The ultimate goal (Srimad Bhagavatam #42)

Although Lord Kapila describes the practice of mystic yoga, the ultimate goal is pure devotional service, therefore the process He describes is not different from what we practice.

Although Lord Kapila describes the practice of mystic yoga, the ultimate goal is pure devotional service, therefore the process He describes is not different from what we practice apart from a few details. We meditate on the deity instead of meditating in Paramatma inside the heart, but the process of meditation on the form of the Lord is the same. Similarly, we chant the Mahamantra instead of the Omkara, but the process of reciting and fixing our attention on the transcendental sound vibration is the same. When the processes of Karma, Jñāna, or Yoga are practiced with some other purpose, they are considered separate processes, but when they are practiced with the goal of achieving devotional service, they are considered part of the Bhakti process. We can see that in the Bhagavad-Gita Prabhupada consistently translates terms such as Karma-yoga, Jñāna-yoga, etc. as "devotional service", instead of classifying them as separate processes.

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Varieties of living entities (3.29)

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The teachings that Lord Kapila transmits to us are based on seeing all living beings as parts and parcels of the Lord, but at the same time consider practical aspects while relating to each. Some living entities may be given charity in the form of prasadam and other gifts, to others we may behave friendly, and so on. We should not behave friendly towards a tiger, by embracing him, etc. but we can give him prasadam. Lord Kapila also explains the scale of spiritual evolution that determines how much a living entity has revived his original consciousness. It starts with the simplest living organisms and culminates with the pure devotee who is fully awakened to his eternal connection with Krishna. Association with a horse or an elephant will not be very productive or conducive to our spiritual advancement, but the association with a pure devotee is extremely valuable. One should receive a human guest inside his house, offering him a bed and other facilities, while a dog should be offered food while remaining outside of the house. A tree can't be received inside one's house, nor offered prasadam, but it can be given water and protected, for example. Just because all living beings are souls, it does not mean one should treat all in exactly the same way. By this description ,He teaches us about these practical distinctions. As Prabhupada explains in his purport:

"According to the Vedic system, a dog is not allowed to enter the house. Because of their uncleanliness, cats and dogs are not allowed within the apartment of a gentleman, but are so trained that they stand outside. The compassionate householder will supply prasāda to the dogs and cats, who eat outside and then go away. We must treat the lower living entities compassionately, but this does not mean that we have to treat them in the same way we treat other human beings. The feeling of equality must be there, but the treatment should be discriminating. Just how discrimination should be maintained is given in the following six verses concerning the different grades of living conditions."

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Here are the six verses with the explanations of Lord Kapila:

"Living entities are superior to inanimate objects, O blessed mother, and among them, living entities who display life symptoms are better. Animals with developed consciousness are better than them, and better still are those who have developed sense perception. Among the living entities who have developed sense perception, those who have developed the sense of taste are better than those who have developed only the sense of touch. Better than them are those who have developed the sense of smell, and better still are those who have developed the sense of hearing. Better than those living entities who can perceive sound are those who can distinguish between one form and another. Better than them are those who have developed upper and lower sets of teeth, and better still are those who have many legs. Better than them are the quadrupeds, and better still are the human beings. Among human beings, the society which is divided according to quality and work is best, and in that society, the intelligent men, who are designated as brāhmaṇas, are best. Among the brāhmaṇas, one who has studied the Vedas is the best, and among the brāhmaṇas who have studied the Vedas, one who knows the actual purport of Veda is the best. Better than the brāhmaṇa who knows the purpose of the Vedas is he who can dissipate all doubts, and better than him is one who strictly follows the brahminical principles. Better than him is one who is liberated from all material contamination, and better than him is a pure devotee, who executes devotional service without expectation of reward. Therefore I do not find a greater person than he who has no interest outside of Mine and who therefore engages and dedicates all his activities and all his life — everything — unto Me without cessation." (SB 3.29.28-33)

