TEXT 15
ceta/:t khalv asya bandhaya muktaye cdtmano matam gu"{le$U saktam bandhaya
ratam va pumsi muktaye
TRANSLATION
The stage in which the consciousness of the living entity is at
tracted by the three modes of material nature is called conditional·
life. But when that same consciousness is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is situated in the consciousness of liberation.
PURPORT
There is a distinction here between ��1,1a consciousness and maya consciousness. Gu"{le$U, or maya consciousness, involves attachment to the three material modes of nature, under which one works sometimes in goodness and knowledge, sometimes in passion and sometimes iii ig
norance. These different qualitative activities, with the central attach
ment for material enjoyment, are the cause of one's conditional life.
When the same ceta/:t, or consciousness, is transferred to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ��1,1a, or when one becomes ��1,1a conscious, he is on the path of liberation.
TEXT 16
aham-mamabhimanotthai/:t kama-lobhadibhir malai/:t
105
106 Teachings of Lord Kapila
vitam yadd mana}:!, suddham adu}J,kham asukham samam
TRANSLATION
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 material happiness and distress.
PURPORT
Kama and lobha are the symptoms of material existence. Everyone al
ways desires to possess something. It is said here that desire and greed are the products of false identification of oneself with the body. When one becomes free from this contamination, his mind and consciousness also become freed and attain their original state. Mind, consciousness and the living entity exist. Whenever we speak of the living entity, this in
cludes the mind and consciousness. The difference between conditional life and liberated life occurs when we purify the mind and the conscious
ness. When they are purified, one becomes transcendental to material happiness and distress.
In the beginning Lord Kapila has said that perfect yoga enables one to transcend the platform of material distress and happiness. How this can be done is explained here: one has to purify his mind and consciousness.
This can be done by the bhakti-yoga system. As explained in the Narada-paficaratra, one's mind and senses should be purified (tat
paratvena nirmalam). One's senses must be engaged in devotional service of the Lord. That is the process. The mind must have some engagement. One cannot make the mind vacant. Of course there are some foolish attempts to try to make the mind vacant or void, but that is not possible. The only process that will purify the mind is to engage it in
��J.la. The mind must be engaged. If we engage our mind in Kt�J.la, naturally the consciousness becomes fully purified, and there is no chance that material desire and greed will enter.
Our mind is our friend, and our mind is our enemy. If it is cleansed, it is a friend, and if it is dirty, we contact material diseases. If we keep
our-Purifying the Mind for Self-realization 107
selves clean, pure, we will not he contaminated. According to Vedic civilization, one has to cleanse himself externally three times daily-once in the morning, again at noon, and again in the evening. Those who strictly follow the hrahminical rules and regulations follow this process.
Cleanliness is next to godliness. Conditional life means that the mind is covered with dirty things, and this is our disease. When we are in the lower modes of tamo-guT;ta and rajo-gur;ta, these dirty things are very prominent. One has to raise himself to the mode of sattva (goodness) by the process of sarikirtana and srava7J-a. One has to hear kr�T;ta-kathd.
��J.la is within everyone's heart. The individual soul is part and parcel of ��J.la, and ��J.la wants the individual soul to turn to Him. Unfor
tunately the conditioned soul is attached to material enjoyment, and this is the cause of his bondage to birth, death, old age and disease. He is so foolish that he does not take into consideration that these miseries are re
peated. He is like an ass that belongs to a washerman who loads him down with heavy clothes. For a few morsels of grass, the ass has to carry heavy loads all day, although not a single piece of clothing belongs to him. This is the way of the karmis. They may become big multimillionaires, hut they are just like asses, working hard day and night. Regardless of how much money they may have, their stomachs can only hold so much. And they require only six feet of space to sleep.
Nonetheless, these big karmis are thinking themselves very important.
They think, "Without me, all the members of my nation will die. Let me work day and night to the point of death." People are thinking, "I belong to this family, this nation, this community. I have this duty or that and so on. People do not know that these are all false designations.
Caitanya Mahaprahhu therefore enjoins, fivera 'svarupa' haya
kr�r;tera 'nitya-ddsa ': our actual position is that of eternal servants of
��J.la. We are mistakenly thinking that we are servants of a family or nation, hut this is due to ignorance, tamo-guTJ-a. However, we can attain the platform of sattva-guT;ta by following the instructions given in Bhagavad-gita. Hearing kr�r:ta-katha, topics about ��J.la, clears all the dirty things from the mind. Also, if we chant and dance, these dirty things will he wiped away. The mind is the cause of bondage, and the mind is the cause of liberation. When it is dirty, it brings about bondage.
In conditional life, we take birth, remain for some time, and enjoy or suffer. But really there is no question of enjoyment. There is only
108 Teachings of Lord Kapila
suffering. When we die, we have to give up the body and then take on another body. We immediately enter the womb of another mother, stay for nine months or so, and then come out. Then a new chapter of life begins. This is conditioned life, and it goes on again and again and again.
In this way we undergo the tribulations of birth, old age, disease and death. The dogs and cats cannot understand this process, but we can understand it in human life through the Vedic literatures. If we don't take advantage of these literatures, all our education is for nothing.
People actually waste their time talking politics, sociology, anthro
pology, and so on. They read many literatures that do not glorify the Supreme Lord Hari, and thus they waste their time. This K{�Qa con
sciousness movement is giving everyone a chance to become pious.
Pur:tya-sravar:w-kirtana/:t.
It is not necessary to give money or bathe in the Ganges. There are many pious activities and many processes recommended in the
sastras
for becoming pious. However, in Kali-yuga people have lost all their stamina. They are so sinful that there is no question of becoming pious through all these prescribed methods. The only means is hearing about K{�Qa and chanting His names. Kt�Qa has given us ears to hear and a tongue to speak. We can hear from a realized soul and thus perfect our lives. In this way we are given a chance to purify ourselves.Unless we are purified, we cannot become devotees. Human life is meant for purification. Unfortunately in this age people are not interested in K{�Qa, and they suffer through material existence one life after another after another. In one life they may be very opulent. Then they don't care about the next life. They think, "Let me eat, drink and be merry." This is going on all over the world, but the
sastras
say that people are making mistakes in this way.Nanam pramatta/:t kurute vikarma/:t (Bhag. 5.5.4):
people have become mad with sense gratification, and therefore they engage in all sorts of forbidden things.
Karma
means regulated work, andvikarma
means just the opposite-unlawful, forbidden activities.The word