - touch - skin - touch.

3- tejas or agni (fire, light, electricity) - form - eye - vision.

4- ambha or āpas (water and liquids) - taste - tongue - taste.

5- pṛthvī or bhūḥ (earth) - odor - nose - smell.

Each element has also the properties of all previous elements. Ether has only one property, sound, while air has sound and touch. Fire has sound, touch, and form, while water has sound, touch, form, and taste. Earth has all the previous plus odor, therefore the element earth is the sum total of all other elements.

We can see that this list includes 20 elements. To these are added consciousness, false ego, mind, intelligence, and time, completing the 25 elements studied in the Sankhya system. By now we are well familiar with them.

Interestingly enough, modern science offers a similar explanation for the creation of the five gross material elements, in the way they appear in our plane, without however accounting for the subtle elements. In modern physics, it's believed that the universe started as just the fabric of time and space (ether), without any manifestation of energy or matter. All matter was concentrated in a single point on this invisible plane, which eventually led to the Big Bang, violently expanding into a mass of energy. This mass of energy gradually cooled down, forming atoms of hydrogen (air), which in turn led to the creation of the first stars (fire). Due to the process of nuclear fusion inside the stars, oxygen (water) together with other gasses were formed, and eventually, the heavier atomic elements (earth) appeared, which were eventually scattered around the universe, producing planets and other structures. We can see that modern theory partially agrees with the description of Lord Kapila, but the Sankhya system is much more evolved, explaining the subtle features of the material universe that are unknown to modern science. On top of that, it explains the soul and our relationship with the Lord, which is the knowledge that is truly relevant.

Becoming free from the material illusion (Srimad Bhagavatam #34)

In this part we will study how the material illusion works, how we become entangled in it, and how can we become free.

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