Jaḍa Bharata counters Rahūgaṇa’s arguments and offers a higher perspective (The Fifth Canto #11)
Rahūgaṇa’s logic is sound from a practical perspective, but it is based on the wrong perspective. He doesn’t see the soul as truly separated from the body.
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Jaḍa Bharata counters Rahūgaṇa’s arguments and offers a higher perspective
Rahūgaṇa’s logic is sound from a practical perspective, but it is based on the wrong perspective. He doesn’t see the soul as truly separated from the body, believing that body and soul are interconnected and that somehow the pains of the body factually affect the soul. Apart from that, he is still under the false ego, seeing himself as the king and others as his subjects. Jaḍa Bharata starts by chastising him for speaking on the bodily perspective, similar to how Kṛṣṇa chastised Arjuna at the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā:
“The brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata said: My dear King, although you are not at all experienced, you are trying to speak like a very experienced man. Consequently you cannot be considered an experienced person. An experienced person does not speak the way you are speaking about the relationship between a master and a servant or about material pains and pleasures. These are simply external activities. Any advanced, experienced man, considering the Absolute Truth, does not talk in this way.” (SB 5.11.1)
Rahūgaṇa tried to establish three ideas:
a) The reality of material pain and pleasure (they are not false as claimed by Māyāvādis).
b) The importance of the performance of mundane roles, such as father, husband, and king.
c) The value of punishment as a way of compelling people to perform their duties.
These ideas are correct, but only on the practical level of mundane and social behavior. Rahūgaṇa is imitating the vocabulary of great sages, speaking about ātmā (soul), sva-dharma (prescribed duties), etc., but he has no realized knowledge, being still in the bodily platform. In other words, he is out of his depth, trying to speak on topics that are above his understanding. This is similar to when we learn a few complicated Sanskrit words and try to fake erudition by discussing topics we don’t fully understand. Jaḍa Bharata immediately catches that and calls the king akovidaḥ (inexperienced).
Prabhupāda adds extra weight to Bharata’s verdict in his commentary:
“Similarly, among people in general, 99.9 percent try to talk like experienced advisers, but they are actually devoid of spiritual knowledge and are therefore like inexperienced children speaking nonsensically. Consequently their words cannot be given any importance. One has to learn from Kṛṣṇa or His devotee. If one speaks on the basis of this experience — that is, on the basis of spiritual knowledge — one’s words are valuable.”
Real knowledge comes from people who are Krsna conscious and have true spiritual realization. When fools without true knowledge come into power, the world falls into a chaotic condition. With his chastisement, Jaḍa Bharata tries to save Rahūgaṇa from being one of them.
“My dear King, talks of the relationship between the master and the servant, the king and the subject and so forth are simply talks about material activities. People interested in material activities which are expounded in the Vedas are intent on performing material sacrifices and placing faith in their material activities. For such people, spiritual advancement is definitely not manifest.” (SB 5.11.2)
Rahūgaṇa argued that a king has to punish the citizens so they perform their sva-dharma (prescribed duties) according to the Vedas, which are in turn ordained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This argument, however, has two shortcomings: first, Rahūgaṇa doesn’t understand that true sva-dharma is devotional service and not mere observance of Vedic karma-kanda rules. The second problem is that his argument is hypocritical, because he was engaging the carriers in his own sense gratification, thinking that their sva-dharma was to serve him personally. The situation is thus classical: Rahūgaṇa claims to be a follower of the Vedas yet does not understand their true purpose. Due to his ignorance, his practical actions are also not proper.
Jaḍa Bharata rejects these arguments by stating that ordinary people tend to be interested in the material duties and sacrifices prescribed in the karma-kanda section of the Vedas, but simply following such duties does not bring spiritual advancement.
In his purport, Prabhupāda invokes the difference between a tattva-vādī (one who has spiritual realization) and a veda-vādī (one who practices the injunctions of the Vedas without true spiritual realization). Unless one comes to the platform of devotional service, one remains just a veda-vādī, a blind follower of the Vedic injunctions, and can’t be purified from material contamination. Tattva-vādī means one who knows tattva, the Absolute Truth. This Absolute Truth is realized in three features (Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān), and one becomes perfect when he comes to worship Viṣnu and His expansions. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate: after many births, one who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Kṛṣṇa.
