The philosophy of the real Kapila (Sankhya #02)
Lord Kapila, the incarnation of the Lord, appeared to teach the original, theistic Sankhya system of philosophy, which describes devotional service. It has been studied by great sages since then.
« SANKHYA, The Philosophy of Lord Kapila
The philosophy of the real Kapila
The third canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam describes in detail the process of creation of the universe by Lord Brahma. After creating the universe, as well as the different species of living beings, Brahma created Svāyambhuva Manu and his wife Śatarūpā, to further populate the universe. Manu had a daughter called Devahuti, who after hearing Narada Muni describing the saintly qualities of Kardama Muni to his father, desired to marry the great sage. Understanding his daughter's desire, Svāyambhuva Manu traveled to the Bindu-sarovara to talk to him.
It happened that Kardama Muni had the desire to marry a spiritually advanced girl who could assist him in his practice of austerities, and with whom he could beget a few qualified children to help his father Brahma in his work of populating the universe. The problem Brahma faces in each of his days is not so much about generating population (which all kinds of living entities do more or less automatically due to the influence of sexual desire) but generating exalted children who can guide others and propagate Krsna consciousness. To generate such children, Kardama Muni practiced austerities for ten thousand years, practicing loving devotional service to the Lord in his yogic trance. It is described that when visiting Kardama Muni, Lord Vishnu shed tears of compassion, which became the Bindu-sarovara lake.
Kardama Muni had the opportunity to personally meet the Lord, who revealed the impending visit of Svāyambhuva Manu to him. Understanding Kardama Muni's sincere desire, the Lord had Himself arranged his marriage.
After practicing austerities for many years, Kardama Muni and Devahuti begot nine very qualified daughters, who were married to great sages, helping to populate the universe with enlightened beings. The tenth child was Lord Kapila, an incarnation of the Lord, who appeared to teach the Sankhya system of philosophy, which has been studied by great sages since then. After the birth of the Lord, Kardama Muni took sannyasa and left home, and Devahuti inquired about spiritual knowledge from her exalted son:
"Devahūti said: I am very sick of the disturbance caused by my material senses, for because of this sense disturbance, my Lord, I have fallen into the abyss of ignorance.
Your Lordship is my only means of getting out of this darkest region of ignorance because You are my transcendental eye, which, by Your mercy only, I have attained after many, many births.
You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin and Supreme Lord of all living entities. You have arisen to disseminate the rays of the sun in order to dissipate the darkness of the ignorance of the universe.
Now be pleased, my Lord, to dispel my great delusion. Due to my feeling of false ego, I have been engaged by Your māyā and have identified myself with the body and consequent bodily relations." (SB 3.25.7-10)
In her questions, Devahuti mentions: jijñāsayāham prakṛteḥ pūruṣasya. In other words, she asks about the relationship between prakṛti and puruṣa. You may remember that these two are also studied in the atheistic Sankhya, but now they will be explained in the correct way, being prakṛti defined as the external energy of the Lord, which is dependent on Him and can produce the material manifestations only when activated by His look, and puruṣa meaning both the Supreme Lord and the individual souls who under illusion try to become false enjoyers in this material world. This propensity to enjoy material nature is the cause of the miseries of the soul, and the process of eradicating these miseries and connecting the soul with his original sat-cit-ananda nature is the process of devotional service, described in detail by Lord Kapila.
As Prabhupada explains:
"Sānkhya philosophy, as is well known, deals with prakṛti and puruṣa. Puruṣa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or anyone who imitates the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an enjoyer, and prakṛti means “nature.” In this material world, material nature is being exploited by the puruṣas, or the living entities. The intricacies in the material world of the relationship of the prakṛti and puruṣa, or the enjoyed and the enjoyer, is called samsāra, or material entanglement. Devahūti wanted to cut the tree of material entanglement, and she found the suitable weapon in Kapila Muni."
In other words, the original Sankhya philosophy propounded by Lord Kapila explains about the Lord (the original puruṣa), about prakṛti (the material nature), the souls (the false puruṣas who try to enjoy the material nature), the relationship between the souls and matter (which is characterized by attachment and aversion), the suffering caused by it, and how can we cut this attachment to the material world and become again situated in our eternal position of bliss in the association of the Lord. Ordinarily, the word "puruṣa" is translated as "man", but as Prabhupada explains, in this case, puruṣa refers to both men and women trying to enjoy the material nature. It's about the conditioned situation of the soul, and not about a specific gender.
