EASTERN ATLANTIC CIRCULATION DURING THE MESSINIAN
4.4. Age Model
"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the imper
sonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes."
Animals have no ability to know that they are in darkness, but human beings can know. Like Devahuti, an intelligent person should become disgusted with the darkness of ignorance.
Na hanyate hanyamane sarire.
As stated inBhagavad-gita (2.20),
there is neither birth nor death for the soul. The soul is not destroyed when the body is annihilated. The soul puts bodies on and takes them off like clothes. This sim
ple knowledge is instructed in the beginning of
Bhagavad-gita,
yet there are many big scholars and leaders who still cannot understand that the body is different from the person. This is because they do not studyBhagavad-gita
in the proper way. Consequently no one is fully aware or convinced that the real person is not the body. This is called darkness, and when one is disgusted with this darkness, human life begins... '
Devahiiti Desires Transcendental Knowledge 53
One who has become disgusted with material existence needs the in
structions of a guru. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijfiiisu� sreya uttamam.
Being the wife of a great yogi, Devahiiti understood her constitutional position; therefore she is placing her problem before her son, Kapiladeva, an incarnation of God. Although Kapiladeva is her son, Devahiiti does not hesitate to take instructions from Him. She does not say, "Oh, He is my son. What can He tell me? I am His mother, and I shall instruct Him." Instruction has to be taken from one who is in knowledge. It doesn't matter what his position is, whether he is a son, a boy, a sadra, brahmar;ta, sannyasi or grhastha. One should simply learn from one who knows. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instruction. Al
though Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself was a brahmar;ta and a sannyasi, He took instructions from Ramananda Raya, who was a sadra and grhastha but nonetheless, very exalted spiritually. When Caitanya Maha
prabhu saw that Ramananda Raya was hesitant to give instructions, the Lord said, "Why are you hesitating? Although you are a grhastha and are born in a sadra family, I am prepared to take lessons from you."
kiba vipra, kiba nyiisi, sadra kene naya yei kr�r:ta-tattva-vetta, sei 'guru' haya
(Cc. Madhya
8.128)
This is Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching. Whoever is qualified in K:r��a consciousness can become a guru. His family or material identity does not matter. He simply must know the science. When we consult an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer, we do not ask whether he is a brahmar;ta or a sadra.
If he is qualified, he can help with a particular subject. Similarly, if one knows the science of K:r��a, he can be a guru. Devahiiti was taking lessons from her son because He knew the science of K:r��a. Even if gold is in a filthy place, we should take it. It is also stated in the Vedas that if a girl is highly qualified or beautiful, she can be accepted in marriage even though born in a lower family. Thus it is not birth that is important, but qualification. Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted everyone in India to know the science of K:r��a and preach K:r��a consciousness. This is very sim
ple. We need only repeat what K:r��a has said or what has been said about K:r��a in the Vedic literatures.
Human society cannot be happy without K:r��a consciousness. K:r��a is
54 Teachings of Lord Kapila
the supreme enjoyer, and we are His servants. The master is enjoying, and the servants are helping the master enjoy. We living entities are eternal servants of God, and our duty is to help our master enjoy. Srimati RAdhArAI}.i is the topmost servant of ��l}.a, and Her business is always to keep ��l}.a pleased. ��l}.a is very fond of RAdhArAI}.i because She ren
ders the best service. Her sixty-four qualifications are mentioned in the Vedic literatures. Unfortunately, in the material world we are busy try
ing to enjoy our material senses. As stated in Bhagavad-gita
(3.42):
indriyar,ti parar,ty ahur
indriyebhya� param mana�
manasas tu para buddhir yo buddhe� paratas tu sa�
"The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he (the soul) is even higher than the intelligence." The soul is on the spiritual platform.
On the material platform, we are interested in gratifying our senses. In this way we become implicated in the laws of nature. As stated in the sdstras:
nanam pramatta� kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprr,tati na sadhu manye yata atmano yam
asann api klesada asa deha�
"When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and· engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery.
Actually the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification by which he perpetually gets material bodies one after another." (Bhag.
5.5.4)
Living entities in this material world are very busy trying to gr�tify their senses. In the street we see many dogs assembled for sex. This may seem very crude, but human beings are engaged in the same business,
Devahdti Desires Transcendental Knowledge 55
perhaps in a more elaborate way. We should know that sense gratification is meant for animals, and that sense control is for human beings. By tapasya, penance, we can purify ourselves and regain our eternal life.
Actually our material senses are not our real senses. They are covered, just as the body is covered by clothes. Our real body is within the ma
terial body. Dehino 'smin yatha dehe. The spiritual body is within the material body. The material body is changing, going through childhood, youth, then old age, and then it vanishes. Although this is not our real body, we are engaged in sense gratification with it. However, for our own ultimate happiness, we should try to purify our senses. There is no ques
tion of destroying the senses or becoming desireless. Desire is a material activity, and becoming desireless is not possible. The senses must be purified in order for us to act through them transcendentally. Bhakti
yoga does not require us to destroy our senses, but to purify them. When the senses are purified, we can serve l(r�J}.a:
sarvopadhi-vininnuktam tat-paratvena ninnalam hr$iker;ta hr$ikesa
sevanam bhaktir ucyate
"Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the ser
vice of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one's senses are purified." (Narada-paficaratra)
We can serve H:r�ikesa, the master of the senses, through the senses.
We are part and parcel of l(r�J}.a, just as the hand is part and parcel of the body. Similarly, our senses are also part and parcel of the spiritual body of l(r�J}.a. When we purify our sel)ses, we can act in our original constitu
tional position and serve l(r�J}.a. When we forget our position and try to satisfy ourselves, we become conditioned materially. When we forget that our duty is to serve l(r�J}.a, we fall into the material world and be
come implicated in personal sense gratification. As long as we continue trying to satisfy our own senses, we have to accept another body. l(r�J}.a is so kind that if we want to become tigers, He will give us a tiger body. If
56 Teachings of Lord Kapila
we want to become devotees, He will give us the body of a devotee. This life is a P.reparation for the next, and if we want to enjoy our transcen
dental senses, we have to purify ourselves to return home, back to Godhead. For this purpose, Devahuti is submitting to her son just as a disciple submits to his master.
TEXTS