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The body a living entity can obtain is the result of the combination of one's desires and how much he can pay in terms of pious deeds. It's just like selecting an apartment: the final choice will be a combination of our preferences and how much we can pay. As mentioned in the 5th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, the soul prefers bodies with human forms, such as human beings and demigods, but in the impossibility of obtaining one, the soul may settle on anything available, just to have the opportunity to perform material activities. Souls who misuse their independence are degraded to lower species of life, where their free will is limited, and they lose the possibility of acting in criminal ways. They are then forced to perform their actions according to the laws of nature. In this condition, the soul gradually develops a new material identity by going through different species, of life, gradually evolving in the direction of the human form. As Prabhupada mentions, sometimes a soul can take shelter even in a stone or mountain, and in this case the symptom is that this stone or mountain grows, serving as a field of activity for the soul residing there. Generally speaking, however, inanimate objects are different from living beings.

When it comes to living beings, the simplest organisms are basically unconscious, just absorbing nutrients from the environment and growing. Some plants however show some degree of sense perception, being able to "see" by identifying obstacles with their roots and branches as they grow, as well as to display some rudimentary sense of smell based on specialized cells, that work more or less as part of the sense of touch. This allows these plants to display some level of consciousness, avoid obstacles while growing, communicate with other plants by releasing aromatic substances, identify predators, react to them by releasing certain chemicals (showing thus a rudimentary propensity for defense), and so on.

Better than these plants that have sense perception based on touch, are fish, because they have a developed sense of taste. Better than fish are insects such as bees, which have a developed sense of smell, and better are reptiles (starting from snakes) that have a developed sense of hearing. Most insects, fish, and reptiles can see to some degree, but higher animals can see in more detail, and thus distinguish one form from the other, like birds that use their vision to find food and prey. These are considered higher.

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We can see that although simple, the description of Lord Kapila is quite accurate in identifying the level of development of consciousness in different living entities based on simple characteristics. The teachings of Lord Kapila offer thus also a study of anthropology, explaining the evolution of the soul, starting from the simplest organisms all the way to the most culturally and intellectually developed human beings. Although short, this study is thus in many aspects more advanced than modern anthropological studies, which often make wrong assumptions.

More advanced than birds and other entities that can see are the ones who have developed upper and lower sets of teeth, which indicates that one is getting closer to the human level. In the Taittiriya Upanisad is described that the upper and lower jaw in a human being indicate the division between the animal consciousness, focused in just satisfying the needs of the body, and higher consciousness that can be used to understand spiritual matters. Developed upper and lower sets of teeth are found only in higher animals, such as mammals and evolved reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Similarly, animals that have four legs are superior to insects and other creatures that have many legs, and better than four-legged animals are human beings.

The Vedas count the different species as 8,400,000, and from these, 400,000 are human beings. This number includes species of human beings found in other planets, such Kinaras, and others, but even in our planet, there are thousands of different species of human beings. This is because the Vedas count species according to the level of consciousness, and not according to genetic similarity. Not all human beings have the same level of consciousness, therefore they are counted as different species, regardless of physical or genetic characteristics. This shows how a human body is not the end of the evolutionary process: once attaining a human body, the soul has still to progress from uncivilized life to civilized life and then gradually progress all the way to the level of a pure Vaishnava. The Vedas also bring the rather revolutionary concept that a human being can evolve to a higher grade of consciousness without having to change his body, through the appropriate purificatory process. A mleccha can thus become a Brahmana or even a pure Vaishnava.

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Modern societies are generally considered evolved due to technical development, but according to the Vedic classification, we are uncivilized, because we don't follow the regulations of the Varnasrama system, which is considered the beginning of civilized life. Inside of a varnasrama society, Brahmanas are considered the most evolved, because they are focused in developing their spiritual understanding. Even the platform of a Brahmana is however not perfection. A Brahmana has to carefully study the Vedas, and from Brahmanas who have done so, the best is one who comes to understand the real conclusion of the Vedas, which is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This understanding has three stages: Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. A Brahmana who reaches the third stage comes to the stage of devotional service as a Vaishnava. The Vaishnava is thus the conclusion of the evolution in the Brahminical stage. This supports the conclusions of our previous acaryas that a person who is following Vaishnava principles and worshiping the Lord by his practice of devotional service is automatically a Brahmana, just like one who has a million has automatically a thousand and a hundred.