“A dream becomes automatically known to a person as false and immaterial, and similarly one eventually realizes that material happiness in this life or the next, on this planet or a higher planet, is insignificant. When one realizes this, the Vedas, although an excellent source, are insufficient to bring about direct knowledge of the truth.” (SB 5.11.3)
Jaḍa Bharata appears to criticize the Vedas, but it is in the same sense as when Kṛṣṇa says trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā, nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna; “The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes.”
Both passages refer to the auspicious activities mentioned in the karma-kanda section, which are still under the three modes of material nature. Rahūgaṇa is speaking from this platform, and Jaḍa Bharata cuts him sharply by stating that this knowledge is not sufficient to liberate anyone. If even jñana or yoga are insufficient, what to say about fruitive activities? When one realizes the true purpose of the Vedas and comes to real knowledge, the material recompenses pursued by ordinary followers of the Vedas become insignificant.
As Prabhupāda explains:
“The karmīs work hard day and night for some bodily comfort, and the jñānīs simply speculate about how to get out of the entanglement of karma and merge into the Brahman effulgence. The yogīs are very much addicted to the acquisition of material perfection and magical powers. All of them are trying to be materially perfect, but a devotee very easily comes to the platform of nirguṇa in devotional service, and consequently for the devotee the results of karma, jñāna and yoga become very insignificant. Therefore only the devotee is on the platform of tattva jñāna, not the others. Of course the jñānī’s position is better than that of the karmī but that position is also insufficient. The jñānī must actually become liberated, and after liberation he may be situated in devotional service (mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām).”
One who is in passion or ignorance is advised to progress to goodness by following the Vedic injunctions, but sattva-guṇa is also ultimately not good, because it still conditions us to material activity, even though pious. Only someone who reaches the transcendental platform through the practice of devotional service can understand the true purpose of the Vedas.
“As long as the mind of the living entity is contaminated by the three modes of material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance), his mind is exactly like an independent, uncontrolled elephant. It simply expands its jurisdiction of pious and impious activities by using the senses. The result is that the living entity remains in the material world to enjoy and suffer pleasures and pains due to material activity.” (SB 5.11.4)
Sometimes, when a person is being treated for drug addiction, a doctor may prescribe another type of drug that is less dangerous. However, ultimately, the goal is to give up both. The hallucinations of the mode of goodness, in the form of pious activities, meditation, etc., are considered less dangerous than the madness of sinful activity created by passion and ignorance, but in both cases, one is under the illusion created by the false ego. As long as we remain attached to either pious or impious activity, it is not possible to escape material captivity.
To give up material activity, we have to become free from the influence of the three material modes, and this is possible only when we come to the platform of devotional service. The mind and intelligence are material, and by themselves, they can’t find the way out of material existence. One has to be helped by someone free from material entanglement, which brings us back to the idea of receiving transcendental knowledge from someone who has realized it.
Without at least a tinge of devotional service, no one can become free. We can see thus where Jaḍa Bharata is going. Just as in all other passages of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, devotional service is the ultimate conclusion.
“Because the mind is absorbed in desires for pious and impious activities, it is naturally subjected to the transformations of lust and anger. In this way, it becomes attracted to material sense enjoyment. In other words, the mind is conducted by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. There are eleven senses and five material elements, and out of these sixteen items, the mind is the chief. Therefore the mind brings about birth in different types of bodies among demigods, human beings, animals and birds. When the mind is situated in a higher or lower position, it accepts a higher or lower material body.” (SB 5.11.5)
Text 5.11.2 established that ritualistic followers of the Vedas are not tattva-vādīs, or seers of the truth. Why? 5.11.3 answers, mentioning that such followers are still attracted by material happiness, which is still under the realm of illusion. This level of knowledge is better than base materialism, but it is not capable of liberating anyone. As long as one is attracted to such fruitive rituals and their results, the mind will remain bound to material activity, just as an uncontrolled elephant (5.11.4).
This may sound like nice theoretical knowledge, but where is the practical application? How does it affect us? This is answered in the current verse.
The mind is the 11th sense, the chief of the five senses for gathering knowledge, and the five senses of action. When the mind is conducted by the three material modes, it becomes attracted to different types of sense enjoyment, sometimes as a pious sage, sometimes as a king or rich person, and sometimes as a depressed alcoholic. These material desires lead to pious and impious activities, which result in lust and anger, that further entangle the soul. As long as the mind remains under the influence of the three modes, it will remain uncontrolled (like a wild elephant), and since the mind controls the movements of the body, we will be forced to move according to its dictates. These actions will then lead us to new material bodies, sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a human being, and sometimes as an animal, according to the disposition of the mind.
