Nitya,
Bhagavan, is the singular, andnityiiniim
are the pluraljivas,
or living beings.Nityo nityiindm:
we are many, but God is one. There is no limit to thejivas;
no one can count them. The wordananta
means that they are without limit. All thesejivas,
living entities, are being maintained by the Supreme One. We cannot conceive how many living entities are being maintained by the Supreme Lord. All the great elephants, all the small ants, all the 8,400,000 species of life are maintained by Bhagavan. Why do we worry that He will not-maintain us? Those who are devotees of the Lord and have taken shelter at His lotus feet, leaving everything aside simply to render service unto Him, will certainly be cared for. In our Kr�I).a consciousness movement, we have over a
The Transcendental Master and Supreme Yogi 15
hundred centers, and K{�Qa is maintaining them all. None of our devotees are employed for independent incomes, yet they are all being m_!lintained. In Bhagavad-gita, K{�Qa never says, "Do this or that, and I will then maintain you." Rather, He states that not only will He maintain us, but He will also protect us from the results of sin, from sinful karma (Bg.
18.66).
All of this assurance is there.Tasyaiva hetob, prayateta kovidab,. The word kovidab, means "in
telligent." An intelligent person should try to attain shelter at the lotus feet of K{�Qa. Human life is actually meant for getting in touch with the lotus feet of K{�Qa. That should be our only business. The word upari in
dicates the higher planetary systems. There are seven higher planetary systems, and we are in the middle system, in Bhnrloka. Within this one universe, there are fourteen planetary systems, and the living entities are wandering in different bodily forms on different planets. According to karma, the living entity sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down.
He wanders in this way, thinking how he can become materially happy and satisfy his senses. The siistras say that we should not do this, that we should endeavor to understand K{�Qa. We should not worry about eating and sleeping, for the needs of the body are already arranged. We do not have to work independently to maintain the body.
tal labhyate dub,khavad anyatab, sukharh kalena sarvatra gabhira-rarhhasa
Our actual endeavor should be to attain happiness; that is our real strug
gle for existence. According to the siistras: tal labhyate dub,khavat. The word dub,khavat indicates that although we do not want misery, misery comes anyway. We don't have to endeavor separately for misery. No one says, "Let there be a fire in my house" or "Let my child die." No one aspires after these things, yet they happen. Everyone is thinking, "May my child live happily" or "May I get so much money." We do not ask or pray for catastrophes, yet they come without invitation. Similarly, whatever happiness is there for our enjoyment will also come without our asking for it. The conclusion is that we should not endeavor for so
called happiness or distress, but should try to attain that position whereby we can understand K:r�Qa and get shelter at His lotus feet. This should be the real human endeavor.
16 Teachings of Lord Kapila
It was Caitanya Mahiiprabhu who said to Rupa Gosviimi:
brahmar:uJ,a bhramite kona bhagyavan fiva guru-kr$r:ta-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
"The living entity is wandering up and down, from one planet to another, and he is very fortunate if by the mercy of the spiritual master and K:r�Q.a Himself he can get the seed of devotional service to K:r�Q.a."
(Cc.
Madhya 19.151)
The K:r�Q.a consciousness movement is an attempt to make people fortunate. In this age, everyone is unfortunate(manda
bhagyaM,
but now we are trying to reverse the situation.Throughout the world there are problems everywhere. One country has one type of problem, and another country has another. There is strife within governments themselves, and even presidents are fraught with problems. Sometimes we may think we are very fortunate, just as Presi
dent Nixon was thinking, "I am very fortunate. I have become the presi
dent of the United States." Then he soon realized that he was most unfortunate. Actually this is the situation for everyone. We should not think that the only apprehended culprit is President Nixon and that we are safe. There is a Bengali proverb: Dry cow dung is used for fuel, and it is said that when the dry cow dung is being burned, the soft cow dung
·is laughing, saying, "Oh, you are being burned, but I am safe." It does not know that when it dries out, it will be thrown into the fire too. We may laugh because President Nixon is in trouble, and we may think our
selves very safe because we have a big bank balance, but actually no one is safe. Eventually everyone will dry up and be thrown in the fire. That is a fact. We may survive for a few years, but we cannot avoid death. In fact, it is said, "As sure as death." And what is the result of death? One loses everything-all honor, money, position and material life itself.