Still more evolved than a Vaishnava who can understand the purpose of the Vedas is one who can explain it and destroy all doubts. However, just understanding the philosophy is not the conclusion: one has to the able to follow all standards and show proper Brahminical behavior. In other words, he has to practice what he teaches. Still more evolved is one who is in a liberated platform, free from material contamination, and even higher is a pure devotee, who serves the Lord without any expectation of reward. Such a pure Vaishnava can act as an acarya, training others to be elevated to a similar standard.

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As Prabhupada explains: "Further, there may be a learned brāhmaṇa Vaiṣṇava who can explain clearly and eradicate all doubts, but if he does not follow the Vaiṣṇava principles, then he is not situated on a higher level. One must be able to clear all doubts and simultaneously be situated in the brahminical characteristics. Such a person, who knows the purpose of the Vedic injunctions, who can employ the principles laid down in the Vedic literatures, and who teaches his disciples in that way, is called an ācārya. The position of an ācārya is that he executes devotional service with no desire for elevation to a higher position of life."

Prabhupada also mentions three categories of Vaishnavas, divided according to their level of realization. Vaishnavas in the first group have a sufficient understanding of the scriptures to sustain their own practice but are not well-versed enough to explain it to others in a convincing way. Vaishnavas in the second group have a deeper understanding and can explain this knowledge to others, helping them to also come to the platform of devotional service, but they are still progressing in terms of realization. The third group is composed of the perfect Vaishnavas who concluded this process of realization and can see everything in the Lord and the Lord in everything. Lord Kapila concludes by stating that He can find no person higher than such a pure Vaishnava who has no separate interest and dedicates all his actions, thoughts, and words to the service of the Lord without cessation. On SB 1.2.6 its mentioned that devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self. Such a pure devotee is one who achieved that. That's the ultimate goal of life.

The ultimate goal

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"Such a perfect devotee offers respects to every living entity because he is under the firm conviction that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has entered the body of every living entity as the Supersoul, or controller. My dear mother, O daughter of Manu, a devotee who applies the science of devotional service and mystic yoga in this way can achieve the abode of the Supreme Person simply by that devotional service. This puruṣa whom the individual soul must approach is the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Brahman and Paramātmā. He is the transcendental chief personality, and His activities are all spiritual." (SB 3.29.34-36)

Apart from respecting every living being as a soul, part and parcel of Krishna, another reason is the presence of the Supersoul inside their hearts. Understanding that Krishna is personally present in all bodies as the Supersoul, how can we disrespect or cause harm to anyone? Apart from that, although the Supersoul is not affected by material circumstances, He observes everything and is compassionate to the sufferings of the souls who are His parts and parcels. Therefore, when we cause harm to any living entity, we act against the will of the Supersoul, and we become thus entangled in the karmic reactions.

One of the ten offenses is to chant the holy names as a way to neutralize sinful acts committed willingly. By chanting the holy names we can easily become free from all past sinful reactions, as well as reactions for sins committed accidentally, but we should not think that by chanting and following the devotional service we become immune to all kinds of sinful acts and become entitled to harm others. One of the problems with practicing devotional service covered by passion or ignorance is exactly that we tend to see ourselves as higher or more important than others, and thus think we are entitled to harm or punish them. This is a symptom that we are still practicing devotional service under the spell of the false ego, and thus our practice is nourishing our material identity, making us think we re great devotees, higher than others. We ae supposed to see ourselves as smaller as we progress, not bigger.