Material suffering is something that affects everyone in this world. No one can say that he or she has never experienced suffering. Once, there was a king called Śuddhodana who tried to raise his son in an environment completely free of suffering, keeping him in the palace, surrounded by only young and healthy people, never seeing disease or death. At some point, however, the prince decided to visit the royal gardens. Despite all the preparations done by the father, on the way he met with an old man, a leper, a funeral procession, and a mendicant. Understanding that everyone is attacked by disease, becomes old, and eventually dies, Prince Siddhartha suddenly understood the nature of this material world, and in the same night left the palace to become a mendicant and seek spiritual perfection, becoming known as Buddha, the enlightened.
In the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna lists four classes of people who turn to Him: the distressed (ārtaḥ), the seekers of knowledge (jijñāsuḥ), the seekers of material possessions (artha-arthī), and those who are situated in knowledge (jñānī). Of the four, the group seeking relief from distress is especially numerous. The ones who are now seeking knowledge come to this point after experiencing material reverses at some point. Similarly, the ones who are now seeking material wealth will eventually come to the point of searching for knowledge after experiencing the inevitable material difficulties that are part of life in this world. In this way, we can see that the distressed and the seekers of material possessions are the beginning students, who gradually progress and become part of the group seeking knowledge. On the other hand, the group that comes to Krsna being already situated in knowledge is composed of advanced students who have already surpassed the previous stages. At some point, they were looking for wealth, and then they experienced the inevitable pains of material life. This pain led them to look for spiritual knowledge, and having obtained this transcendental knowledge they are now surrendering to Krsna, understanding this as the perfection of life. One can come to Krsna at any of the four stages, and Krsna will help him or her to advance and come to the ultimate goal.
In this way, we can see that material distress is an inevitable feature of this material world. However, from the scriptures, we understand that our real nature is not misery and distress, but an eternal position of knowledge and bliss. Understanding this, the next question is how can we return to this eternal nature? This is answered by Lord Kapila next:
"The stage in which the consciousness of the living entity is attracted by the three modes of material nature is called conditional life. But when that same consciousness is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is situated in the consciousness of liberation.
When one is completely cleansed of the impurities of lust and greed produced from the false identification of the body as “I” and bodily possessions as “mine,” one’s mind becomes purified. In that pure state, he transcends the stage of so-called material happiness and distress.
At that time the soul can see himself to be transcendental to material existence and always self-effulgent, never fragmented, although very minute in size.
In that position of self-realization, by practice of knowledge and renunciation in devotional service, one sees everything in the right perspective; he becomes indifferent to material existence, and the material influence acts less powerfully upon him." (SB 3.25.15-18)
The soul is active by nature. Mayavadis try to extinguish their material existence by avoiding all activities, but this is an artificial situation. Instead, our natural propensity to act must be transferred from the material to the spiritual sphere. This is done by moving our attention from material subjects to topics connected with the Lord.
The senses automatically follow the mind. Wherever the mind goes, the body automatically follows. The thoughts of the mind are in turn formed by the information we receive and the activities we execute. If instead of focusing our consciousness on so many types of material information, we transfer it to topics related to the name, fame, activities, and service to the Lord, our consciousness is gradually purified, and the mind starts working in this direction. When the thoughts of the mind become absorbed in thoughts connected with the service of the Lord, the body and senses automatically follow, and we become busy in devotional service. This devotional service in turn further purifies our consciousness, making the mind even more focussed on thoughts of the Lord, and so on, creating a virtuous cycle that leads us to ultimate perfection.
All forms of material distress are connected with the body and the mind. As long as we identify with the body, we are vulnerable to them. However, as our consciousness becomes purified, we realize we are not the body or the mind. Both the body and the mind are tools we use to act in this material world, and both can be used in the service of the Lord, but our real identity is transcendental. We are the eternal soul, which is transcendental to both the body and the mind.
Every day in the world, millions of people suffer due to natural disasters, diseases, or different forms of misery caused by other human beings. Most of the time we don't pay so much attention to it, because these are just strangers we don't care so much about. However, when someone close to us, like a father, mother, son, etc. becomes diseased or dies, we suffer.
What is the difference between the millions of people who we don't care so much about and these close persons? The difference is identification. We identify with these close people and thus we share their happiness and distress, while we are more or less insensitive to the people we don't have a relationship with. Similarly, when we identify with the body and mind, we share their happiness and distress, but when we identify with our real nature as a soul, we become impervious to it. This means to become free from the material concepts of "I" and "Mine" that exist in conditioned life.
In this position, one starts to see himself as the soul, who is self-effulgent and never fragmented. Krsna is very big and we are very small, therefore our natural position is to serve Krsna in a bond of love. When we become situated in this position and occupy ourselves in devotional service, the material nature starts to act less powerfully upon us, and gradually we become completely free. This realization of being a soul however starts with transcendental knowledge, and that's exactly why the teachings of Lord Kapila in this section of Srimad Bhagavatam are so important.