As Prabhupāda explains in the purport, “Material existence means being fully controlled by material nature. The mind is the center for accepting the dictations of material nature. In this way, the living entity is carried away in different types of bodies continuously, millennium after millennium.”
To find the solution, we must first identify the primary cause. This was already identified in the previous cantos, and was confirmed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva anādi-bahirmukha, ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha, “Due to the living entity’s forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa, one is bound by the laws of material nature.”
Our material conditioning is caused by the forgetfulness of our constitutional position as servants of Krsna. With His teachings, Jaḍa Bharata will gradually guide us back.
“The materialistic mind covering the living entity’s soul carries it to different species of life. This is called continued material existence. Due to the mind, the living entity suffers or enjoys material distress and happiness. Being thus illusioned, the mind further creates pious and impious activities and their karma, and thus the soul becomes conditioned.” (SB 5.11.6)
The words āliṅgya māyā-racitāntarātmā sva-dehinaṁ in the verse explain that this material mind (antaḥ-ātmā) is very subtle, created by the material energy. It covers our real self, making us conditioned. The desires of the mind lead us to one material body after another, in a chain of actions and reactions that has no end. It is also not possible to trace the beginning of this conditioning, but that’s not relevant: the point is to return to our eternal nature.
Material existence is compared in this verse to a wheel, and the mind is the force that keeps us bound to this wheel. The whole sequence is explained by Prabhupāda in his purport:
“On the whole, the mind is the cause of conditioned life; therefore the entire yogic process is meant to control the mind and the senses. If the mind is controlled, the senses are automatically controlled, and therefore the soul is saved from the reactions of pious and impious activity. If the mind is engaged at the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ), the senses are automatically engaged in the Lord’s service. When the mind and senses are engaged in devotional service, the living entity naturally becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious.”
With this revelation, Jaḍa Bharata deepens his previous teachings. Rahūgaṇa was seeing himself as a king and thinking he was doing good by punishing others and fixing their external behavior. Jaḍa Bharata, however, puts this into the correct perspective: the real problem is in the inner mind, operating under Māyā (māyā-racita). The punishments and philosophical discourses of Rahūgaṇa are also under the material modes, and they just add more movement to the wheel. They are incapable of helping anyone, including the king himself. To help himself and others, Rahūgaṇa has to first become Kṛṣṇa conscious.
“The mind makes the living entity within this material world wander through different species of life, and thus the living entity experiences mundane affairs in different forms as a human being, demigod, fat person, skinny person and so forth. Learned scholars say that bodily appearance, bondage and liberation are caused by the mind.” (SB 5.11.7)
The mind by itself is not good or bad; it is just a tool that allows us to experience the material world. The whole material experience is centered around the mind, as indicated in the line tasmān mano liṅgam ado vadanti (the mind is said to be the cause of all of this) in the Sanskrit of this verse. All the material statuses and variations we experience depend on the condition of the mind. King and servant; fat and thin; pain and pleasure; high or low birth, etc., are nothing but designations created by the mind and displayed to the soul, who identifies with them and thus becomes the kṣetrajña, the knower of the body. Due to the disposition of the mind, we assume a certain material body, and then the same mind interprets the condition we attain in a certain way, creating the illusion of material existence.
Rahūgaṇa sees these different designations as real, while Jaḍa Bharata points to the real situation: this is all caused by the mind. The soul is just an observer.
Prabhupāda, however, brings us to a higher meaning of the verse, evoking the other side: just as the mind is the root of our conditioning, it can also be the cause of our liberation:
“The mind is described here as para-avara, para means transcendental, and avara means material. When the mind is engaged in the Lord’s service (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ), it is called para, transcendental. When the mind is engaged in material sense gratification, it is called avara, or material. At the present moment, in our conditioned state, our mind is fully absorbed in material sense gratification, but it can be purified and brought to its original Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the process of devotional service. We have often given the example of Ambarīṣa Mahārāja. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane. The mind must be controlled in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The tongue can be utilized to spread the message of Kṛṣṇa and glorify the Lord or take prasāda, the remnants of food offered to Kṛṣṇa. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau: when one utilizes the tongue in the service of the Lord, the other senses can become purified. As stated in the Nārada-pañcarātra, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam: when the mind and senses are purified, one’s total existence is purified, and one’s designations are also purified. One no longer considers himself a human being, a demigod, cat, dog, Hindu, Muslim and so forth. When the senses and mind are purified and one is fully engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service, one can be liberated and return home, back to Godhead.”