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A pure devotee who became free from the spell of false ego treats everyone with respect, according to the practical considerations described previously. He can see both the soul and the Supersoul situated in every heart, and can also understand that although both share the same spiritual nature, they are separate individuals. He sees every body as a temple, where the Lord resides accompanied of His part and parcel, and thus offers respect to all such temples. In the Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes many episodes where Vaishnavas would offer obeisances even to atheists, offering their respects not to the conditioned material identity, but to the Supersoul residing in their hearts. Interestingly, is exactly this meek behaviour, combined with deep understanding of the philosophy that allows such great Vaishnavas to covert even staunch atheists to the practice of devotional service. We can observe this in the encounters of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Prakasananda Sarasvati, amongst other incidents. An intermediate devotee lacks such deep realization and thus his power to transmit Krishna Consciousness is limited.

These three verses are a conclusion of the description of the process of devotional service described by Lord Kapila in the previous verses. Although Lord Kapila describes the practice of mystic yoga, the ultimate goal is pure devotional service, therefore the process He describes is not different from what we practice apart from a few details. We meditate on the deity instead of meditating in Paramatma inside the heart, but the process of meditation on the form of the Lord is the same. Similarly, we chant the Mahamantra instead of the Omkara, but the process of reciting and fixing our attention on the transcendental sound vibration is the same. When the processes of Karma, Jñāna or Yoga are practiced with some other purpose, they are considered separate processes, but when they are practiced with the goal of achieving devotional service, they are considered part of the Bhakti process. We can see that in the Bhagavad-Gita Prabhupada consistently translates terms such as Karma-yoga, Jñāna-yoga etc. as "devotional service", instead of classifying them as separate processes.

The ultimate goal of the process of devotional service is pure love of Godhead, which is the ultimate perfectional stage of the soul. Because different processes such as Karma-yoga, Jñāna-yoga, Buddhi-yoga, etc. lead to this ultimate goal, they are considered different limbs of the same process.

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Devotional service can be performed in different ways. One can use his hands and legs to collect different ingredients to worship the deity, or one may do the same in his meditation. One may travel around the world teaching people about Krishna Consciousness, or one may just sit in one place, writing books or simply meditating in the form, qualities, and activities of the Lord. All these different forms of service are accepted by the Lord, the only distinction is the degree of attention and love with which they are performed. Narada Muni serves the Lord by traveling around the universe, chanting and preaching, Ambarīṣa Maharaja was serving the Lord by worshiping the deity, while Kardama Muni was serving mentally in his yogic trance, but ultimately there is no difference between their service, they are all pure devotees.

In his purport, Srila Prabhupada gives an interesting example to show how the development of our propensity of service to the Lord is the process of achieving ultimate happiness. The capacity of the soul for enjoyment is very small. The Lord is like a very rich man and the individual soul is like a pauper. Although the pauper has no resources for enjoying independently, when he cooperates with the rich man, aligning his desires with his desires, he can enjoy in cooperation with him. In this case, the enjoyment is shared equally. When the soul is connected with Krishna in love, abandoning his separatist mentality, he can experience enjoyment on the same level as the Lord. However, when we try to enjoy independently, we experience only frustration.

As he explains: "The quality of puruṣa exists both in the Supreme Godhead and in the living entity. Puruṣa means “enjoyer,” and the spirit of enjoyment is present both in the living entity and in the Supreme Lord. The difference is that the quantity of enjoyment is not equal. The living entity cannot experience the same quantity of enjoyment as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. An analogy may be made with a rich man and a poor man: the propensity for enjoyment is present in both, but the poor man cannot enjoy in the same quantity as the rich man. When the poor man dovetails his desires with those of the rich man, however, and when there is cooperation between the poor man and the rich man, or between the big and the small man, then the enjoyment is shared equally. That is like bhakti-yoga. Puruṣaḥ puruṣaṁ vrajet: when the living entity enters into the kingdom of God and cooperates with the Supreme Lord by giving Him enjoyment, he enjoys the same facility or the same amount of pleasure as the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

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The devastating effects of time

At the beginning of chapter 29, Devahuti asked her son three questions:

a) Explain more about the path of devotional service.

b) Describe the influence of eternal time.

c) Describe in detail the process of birth and death in this material world.