In this way, up to here, we have the following points:
a) To transcend the platform of material distress and happiness, we have to purify our mind and consciousness.
b) The soul is active by nature, therefore the process to achieve this is not inaction, but action in Krsna consciousness. That's the essence of the bhakti-yoga system.
c) By hearing about Krsna and engaging in Krsna Conscious activities, we purify our mind and senses, and as they become purified, our actions also automatically become purified.
d) The mind must have some engagement, we can't make the mind vacant. Therefore, the process for purifying the mind is engaging it in Krsna consciousness. As the mind becomes purified, there is no more material desire and greed. As we become gradually free from the material conceptions of "I" and "mine", in the same proportion become situated in our original eternal spiritual position.
Freedom from material entanglement
After explaining the basic process of becoming free from material entanglement, Lord Kapila describes the practical steps to achieve it:
"Perfection in self-realization cannot be attained by any kind of yogī unless he engages in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for that is the only auspicious path.
Every learned man knows very well that attachment to the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation." (SB 3.25.19-20)
The Vedas prescribe different processes, such as karma and jñāna. However, as a means of self-realization, these processes are very limited. The path of karma, or fruitive activities can at best elevate one to the celestial planets, while jñāna, mental speculation, can't bring anyone further than the impersonal brahmajyoti, and even this is very difficult. To be effective, these paths have to be combined with devotional service. Karma combined with devotional service becomes karma-yoga, and jñāna combined with bhakti becomes jñāna-yoga. Both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga are effective processes recommended in the Bhagavad-gita. As we can see, the only effective process is devotional service, and other paths are only useful to the extent they are combined with bhakti.
Understanding that bhakti is everything, where can we learn this process of devotional service?
Just like activity can't be stopped, but it can be redirected to the service of the Lord, attachment also can't be stopped, but only redirected. The process of becoming free from attachment is thus not becoming inert like a stone, but redirecting this attachment to devotees of the Lord, who hold the keys for the practice of devotional service. Becoming situated in devotional service starts thus with associating with pure devotees engaged in this service and developing attachment to them. Just as one becomes a businessman by associating with other businessmen, one becomes a pure devotee by associating with pure devotees. The perfect example of the power of such association has already been given in the first canto, in the story of the boy Narada Muni associating with the Bhaktivedantas and attaining perfection in the same life.
This adds two more points to our list:
e) Devotional service is the only process of self-realization. All other processes are only effective to the degree they are mixed with bhakti.
f) Attachment can't be stopped, but it can be redirected to pure devotees of the Lord. By relating to such enlightened souls, we gradually become like them.
Finding real sādhus
After understanding the importance of association with pure devotees, the next question is: how can we find such persons? This is answered in the next three verses:
"The symptoms of a sādhu are that he is tolerant, merciful and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.
Such a sādhu engages in staunch devotional service to the Lord without deviation. For the sake of the Lord he renounces all other connections, such as family relationships and friendly acquaintances within the world.
Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sādhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities." (SB 3.25.21-23)
Philanthropy in the human platform is based on taking from one group and giving to another. One may kill animals to feed human beings, fight one group to improve the situation of another, and so on. Because one is in the bodily concept of life, his propensity to serve will be always limited to a certain group, sect or species. A second limitation is that it will be limited just to the body. One may open a hospital to treat people's bodies, but one will not be able to do anything for the soul.
A true sadhu, someone situated in perfect Krsna consciousness, is the only one who can be a friend for all living entities because he is the only one free from the partiality that comes from identifying with a particular type of body, nation, or culture. He is the one who can see everyone as a soul, and help everyone with the best type of charity, by helping them to become Krsna conscious. As Prabhupada points out, this is a tankless task, because conditioned souls are often hostile to someone who tries to push them out of the bodily concept of life. Even great sadhus are sometimes attacked, like Haridasa Thakura or Nityananda Prabhu, but still they continue their work.
As Prabhupada explains in his purport:
"One of the qualifications of a sādhu is that he is very tolerant and is merciful to all fallen souls. He is merciful because he is the well-wisher of all living entities. He is not only a well-wisher of human society, but a well-wisher of animal society as well. It is said here, sarva-dehinām, which indicates all living entities who have accepted material bodies. Not only does the human being have a material body, but other living entities, such as cats and dogs, also have material bodies. The devotee of the Lord is merciful to everyone — the cats, dogs, trees, etc. He treats all living entities in such a way that they can ultimately get salvation from this material entanglement. Śivānanda Sena, one of the disciples of Lord Caitanya, gave liberation to a dog by treating the dog transcendentally. There are many instances where a dog got salvation by association with a sādhu because a sādhu engages in the highest philanthropic activities for the benediction of all living entities. Yet although a sādhu is not inimical towards anyone, the world is so ungrateful that even a sādhu has many enemies."
