Passing the ultimate test: the example of Pṛthu Maharaja

Death is the most difficult test. That's the point where all material possessions are finally taken away, and our attachment to Krsna is put to the test. What will be stronger?

Death is the most difficult test a devotee can face. That’s the point where all the material possessions and relationships that are dear to us are finally taken away, and our attachment to Krsna is put to the test. What will be our reaction at this crucial moment? Will our attachment to Krsna be stronger, or will our material attachments pull us in the direction of another go in conditioned life?

To help us, the scriptures give the examples of exalted devotees who passed the same test. Everyone who accepts a material body has to pass the same test, be it a pure devotee or even an empowered incarnation. We should not think that the test is easier for them: the challenge is exactly the same. What is different is that they know how to pass the test in the perfect way, and can thus show us how to do the same. One of such great examples is the passage of Pṛthu Maharaja, described in the 4th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.

The last lesson of any great spiritual teacher is how to face the ultimate test: death. After fulfilling all his other duties in his earthly pastimes, Pṛthu Maharaja had a last mission to accomplish, abandoning his material body in perfect consciousness and returning home, back to Godhead, leaving his example for all who would follow.

The time of death is the most difficult, and therefore is the test for all the spiritual practice we performed during our lives. We practice with the goal of fixing our attention on Krsna, always remembering Him, and never forgetting Him, and this is tested at the time of death. If we can pass this ultimate test, our trip back to Godhead is guaranteed.

The process of leaving the body by yogic meditation used by Pṛthu Maharaja allows one to leave his body at the time of his choosing. One can thus leave while still strong physically and mentally, instead of waiting for cruel death. However, different from impersonalists, Pṛthu Maharaja performed this process in perfect Krsna consciousness, fixing his mind firmly upon Krsna, and firmly situated on the brahma-bhūta platform.

Why did he decide to use the process of meditation to leave his body, if he was situated in perfect Krsna consciousness? The answer is that a pure devotee is not shy of using any material facility available for Krsna, and surely the ability of leaving one’s body at will becomes handy when it’s time to return back home, back to Godhead. By using this process, one can take control over the process and be sure to leave the body in the most favorable circumstances. Bhīṣmadeva also had the power to choose the time to leave, and he chose to go in the most auspicious moment, when he was surrounded by the Pandavas and in the presence of the Lord Himself.

Pṛthu Maharaja used the process of control of the vital air to leave his body at the time of his choosing. When one dies, the subtle body is carried to another body by the vital air. For ordinary people, this process is involuntary, conducted according to the results of one’s karma. Advanced yogis, however, can control the movements of the vital air, and thus move the subtle body out of the body at the moment and conditions of their choosing. When one dies, the soul can leave the body through different paths according to one’s next destination, but one can select his next destination by leaving his body through the hole on the top of the skull.

After leaving the body, the soul is still encased by the subtle body, which is composed of subtle versions of the five elements, as well as the mind, intelligence, and false ego. To give up these coverings, the yogi returns these elements to their causes. In short, the yogic process is based on deeply understanding the creation of the material elements (air being created from ether, fire from air, water from fire, etc). These same elements are used by the soul in the womb to constitute one’s body, in another process of creation. While leaving this world, a yogi meditates upon this process in reverse to become free from the material coverings. After this process is concluded, one finally becomes again pure consciousness, free from material contamination.

Once one becomes free from all coverings, there is still one last obstacle: one can either reach the spiritual planets or merge into the impersonal Brahmajyoti. If one has no information about the spiritual planets and no devotion to the Lord, one will not be able to cross the impersonal Brahmajyoti, and from there, there is all possibility of falling back into the material world. In his purport to text 4.23.15, Prabhupada mentions that an impersonalist has a 99.9% chance of falling back from the Brahmajyoti, but there is a very small chance that one may be promoted to the spiritual planets from there. Although it is improbable, it is not impossible. This process is not random; however, it depends on one having at least some information about the spiritual planets and some devotion or desire to meet the Lord. As he explains:

“When a living entity gives up the material coverings, he remains a spirit soul. This spirit soul must enter into the spiritual sky to merge into the Brahman effulgence. Unfortunately, unless the living entity has information of the spiritual world and the Vaikuṇṭhas, there is a 99.9 percent chance of his falling down again into material existence. There is, however, a small chance of being promoted to a spiritual planet from the Brahman effulgence, or the brahmajyoti. This brahmajyoti is considered by impersonalists to be without variety, and the Buddhists consider it to be void. In either case, whether one accepts the spiritual sky as being without variety or void, there is none of the spiritual bliss which is enjoyed in the spiritual planets, the Vaikuṇṭhas or Kṛṣṇaloka. In the absence of varieties of enjoyment, the spirit soul gradually feels an attraction to enjoy a life of bliss, and not having any information of Kṛṣṇaloka or Vaikuṇṭhaloka, he naturally falls down to material activities in order to enjoy material varieties.”

In the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, it is described that Gopa Kumāra visited the impersonal Brahmajyoti after passing through the coverings of the universe and the pradhāna. However, due to his devotion, his experience was different than that of an impersonalist, for he was able to see the personal form of the Lord behind the light. He also never became unconscious, because his spiritual senses were awakened. At the end, it was just part of his journey to join the Lord in Goloka Vṛndāvana.

When one is an impersonalist, however, attaining the Brahmajyoti results in an unconscious state, because the material consciousness is annihilated, but one’s spiritual consciousness remains dormant. In this case, one remains there in an unconscious state. However, in the case of a devotee who has practiced the process to awaken his spiritual consciousness, the elimination of the material consciousness results in a fully awakened state, where the soul becomes fully awakened to his original constitutional position, ready to serve the Lord. “When the mind is completely washed of all material contamination, the pure consciousness acts.”

How does this apply to our practical life? As Prabhupada mentions in his purport to text 17, we can achieve the same result through the process of ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam, cleansing the mind of all material contamination by the chanting of the holy names. This process simultaneously cleanses the mind, extinguishing the causes of conditioned life, and awakens our original spiritual consciousness. When this process is complete, we can join the Lord in His pastimes in the spiritual sky, just like Pṛthu Maharaja.

We become entrapped in the material world due to our desire to Lord over the material energy, which is one of the potencies of the Lord. Due to this perverted desire, the Lord arranges for us to receive different material bodies one after the other. Once in a material body, we are overwhelmed by material desires and act materially from one life to the next. However, when one finally comes to the position of controlling one’s senses, one is called a prabhu, master of the senses. At this stage, one becomes free from the influence of the material energy.

Many of such prabhus take shelter in the perfect ācārya, who is called Prabhupada, “one at whose feet many prabhus sit”. Pāda also means “position”, and in this sense, Prabhupada means that he received the position of prabhu, as a representative of the Supreme Lord. He is as good as God because he acts as His representative. Our spiritual society is composed of many spiritual seekers and devotees, who take shelter in the many prabhus, advanced devotees, and self-realized souls who walk amongst us. All these prabhus take shelter on the ācārya, Prabhupada, who connects us to the Supreme Lord through his vāṇī, his teachings, and his personal example.

By this process, we become free from matter and revive our original position as souls. What position is that? Prabhupada answers in his purport to text 4.23.18:

“The real identity of the individual soul lies in understanding or attaining the knowledge that he is eternally a servant of Kṛṣṇa. This understanding is called svarūpopalabdhi. By culturing devotional service, the devotee gradually comes to understand his actual relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This understanding of one’s pure spiritual position is called svarūpopalabdhi, and when one attains that stage he can understand how he is related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a servant or friend, or as a parent or conjugal lover. This stage of understanding is called svarūpa-sthaḥ. Pṛthu Mahārāja realized this svarūpa completely, and it will be clear in the later verses that he personally left this world, or this body, by riding on a chariot sent from Vaikuṇṭha.”

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