Lord Kapila already answered the first question, explaining in the previous verses the path of devotional service, the ultimate yoga system. Now He will answer the second part of her questions, explaining more about the influence of eternal time, the divine energy of the Lord that makes everyone involved in material activities and eventually brings everything material to an end. This explanation continues in the first verses of the next chapter.

The practical result of understanding the effects of time is detachment, which is very favorable for our spiritual practice. By fulfilling our duties, executing our material activities as an offering to the Lord, and at the same time developing knowledge about both the Lord and the workings of the material world we can develop a mature and long-lasting attitude of detachment, which can help us to finally become free of the material influence. One of the purposes of the philosophy enunciated by Lord Kapila is precisely to develop such an attitude.

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"The time factor, who causes the transformation of the various material manifestations, is another feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Anyone who does not know that time is the same Supreme Personality is afraid of the time factor. Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the enjoyer of all sacrifices, is the time factor and the master of all masters. He enters everyone’s heart, He is the support of everyone, and He causes every being to be annihilated by another. No one is dear to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, nor is anyone His enemy or friend. But He gives inspiration to those who have not forgotten Him and destroys those who have.

Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the wind blows, out of fear of Him the sun shines, out of fear of Him the rain pours forth showers, and out of fear of Him the host of heavenly bodies shed their luster. Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the trees, creepers, herbs and seasonal plants and flowers blossom and fructify, each in its own season. Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the rivers flow, and the ocean never overflows. Out of fear of Him only does fire burn and does the earth, with its mountains, not sink in the water of the universe.

Subject to the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sky allows outer space to accommodate all the various planets, which hold innumerable living entities. The total universal body expands with its seven coverings under His supreme control. Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the directing demigods in charge of the modes of material nature carry out the functions of creation, maintenance and destruction; everything animate and inanimate within this material world is under their control. The eternal time factor has no beginning and no end. It is the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the maker of the criminal world. It brings about the end of the phenomenal world, it carries on the work of creation by bringing one individual into existence from another, and likewise it dissolves the universe by destroying even the lord of death, Yamarāja." (SB 3.29.37-45)

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The description given by Lord Kapila in these nine verses can be divided into five points:

a) Terrible time as a manifestation of the Lord (verse 37)

b) A devotee has nothing to fear (verse 38)

c) Krishna protects His devotees (verse 39)

d) Everything is under the control of the Lord (verses 40 to 44)

e) The nature of time (verse 45)

Time as a manifestation of the Lord

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In the Mahabharata it is described that "sa cāpi keśau harir uccakarta, ekaṁ śuklam aparaṁ cāpi kṛṣṇam, tau cāpi keśāv āviśatāṁ yadūnāṁ, kule striyau rohiṇīṁ devakīṁ ca".

This verse is often incorrectly interpreted as “Viṣṇu took two hairs, one white and black. These two hairs entered the wombs of Rohiṇī and Devakī in the Yadu family. The white hair became Balarāma and the black hair became Kṛṣṇa.” However, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana emphasizes that the correct translation is “The black and white rays of Kṣīrodakaśāyī entered Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma situated in Devakī and Rohiṇī.”

All the incarnations of the Lord Who appear in this universe sprout from Lord Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, but when Krishna comes, the opposite occurs, and Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, together with all the other expansions merge into the body of the Lord. All the forms of Vishnu are aṁśas or plenary partial expansions of Krishna, and they merge into His body when He comes to display His pastimes. When svayam bhagavān appears, all of his aṁśa forms enter into Him as well.