It's said that a pure devotee automatically develops all the qualities of the demigods, while a materialist has no good qualities at all. This may sound like an unfair conclusion at first, but it holds true when we examine it carefully.
In its pure state, a soul can display up to 78% of the qualities of Krsna (although not in the same quantity as the Lord). The percentage of qualities a soul can display is connected with one's level of spiritual advancement. The more one is engrossed in ignorance, the more his original qualities will be covered. Therefore, only a sadhu will exhibit true good qualities. A materialist may superficially exhibit some good qualities, such as good education and good manners, but these qualities will not go very deep. As Prabhupada explains:
"A sādhu is calm, and he quietly and peacefully follows the principles of scripture. A sādhu means one who follows the principles of scripture and at the same time is a devotee of the Lord. One who actually follows the principles of scripture must be a devotee of God because all the śāstras instruct us to obey the orders of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore sādhu means a follower of the scriptural injunctions and a devotee of the Lord. All these characteristics are prominent in a devotee."
Most of the time, Prabhupada uses the word "devotee" or "Vaishnava" in the sense of a pure devotee. Therefore, when he describes the qualities of a devotee, doesn't necessarily mean that all of us will be able to immediately exhibit all these qualities, but they will appear gradually to the extent we are honest and sincere in our practice. Another point is that people sometimes have bad experiences with so-called sādhus who don't have proper qualities. When Prabhupada was small, his father was constantly inviting "sādhus" to their house, but Prabhupada was not very impressed with their behavior. However, when he later met a true sādhu, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he was immediately attracted.
The main quality of a sādhu is his sincere desire to serve Krsna and to teach others to also serve Krsna. If this quality is present, different faults and deficiencies will be eventually cleared. On the other hand, other qualities have little value if this main quality is absent. As Prabhupada explains:
"Here it is recommended that attachment should be transferred to the self-realized devotees, the sādhus. And who is a sādhu? A sādhu is not just an ordinary man with a saffron robe or long beard. A sādhu is described in Bhagavad-gītā as one who unflinchingly engages in devotional service. Even though one is found not to be following the strict rules and regulations of devotional service, if one simply has unflinching faith in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, he is understood to be a sādhu. Sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ. A sādhu is a strict follower of devotional service."
As indicated in the second verse, many sādhus become sannyasis and renounce all family connections to increase their devotional service to the Lord, but one doesn't necessarily have to be a sannyasi to be a sādhu. The main characteristic is his propensity to serve Krsna and teach others to be also engaged in this service. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, for example, was a sādhu, although performing his duties as a king in family life.
Because pure devotees are firmly situated in Krsna consciousness, they forget about material inebrieties and remain free from all anxieties and material miseries. Ordinary conditioned souls on the other hand exhibit the opposite characteristics, becoming very attentive to the anxieties and miseries of this world and forgetful about Krsna.
The result of good association
Lord Kapila then proceeds to describe the results of this association with pure devotees:
"O My mother, O virtuous lady, these are the qualities of great devotees who are free from all attachment. You must seek attachment to such holy men, for this counteracts the pernicious effects of material attachment.
In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.
Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the Lord. This process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the easiest process of mystic power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he is able to control the mind." (SB 3.25.24-26)
Pious activities such as opening hospitals or taking care of people's material well-being give material results that can be enjoyed in one's future lives. Devotional service however is in a completely different category, because it allows us to attain the direct association of the Lord. One doesn't even have to first abandon his body to associate with the Lord, because the Lord is present with us even here. We just need to turn our attention to Him. The Lord is unlimitedly powerful and can't be conquered by any material process, but He can be easily conquered by a devotee who develops sincere love for Him. As Lord Kapila concludes:
"Thus by not engaging in the service of the modes of material nature but by developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, knowledge in renunciation, and by practicing yoga, in which the mind is always fixed in devotional service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one achieves My association in this very life, for I am the Supreme Personality, the Absolute Truth." (SB 3.25.27)
After hearing this, Devahuti, speaking as if she was an ordinary woman, said:
"What kind of devotional service is worth developing and practicing to help me easily and immediately attain the service of Your lotus feet?
The mystic yoga system, as You have explained, aims at the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is meant for completely ending material existence. Please let me know the nature of that yoga system. How many ways are there by which one can understand in truth that sublime yoga?
My dear son, Kapila, after all, I am a woman. It is very difficult for me to understand the Absolute Truth because my intelligence is not very great. But if You will kindly explain it to me, even though I am not very intelligent, I can understand it and thereby feel transcendental happiness." (SB 3.25.28-30)