Prevented from escaping the material world
Another topic that is discussed in the allegory of the material world as the great forest of enjoyment are some of the traps that prevent a soul from leaving this world.
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Apart from the negative aspects of material life, another topic that is discussed in the allegory of the material world as the great forest of enjoyment in the 5th canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, are some of the traps that prevent a soul from leaving this world.
All starts with the regular process of material enjoyment, which is the source of conditioning, but also the reason for one to start seeking a way out, when things don’t go as planned:
“Sometimes the living entity in the forest of material existence takes shelter of creepers and desires to hear the chirping of the birds in those creepers. Being afraid of roaring lions in the forest, he makes friends with cranes, herons and vultures.” (SB 5.13.16)
In such a dangerous forest, one seeks shelter in creepers, which represent the arms of a wife. Within these creepers, one becomes satisfied hearing the chirping of birds, which are compared to sweet talks with her, as well as the sweet words of children. This position, however, is not safe, since there are roaring lions around, which are compared with cruel death.
No one is safe in this world, and thus, when a person becomes a little introspective, one starts looking for some kind of shelter.
In the allegory, one tries to save oneself from death by taking shelter in cranes, herons, and vultures (false gurus and sādhus), who are powerless to protect him. Instead, one should take shelter in the Supreme Lord. The word “hari” means both lion, and the Supreme Lord, Hari. To be saved from hari, the lion of death, one has to take shelter of Hari.
This analogy is expanded and explained in verses 5.14.28 and 29:
“Sometimes the conditioned soul is attracted by illusion personified (his wife or girlfriend) and becomes eager to be embraced by a woman. Thus he loses his intelligence as well as knowledge of life’s goal. At that time, no longer attempting spiritual cultivation, he becomes overly attached to his wife or girlfriend and tries to provide her with a suitable apartment. Again, he becomes very busy under the shelter of that home and is captivated by the talks, glances and activities of his wife and children. In this way he loses his Kṛṣṇa consciousness and throws himself in the dense darkness of material existence.
The personal weapon used by Lord Kṛṣṇa, the disc, is called hari-cakra, the disc of Hari. This cakra is the wheel of time. It expands from the beginning of the atoms up to the time of Brahmā’s death, and it controls all activities. It is always revolving and spending the lives of the living entities, from Lord Brahmā down to an insignificant blade of grass. Thus one changes from infancy, to childhood, to youth and maturity, and thus one approaches the end of life. It is impossible to check this wheel of time. This wheel is very exacting because it is the personal weapon of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the conditioned soul, fearing the approach of death, wants to worship someone who can save him from imminent danger. Yet he does not care for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose weapon is the indefatigable time factor. The conditioned soul instead takes shelter of a man-made god described in unauthorized scriptures. Such gods are like buzzards, vultures, herons and crows. Vedic scriptures do not refer to them. Imminent death is like the attack of a lion, and neither vultures, buzzards, crows nor herons can save one from such an attack. One who takes shelter of unauthorized man-made gods cannot be saved from the clutches of death.”
Prabhupāda concludes these two verses by bringing our attention to the movement he created to save us from these spiritual cheaters and connect us with the true process to become free from birth and death: “The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying its best to bring people back to Kṛṣṇa consciousness in its pure form, but the pāṣaṇḍīs and atheists, who are cheaters, are so numerous that sometimes we become perplexed and wonder how to push this movement forward. In any case, we cannot accept the unauthorized ways of so-called incarnations, gods, cheaters and bluffers, who are described here as crows, vultures, buzzards and herons.”
Unfortunately, when one comes to sincerely trying to follow, the cranes, herons, and vultures attack, defaming in so many ways. To avoid them, we have to ultimately become mature enough to differentiate gold from fool’s gold, and this knowledge is given to us by Prabhupāda in his books.
This process of coming in contact with saintly persons as a solution for material entanglement is explained in text 5.14.39:
“Saintly persons, who are friends to all living entities, have a peaceful consciousness. They have controlled their senses and minds, and they easily attain the path of liberation, the path back to Godhead. Being unfortunate and attached to the miserable material conditions, a materialistic person cannot associate with them.”
Cheated, one sometimes comes to the right path, but unfortunately, this is not the end of the challenges:
“Being cheated by them, the living entity in the forest of the material world tries to give up the association of these so-called yogīs, svāmīs and incarnations and come to the association of real devotees, but due to misfortune he cannot follow the instructions of the spiritual master or advanced devotees; therefore he gives up their company and again returns to the association of monkeys who are simply interested in sense gratification and women. He derives satisfaction by associating with sense gratifiers and enjoying sex and intoxication. In this way he spoils his life simply by indulging in sex and intoxication. Looking into the faces of other sense gratifiers, he becomes forgetful and thus approaches death.” (SB 5.13.17)
This verse continues the analogy from the previous text. Frustrated in material life, or fearful of death, a person goes to false gurus, yogis, and incarnations, and, being cheated by them, sometimes comes in contact with real devotees, often even taking initiation from a bona fide spiritual master. However, this is in itself not the end of the way. Advancing in the spiritual path involves following regulative principles and the instructions of the spiritual master, which can be difficult.
The point is that when we somehow or other come to understand the nature of the material world and become determined to become free from material illusion, we find the determination to follow spiritual principles that help us on that. This creates a virtuous cycle, where we follow, notice our advancement, and thus become more determined in continuing to follow. However, when we maintain the idea of enjoying materially, we tend to reject the spiritual master at a certain point, since he will not encourage us on this path. One may then conclude that the guru is too strict, or that his teachings are impractical, and look for some other group with laxer standards. This, in turn, can bring us to sahajiyās and new age groups that offer some form of spirituality, without the need of following rules and regulations.
These cheap spiritualists are compared to monkeys, who are simply interested in sense gratification and women. Outwardly, they may try to imitate the appearance and behavior of what people perceive as a sadhu, with a long beard and simple clothes, but internally, they think about women and followers. Prabhupāda clarifies the analogy in his purport:
“Outwardly, monkeys sometimes resemble sādhus because they live naked in the forest and pick fruits, but their only desire is to keep many female monkeys and enjoy sex life.”
In association with them, devotees often go back into illicit sexual relationships and intoxication, while believing themselves to be very advanced. The whole cycle is summarized by Prabhupāda later in the same purport:
“Sometimes so-called spiritualists seeking a spiritual life come to associate with Kṛṣṇa conscious devotees, but they cannot execute the regulative principles or follow the path of spiritual life. Consequently they leave the association of devotees and go to associate with sense gratifiers, who are compared to monkeys. Again they revive their sex and intoxication, and looking at one another’s faces, they are thus satisfied. In this way they pass their lives up to the point of death.”
This point is expanded in texts 5.14.30 and 31, where Prabhupāda expands this comparison of sahajiyās with monkeys, and even uses Darwin as support, sarcastically remarking that Darwin concluded that humans came from monkeys and, in fact, such cheap spiritualists are descendants of monkeys.
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