When Krishna comes, all of His expansions, including all the forms of Vishnu and all His different potencies enter into His body, and these expansions manifest to perform different pastimes. Krishna does nothing apart from enjoying with His associates in Vrindavana. When a demon appears, Vāsudeva manifests to fight him. Similarly, when Krishna embarks on the chariot of Akrura to go to Mathura, he goes only to the outskirts of Vrindavana. At that point, Vāsudeva manifests and goes to Mathura to perform His pastimes there, while the original Krishna remains invisible in Vrindavana. The fact that the body of Krishna includes all the different potencies and expansions leads to many mysterious pastimes.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, sometimes Krishna speaks as Vāsudeva, in other verses as Paramatma, and so on. When He says kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho, lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ, "Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people" (11.32), He speaks as Kala, eternal time. In this passage, Lord Kapila describes this potency of the Lord that causes fear to all conditioned souls, by changing and destroying everything that exists.

Because this world is just a perverted reflection of the spiritual reality, no position here can be permanent. Just like a reflection in turbulent waters appears to be constantly moving, although the original object being reflected is not, everything here is constantly changing. Everything is created at a certain point, passes through certain transformations, and eventually faces destruction. Because no position in the material world is our eternal position, we can't stay permanently anywhere here. All of this happens due to the influence of time. Time creates a dream world where we can exert our material aspirations under the influence of false ego, but nothing is permanent. After each term of illusory activities, we have to move on. The influence of the illusory energy allows conditioned souls to forget this impending doom and continue with their worldly activities, believing that somehow they will find a way to avoid death, but when death and loss finally manifest, they become terrified.

In his description of the material world to the Haryaśvas (narrated in SB 6.5), Narada Muni describes time as kṣaura-pavyaṁ svayaṁ bhrami, an automatically revolving object made of sharp razors and thunderbolts. This indicates the nature of time as indestructible and unstoppable. As Lord Kapila mentions, time destroys even the lord of death himself, Yamarāja, what to say about others. Demigods have very long lives compared to us, but eventually, they also have to face death. No one can live in this material world eternally.

A devotee has nothing to fear

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Time gradually changes and destroys everything, under the indirect control of the Lord. As soon as a baby is born, his body starts to change, from a baby to a toddler, and then to a boy, a teenager, an adult, and an old man. The final change is death, which forces the soul to abandon all his possessions and start again in a new body. For someone attached to this material world, time is a terrifying force that each day brings him closer to death, but a devotee is not afraid of it, understanding that time is just a feature of the Supreme Lord.

A devotee understands that the influence of time is ultimately positive since it pushes us in the direction of frustration with the material manifestation and ultimate liberation. If it was not for the influence of material time, agitating the material elements and creating the temporary material manifestation, we would never have the opportunity to practice devotional service and revive our eternal relationship with the Lord. The change of a devotee from one material body to another is also coordinated by the Lord and his promotion to the spiritual world is also arranged, therefore a devotee has nothing to fear. Prabhupada gives the example that a female cat carries both rats and her kittens in her mouth. The situation appears to be the same, but the rat feels terrified, seeing the cat as death, while the kitten feels very comfortable, understanding that mother is just transporting him to another place.

Time is not different from the Supreme Lord. The same Lord who acts as time also appears as Paramatma to act as the support of everything. The Lord is thus responsible for both the maintenance and the destruction of all living beings, and without exception, everyone who takes birth in this material world has to face death at a certain point, as Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita: jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur, "One who has taken his birth is sure to die." Sometimes death comes by natural causes and sometimes it comes from the hands of another living being. By the influence of Paramatma, one living being is engaged in killing another, according to their karma and desires. One who in the past killed is later killed in similar circumstances by some other living being with a similar desire, and so on.

However, this process is not random. Everything is under the control of the Supreme Lord, and understanding this a devotee feels perfectly safe, even in the midst of great calamities. Rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke, māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke: If Krishna wants to protect someone, who can kill him? If Krishna wants to kill someone, who can protect him? Since everything is under the control of the Lord, we can just surrender to His will and feel safe under His protection. Once we do that, we can understand that everything that happens is for our ultimate good. Just like the Pandavas faced many difficulties, but achieved ultimate perfection at the end, the success of each devotee is already guaranteed, and Krishna has already chalked the path that leads to this ultimate success, we just need to allow Him to conduct us by the hand.