This meaning is further expanded in text eight:
“When the living entity’s mind becomes absorbed in the sense gratification of the material world, it brings about his conditioned life and suffering within the material situation. However, when the mind becomes unattached to material enjoyment, it becomes the cause of liberation. When the flame in a lamp burns the wick improperly, the lamp is blackened, but when the lamp is filled with ghee and is burning properly, there is bright illumination. Similarly, when the mind is absorbed in material sense gratification, it causes suffering, and when detached from material sense gratification it brings about the original brightness of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” (SB 5.11.8)
The cause of suffering is the engagement of the mind in sense gratification, while the cause of liberation is the mind attracted to the Lord’s service. What determines if the mind will be attracted to one or the other? The point is engagement. It is very difficult to directly control the thoughts of the mind, but we can direct them with the right association. When we associate with pure devotees, the mind is engaged in Kṛṣṇa-conscious activities and gradually develops a taste for them. If, on the other hand, we associate with materialists, the mind will go in the opposite direction.
“There are five working senses and five knowledge-acquiring senses. There is also the false ego. In this way, there are eleven items for the mind’s functions. O hero, the objects of the senses [such as sound and touch], the organic activities [such as evacuation] and the different types of bodies, society, friendship and personality are considered by learned scholars the fields of activity for the functions of the mind.
Sound, touch, form, taste and smell are the objects of the five knowledge-acquiring senses. Speech, touch, movement, evacuation and sexual intercourse are the objects of the working senses. Besides this, there is another conception by which one thinks, “This is my body, this is my society, this is my family, this is my nation,” and so forth. This eleventh function of the mind is called the false ego. According to some philosophers, this is the twelfth function, and its field of activity is the body.” (SB 5.11.9-10)
After identifying the mind as the cause of bondage, Jaḍa Bharata proceeds in explaining how the mind works.
The mind controls the five knowledge-acquiring senses (vision, hearing, etc.) and the five senses of action (hands, speech, etc.), and works under the false ego (my body, my house, my family, my society, my nation, etc.). In this way, the mind has eleven functions. In other words, the entire concept of reality of Rahūgaṇa (I’m a king, these are my servants, I rule the citizens, etc.) is nothing more than a creation of the mind. A creation he is identifying with. In reality, he is neither a king nor a man; these are all impositions of the false ego his mind is working under, and he is accepting as tattva (truth). Just as Rahūgaṇa, we also tend to operate under whatever concept of reality is created by our minds.
The world is not false. In the description, there is indeed the body of a king who is moving under the three modes. It is not that the king is false; the point is that Rahūgaṇa is not that king. He is the transcendental soul. The material world is a creation of Kṛṣṇa and should not be hated; in the same way, it should not be desired. It has its function; we just need to understand we are not part of it.
Just as I tend to act in certain ways when, under the false ego, I think I’m a king or a man, when I come under my real ego, I come to the realization that “I am Kṛṣṇa’s servant”. In this true state of identity, the senses naturally become engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service.
How can this true ego be revived? By coming into contact with transcendental knowledge and associating with pure devotees, the false ego is gradually replaced with this realization of my real identity. When we understand who I truly am, the activities connected with this true concept of identity also become clear. Gradually, my entire worldview is transformed, and the mind is drawn towards Kṛṣṇa. At this point, the mind becomes the cause of liberation, rather than the cause of bondage.
Again, the mind is, by itself, not good or bad. It is simply a tool that creates desires based on what it is fed, much like a computer. According to what we feed our minds, it can pull us down or drag us up. By putting ourselves under the right association and regulating the activities of the mind using intelligence operating under the purview of the scriptures, we can become free.