K:r�Q.a states in
Bhagavad-gita (10.34), mrtyub, sarva-hara§ caham:
"I am all-devouring death." �·�Q.a comes as death and plunders everything-bank balance, skyscrapers, wife, children and whatever. One cannot say, "My dear death, please give me some time to adjust." There is no adjustment; one must immediately get out.
Foolish people are unaware of the miserable conditions of material life. K:r�Q.a says in
Bhagavad-gita (13.9), janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi
dub,kha-dosanudarsanam.
Real knowledge means knowing that howeverThe Transcendental Master and Supreme Yogi 17
great one may be, the four principles of material life are present: birth, old age, disease and death. These exist in the highest planetary system (Br�hmaloka) and in the lowest (Patalaloka).
tasyaiva heto/:t prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatiim upary adha/:t tal labhyate du/:tkhavad anyata/:t sukham
kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasii
"Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet down to the lowest planet. As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain mis
eries even though we do not desire them." (Bhag. 1.5.18)
When Dharmaraja asked Maharaja Yudhi�thira what the most wonder
ful thing in the world was, Maharaja Yudhi�thira replied: ahany ahani bhatani gacchantiha yamiilayam. "Every moment people are dying, but those who are living are thinking, 'My friend has died, but I shall live forever.'" (Mahiibhiirata, Vana-parva 313.116) Soft cow dung thinks the same way. This is typical of conditioned beings.
Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord, is not in this position. It is therefore said: bhagaviin iitma-mayayii. We come onto this planet to enjoy or suffer life for a few days-fifty or a hundred years-but Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, does not come for that purpose (na miiril karmiiTJ-i limpanti). It is further stated, na hy asya var�ma7J-a/:t:
"No one is greater than Him." No one is greater than Bhagavan or equal to Him. Everyone is inferior. According to Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 5.142), ekale iSvara kr�TJ-a, iira saba bhrtya. There is only one master-K:r�l).a. All others are subservient, beginning with Lord Brahma, Vi�l).u, Mahesvara, lndra, Candra and all the demigods (there are thirty-three million demigods) and the middle and lower species.
Everyone is bhrtya, or servant. When K:r�l).a orders, "My dear Mr. So
and-So, now please give up your place and leave," one must go.
Therefore everyone is a servant. This is the position of Lord Brahma and the ant as well. Yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma. From
18 Teachings of Lord Kapila
Lord lndra to indragopa, an insignificant insect, everyone is reaping the consequences of his karma. We are creating our own karma, our next body, in this life. In this life we enjoy or suffer the results of our past karma, and in the same way we are creating further karma for our next body. Actually we should work in such a way that we will not get another material body. How can this be done? We simply have to try to under
stand l<t�J.la. As K:r�J.la says in Bhagavad-gita
(4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvata/:t tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mdm eti so 'rjuna
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and ac
tivities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, 0 Arjuna."
This sounds very simple, but actually understanding l<t�J.la is very difficult. If we become devotees of K:r�J.la, understanding K:r�J.la is easy.
However, if we try to understand Him by jfiana, karma or yoga, we will be frustrated. There are many types of yogis, but he who is devoted to l<t�J.la is the topmost yogi. Sri l<t�J.la is far above all yogic processes. In India there are many yogis who can display some magical feats. They can walk on water, make themselves very light or very heavy and so forth.
But what is this compared to K:r�J.la's yogic mystic powers? By His poten
cies, great planets are floating in space. Who can manage to float even a small stone in the air? Sometimes a yogi may show a little mystic power by manufacturing some gold, and we are so foolish that we accept him as God. However, we forget that the real yogi, the Supreme Lord Himself, has created millions of gold mines and is floating them in space. Those who are K:r�J.la conscious are not befooled by yogis who claim to be Bhagavan. A l<t�J.la conscious person wants only to serve the foremost yogi, Yogesvara
(
varimr:ta/:t sarva-yoginam). Because we are trying to become His devotees, we accept the Supreme Lord, Yogesvara, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. l<t�J.la Himself states in Bhagavad-gita(18.55):
bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan ya.S casmi tattvata/:t
The Transcendental Master and Supreme Yogi 19