Krishna protects His devotees

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In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna mentions "I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him." This may sound like a contradiction, but it is not. It is just natural.

Although a rich man may be very charitable and take care of many orphans, being equally affectionate to all of them, still he will always have special affection for his own children. This is not partiality, it is just natural. As Prabhupada explains: "Any man in this material world may be very charitably disposed, yet he has a special interest in his own children. The Lord claims that every living entity – in whatever form – is His son, and so He provides everyone with a generous supply of the necessities of life. He is just like a cloud that pours rain all over, regardless of whether it falls on rock, land, or water. But for His devotees, He gives specific attention." Even the most charitable man will not be able to avoid having special affection for his own children due to the reciprocation of love present in the relationship. Similarly, Krishna is impartial to everyone in His activities of maintaining the material universes, as mentioned by Lord Kapila, but at the same time, He takes direct care of His devotees.

As Prabhupada mentions, "The Lord’s reciprocation should not be considered to be under the law of karma. It belongs to the transcendental situation in which the Lord and His devotees function. Devotional service to the Lord is not an activity of this material world; it is part of the spiritual world, where eternity, bliss and knowledge predominate."

The Lord destroys the atheists who are inimical to His service by appearing to them in the form of unsurmountable time and killing their material bodies. In this way, He annihilates the material identities they assume related to such bodies, allowing them to develop new material identities in their next lives and thus have opportunities of gradually change, and eventually come to a position of devotional service. To devotees, on the other hand, the Lord gives all facilities so they can quickly come to Him in the same life. Lord Kapila emphasizes this fact when He mentions that "He gives inspiration to those who have not forgotten Him and destroys those who have."

Everything is under the control of the Lord

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At this point, one could ask: What about the forces of nature? Are they also under the control of the Lord, or are natural disasters and other events random?

To this, Lord Kapila answers: "Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the wind blows, out of fear of Him the sun shines, out of fear of Him the rain pours forth showers, and out of fear of Him the host of heavenly bodies shed their luster."

The Lord is not only the controller of the process of birth and death, but the controller of everything, including the forces of nature. This statement reinforces the conclusion that a devotee has nothing to fear since these powerful forces are also under the complete control of the Lord. A materialist may fear floods and hurricanes, thinking that their appearance and effects are random, but a devotee understands that they can affect someone only to the extent the Lord allows it. The Lord also controls the growth of plants and the conditions necessary for it, He controls the flow of rivers and even the orbits of the planets. Everything we need to live is thus given by the Lord.

The nature of time

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Finally, what is the nature of time? Is it eternal, or is it temporary? If time is eternal, how can the material world be temporary, since it exists under its influence?

To this, Lord Kapila answers: so ’nanto ’nta-karaḥ kālo ’nādir ādi-kṛd avyayaḥ. Time has no beginning or end. It is eternal and imperishable, and the creator of all material things.

Time is one of the eternal energies of the Lord, Kala. Even the material energy itself (the external potency) is spiritual and eternal, just like time is. However, although both time and material nature are eternal as potencies of the Lord, the cosmic manifestation, which appears from the interaction between them, is not. The eternal material potency thus combines with the eternal time to create the material manifestation, which is repeatedly created and destroyed. The material world is not the original position of the soul, and thus it can't be eternal, just like a dream has to start at a certain point and end at a certain point. Since no one is born inside of the dream, the dreaming condition has a beginning, and an end, being ephemeral in nature. Eventually one has to wake up and return to reality.

The material creation is sometimes described as eternal in the sense that the cycles of creation and destruction go on indefinitely, and similarly, the soul is sometimes described as eternally conditioned in the sense that we are so long participating in this material creation that is impossible to calculate. However, since the soul is not part of the external potency, it means the soul is not originally part of this material world. The conditioning of the soul has thus a beginning, although it is not possible to trace it back.