“The physical elements, nature, the original cause, culture, destiny and the time element are all material causes. Agitated by these material causes, the eleven functions transform into hundreds of functions and then into thousands and then into millions. But all these transformations do not take place automatically by mutual combination. Rather, they are under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (SB 5.11.11)
These eleven functions already described combine with different material causes, including dravya (different physical objects), sva-bhāva (one’s personal nature), āśaya (the culture we grow up under), karma (destiny), and kāla (time), generating countless mental transformations. The mind is thus the cause of pious and impious activities, of high and lower births, attachment and aversion, etc. However, all these transformations do not arise independently; they are under the direction and sanction of the Supersoul.
Apart from countering the atheistic theory of the material creation functioning independently, this adds another layer to the argument made by Jaḍa Bharata. The king argued that he is responsible for punishing others and thus keeping them engaged in their prescribed duties, but Jaḍa Bharata counters this by establishing that, apart from being a mental creation, this situation is under the control and sanction of the Lord; Rahūgaṇa is not the ultimate doer. Whatever punishing and reforming he is doing is actually being orchestrated by the Supersoul. He is a mere instrument.
This controlling on the part of the Lord is stated in the Gītā: “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” (15.15) and “This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (9.10)
In this way, Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate kṣetrajña, the knower of all bodies, and the jīva is a secondary kṣetrajña, who has very limited independence over just one body. In this way, nature is neither independent nor automatic, and the jīva is not an absolute controller, not even over one’s own body.
If the Lord is the controller of this system, why does He keep us here? Why does He not simply liberate all of us? That’s exactly what He is doing, but He is treating the underlying cause of our material conditioning, maintaining a system that trains and corrects us. Just as a physician prescribes a medicine and gives instructions on how it should be taken, the Lord gives us instructions on how to use the medicine of conditioned life through the Vedas and His representatives. If we follow these instructions, the treatment acts fast. If not, it can take more time. The Lord is not responsible for this delay; it is our own choice.
“The individual soul bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness has many ideas and activities created in the mind by the external energy. They have been existing from time immemorial. Sometimes they are manifest in the wakening state and in the dream state, but during deep sleep [unconsciousness] or trance, they disappear. A person who is liberated in this life [jīvan-mukta] can see all these things vividly.” (SB 5.11.12)
There are three stages of material existence: the waking state, where we act externally using the senses; the dreaming state, where we see mental images stored in the mind; and the unconscious state of deep sleep. In this way, physical and mental activities are sometimes manifest, and sometimes not, and all of this is experienced by the secondary kṣetrajña, the individual soul. The primary kṣetrajña, the Lord, is also conscious of these activities, but He doesn’t identify with them, acting as just a neutral observer.
Ordinary conditioned souls are just absorbed in this temporary manifestation, absorbed in the material roles they are playing. However, when one becomes a jīvan-mukta, a liberated soul, one can see things from the same neutral perspective as the Lord. He can thus see the material manifestation working, without identifying with it. This is the platform Jaḍa Bharata is on. He sees his body moving, carrying the palanquin of the king, but he does not identify with this temporary identity. Instead, he identifies with his eternal identity as a pure soul. Rahūgaṇa, conversely, is still inside the dream, seeing himself as a king and thinking he is chastising and being served.
These points are mentioned by Prabhupāda in the first part of his purport:
“As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (13.3), kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. There are two kinds of kṣetrajña, or living beings. One is the individual living being, and the other is the supreme living being. The ordinary living being knows about his body to some extent, but the Supreme, Paramātmā, knows the condition of all bodies. The individual living being is localized, and the Supreme, Paramātmā, is all-pervading. In this śloka the word kṣetrajña refers to an ordinary living being, not the supreme living being.”
Once these points are accepted, natural human curiosity may lead us to question: How long have we been here in this position?
However, from the absolute platform, this question is nonsensical, because the concept of time as past, present, and future is part of the material reality, while spiritual reality is based on eternal existence. Because the material illusion is not our true existence, it has, technically, a beginning, but because it is not possible to calculate it in terms of years or ages, it is impossible to understand how long it is. When we try to calculate it, we can’t find a beginning, and our material intelligence comes to the conclusion that we are part of this material world, which is precisely the wrong answer.
This whole misleading, speculative process is thus dismissed by the term nitya-baddha (eternally conditioned). There is just no point in trying to figure out how long we have been here. Instead, we should focus on the tattva (truth) that we are not part of this material world and be concerned with how to become free from it. There are thus two types of souls. Some are nitya-baddha, identified with the material reality, while others are nitya-mukta, identified with their eternal nature of service to Kṛṣṇa. We are unfortunately currently in the first category, and our goal is to progress into the second.
When we are in the material world, the division of time into past, present, and future makes it look like we have always been here. In the same way, when we become free, the absence of past and future in the spiritual world makes it feel as if we never left. This is just yet another inconceivable aspect of Kṛṣṇa’s potencies.
This leads to the second part of Prabhupāda’s purport:
“This ordinary living being is of two kinds — nitya-baddha or nitya-mukta. One is eternally conditioned and the other eternally liberated. The eternally liberated living beings are in the Vaikuṇṭha jagat, the spiritual world, and they never fall into the material world. Those in the material world are conditioned souls, nitya-baddha. The nitya-baddhas can become liberated by controlling the mind because the cause of conditioned life is the mind. When the mind is trained and the soul is not under the mind’s control, the soul can be liberated even in this material world. When it is liberated, one is called jīvan-mukta. A jīvan-mukta knows how he has become conditioned; therefore he tries to purify himself and return home, back to Godhead.”
The conditioned state is compared to a dream. Just like we are sometimes awake and sometimes asleep, these two states of the soul, conditioned and liberated, are compared to being asleep and awakened. Those who are sleeping are called eternally conditioned, and those who are awakened are called eternally liberated.
If I dream I’m Napoleon, from inside the dream, it appears I have always been Napoleon. However, the questions “How have I become Napoleon?” or “When have I become Napoleon?” are nonsensical, because in truth, I’m not Napoleon. This is just a mental invention. When I finally wake up, this becomes clear.
Similarly, being conditioned, or asleep, means forgetting our eternal nature and falling under the control of the material mind, while liberation means understanding I’m eternally part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, eternally connected with Him in a bond of love, and meant to serve Him.
Being liberated is not even a matter of being in the spiritual world, but being situated in this constitutional position of service. As Prabhupāda mentions: “īhā yasya harer dāsye. If one takes to Kṛṣṇa’s service, he is liberated, even though he appears to be a conditioned soul within the material world. Jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. In any condition, one is to be considered liberated if his only business is to serve Kṛṣṇa.”
“There are two kinds of kṣetrajña — the living entity, as explained above, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is explained as follows. He is the all-pervading cause of creation. He is full in Himself and is not dependent on others. He is perceived by hearing and direct perception. He is self-effulgent and does not experience birth, death, old age or disease. He is the controller of all the demigods, beginning with Lord Brahmā. He is called Nārāyaṇa, and He is the shelter of living entities after the annihilation of this material world. He is full of all opulences, and He is the resting place of everything material. He is therefore known as Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By His own potency, He is present within the hearts of all living entities, just as the air or vital force is within the bodies of all beings, moving and nonmoving. In this way He controls the body. In His partial feature, the Supreme Personality of Godhead enters all bodies and controls them.” (SB 5.11.13-14)
After explaining the position of the jīva, Jaḍa Bharata explains the position of the Lord, who remains always transcendental. The Lord is the controller of the material energy, and it is impossible for him to fall under its control, just as it is impossible for a human being to drown in a drop of water. In His expansions as the puruṣa-avatāras, He runs the material creation, and from His transcendental position, He tries to coach us into returning to our eternal position.
As Prabhupāda explains: “Every living being is controlled by the supreme living being, Paramātmā, who resides within everyone’s heart. He is the puruṣa, the puruṣa-avatāra, who creates this material world. The first puruṣa-avatāra is Mahā-Viṣṇu, and that Mahā-Viṣṇu is the plenary portion of the plenary portion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s first expansion is Baladeva, and His next expansions are Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha and Pradyumna. Vāsudeva is the original cause of the brahmajyoti, and the brahmajyoti is the expansion of the rays of the body of Vāsudeva.”
“My dear King Rahūgaṇa, as long as the conditioned soul accepts the material body and is not freed from the contamination of material enjoyment, and as long as he does not conquer his six enemies and come to the platform of self-realization by awakening his spiritual knowledge, he has to wander among different places and different species of life in this material world.” (SB 5.11.15)
Once we understand the two states of the jīva, as being conditioned or liberated, the next question is: what exactly keeps us here? What are the factors that we have to stop to become free?
Jaḍa Bharata points out three factors:
a) Vidhūya māyām: We have to wash off the material illusions of being a king, a brāhmana, a man or a woman, belonging to a certain nation, etc., as well as all other material contaminations, such as lust, greed, etc.
b) Vimukta-saṅgaḥ: We should become free from attachment to bodily ties, materialistic friends, material society, and ultimately from the taste for material enjoyment itself. This may include direct physical separation, as when one enters into retired life, but the main point is to be detached from it in consciousness. Sometimes one may be able to remain detached even while living with one’s family or acting like a king.
c) Jita-ṣaṭ-sapatnaḥ: We should be able to conquer the six enemies (the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the mind). As previously mentioned, the senses are under the control of the mind, and therefore, when we conquer the mind, the senses are automatically controlled.
How can we attain such a platform? Vayunā udayena: We need to be awakened by transcendental knowledge, which is cultivated through good association and study of the scriptures. By developing transcendental knowledge and then engaging it practically in devotional service, we gradually develop all three factors and finally become free.
The human form of life is especially meant to clear these misconceptions. If we miss the opportunity, however, we remain bound to material existence.
“The soul’s designation, the mind, is the cause of all tribulations in the material world. As long as this fact is unknown to the conditioned living entity, he has to accept the miserable condition of the material body and wander within this universe in different positions. Because the mind is affected by disease, lamentation, illusion, attachment, greed and enmity, it creates bondage and a false sense of intimacy within this material world.” (SB 5.11.16)
Rahūgaṇa was under the material conception, composed of mamatā (false sense of ownership) and abhimāna (false sense of identity). In other words, he was under the material concept of “I” and “My”. Under this false conception, he was surely under the sway of anger, fear, lamentation, etc. Jaḍa Bharata, however, notes that this doesn’t come from the external arrangement (body, position, etc.) but from the mind, acting as ātma-liṅgam, the center of the material identity that conditions the soul.
As long as the mind remains conditioned, the king will remain bound to the material world, even if he changes his material position or even his body. The problem can be solved only by dissolving this false material identity based on the mind, and replacing it with his real identity as Kṛṣṇa’s servant.
“This uncontrolled mind is the greatest enemy of the living entity. If one neglects it or gives it a chance, it will grow more and more powerful and will become victorious. Although it is not factual, it is very strong. It covers the constitutional position of the soul. O King, please try to conquer this mind by the weapon of service to the lotus feet of the spiritual master and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Do this with great care.” (SB 5.11.17)
Jaḍa Bharata defines the mind as vyalīkam (not factual), but at the same time as adabhra-vīryam (very, very powerful). It may sound like a contradiction at first, but it becomes clear when we take it into the context of Bg 2.16, where Krsna says: nāsato vidyate bhāvo, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ. For the nonexistent (everything that is temporary), there is no continuity, and for the eternal (everything spiritual), there is no change. The mind is certainly not eternal, and is not part of our original identity. Therefore, it is asat in a sense, but this doesn’t mean it is not powerful, being created from Kṛṣṇa’s energy.
The next question is: how can we control this powerful enemy?
When we first read the translation and purport, we may get the impression of a contradiction. The translation says that “If one neglects it or gives it a chance, it will grow more and more powerful and will become victorious,” while the purport says that “There is one easy weapon with which the mind can be conquered — neglect. The mind is always telling us to do this or that; therefore we should be very expert in disobeying the mind’s orders.”
This is, however, not a contradiction. It is just Prabhupāda using the word “neglect” in two different senses. In the verse, it is mentioned: upekṣayā adhyedhitam (by being neglected, the mind grows more powerful). Here, the verse speaks about neglecting in the sense of letting it run free, neglecting to discipline it. That’s the meaning Prabhupāda gives in the translation.
In the purport, however, Prabhupāda speaks of neglecting in the sense of consciously challenging the dictates of the mind. As he mentions, “Gradually the mind should be trained to obey the orders of the soul. It is not that one should obey the orders of the mind. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say that to control the mind one should beat it with shoes many times just after awakening and again before going to sleep. In this way one can control the mind. This is the instruction of all the śāstras. If one does not do so, one is doomed to follow the dictations of the mind.”
Apart from the negative process of refusing the dictations of the mind, there is also the positive process of following the instructions of the spiritual master and keeping ourselves engaged in devotional service. As he quotes: “When one receives the seed of devotional service by the mercy of the guru and Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s real life begins. If one abides by the orders of the spiritual master, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he is freed from service to the mind.”
We can control the mind by either of these two processes, or ideally by a combination of both.
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