Section 41
The Lord's Body Contains Everything  

          Therefore all these various forms and universes are contained within the form of Lord Kåñëa. This very conclusion is summarized by Lord Brahmä  (S.B.10.14. 22):

          Therefore the entire universe, which, like a dream, is by nature temporary, nevertheless appears eternal. It covers one's consciousness and assails one with repeated miseries. The universe appears eternal because it is manifested by the potency of mäyä emanating from You, whose unlimited transcendental forms are full of eternal happiness and knowledge. 

          Brahmä is saying, "Your form is the original cause of all ephemeral and transcendental objects, therefore this complete universe also exists in Your limitless form, which is characterized with eternal bliss, and knowledge". This is the natural sequence of the words in the verse.

          How does it exist? Although rising it appears and disapppears again and again. It exists in Him alone, from whom it appears and in whom it dissolves, just as mud products in the earth.

          Kåñëa asks, "Does this mean I undergo transformation?"

          Brahmä answers, "No. It occurs by your special inconceivable potency, Mäyä.

          Brahma Sütra such as (2.1.27) çrutestu çabda-mülatvat, "The Lord is free from any such defects and we can only learn about Him from the transcendental sound of the Vedas" accept the Lord as the cause without accepting any modifications in Him. The universe has been likened to a dream only because it appears and disappears repeatedly, a product of the imagination due to ignorance.

          As Brahma Sütra (2.2.2) states, 'Because the universe has different characteristics it is not like a dream'. And because the universe is a product of the 'ignorance feature' of Mäyä, it is called astadhiñaëam, or that which covers the living entity's knowledge about the Supreme goal. For these two reasons it is a highly miserable place. Any semblace of happiness, here is, in reality, only misery. And without Your existence, it will be only a phantasmagoria, like the horns of a rabbit. Although perishable it appears imperishable (sat). 'To the stupefied' should be added to complete the sense.

          This also hints that to the stupefied, the universe appears to be a source of knowledge because its elements like mahat which are embodiment of empirical knowledge and appears to be pleasure giving because it has ephemeral pleasure such as in heaven. Therefore the universe is limited or pervaded by the form of the Lord, but the Lord's form, on account of the power of His internal potency, is both limited and unlimited simultaneously. This is the import of this topic.

 

PURPORT

          Lord Brahmä now concludes discussing that Kåñëa's body is all-pervading and that it possesses everything within it.  In the previous Text Çréla Jéva Gosvämé explained that the Lord's body has inconceivable power and thus His body, although one, contains multifarious forms.  Now he explains that because of Kåñëa's inconceivable power, the changing material world appears eternal.  The word tasmat, therefore, in this verse (10.14.22) carries this significance.

          This verse lists three attributes of the material world: asatsvarupam (ephemeral by nature), astadhiñaëam (devoid of consciousness), and puruduùkhäduùkham (full of misery).  In contrast the verse lists three attributes of the Lord's body: nitya (eternality), sukha (bliss), and bodha (knowledge).  Thus the Lord's form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge while the material world is temporary, full of misery and ignorance.  One may wonder how this is possible since an effect depends on its cause.  As stated in the previous Text Lord is both the efficient as wellas the material cause of the universe. Material cause means the raw material. But if Lord has the nature of sat, cit and änända how can universe be asat acit and niränanda? Moreover Lord must undergo transformation to produce this universe. But such is not the case. Brahmä replies that it is because of the Lord's inconceivable power (mäyä).  Although the material world emanates from the Lord, exists in Him, and dissolves into Him, its characteristics are completely different than His. The Brahma Sütra (2.1.27) referred in the Text accepts the principle that Lord creates universe from His ownself and yet He does not undergo any transformations. He is like a touchstone which can turn iron into gold and yet remain unchanged. Or he is like a wishfulfilling tree which can grant anything without undergoing any transformation or using any external raw material. Since Lord possesses inconceivable power, He can do the otherwise impossible act. And just because Lord performs inconceivable or inexplicable act there is no reason to disbelieve it.

          The Lord's mäyä potency performs another wonderful feat. It makes the temporary material world appear eternal to foolish people. Not only that but fools accept the temporary material body as permanetn although they see or hear of others death. According to Yudhiñöhira Mahäräja, this is the greatest wonder of the world. Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that the words sadiva avabhäti, appears eternal, also applies to the other two attributes, namely bliss and consciousness.  Although the material world is full of misery--even the temporary so-called happiness is misery--yet by hearing talks of heavenly pleasure, or by experiencing mental satisfaction resulting from sense indulgence, people mistake the material world to be blissful. And although the body, which is a product of the universe, it is mistaken for the conscious self. There is no absolute happiness in this material world.  It is only a mental concept which varies from one species to another, from one person to another, from one stage of life to another, from one day to another, and indeed from morning to evening.

          A gentleman feels like vomiting when he sees the food relished by vultures.  Even among humans, a rich man may find inedible what is a banquet to an impoverished man.  One man's food is another man's poison.  Even in this life we experience disinterest in our former childhood pleasures and diversions.  We see that when a person takes sincerely to spiritual life he practically abandons his previous life style.  Our moods change from morning to evening.  What one relishes at breakfast may appear distasteful at supper.  Even that consumed at the beginning of a meal may appear distasteful by the end.  The conclusion is with all certainty that the so-called happiness of material life, even if it were real, is temporary.  Furthermore, this apparent pleasure does not lie within sense objects.  Otherwise a particular sense object would grant equal happiness to everyone.  In reality the concept of pleasure lies within the mind.  Thus the saying goes--beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

          In this regard the Ëiti-çästra says:

          "An object viewed by three different beings appears in three different ways." When a yogi sees a beautiful young damsel, he considers her body to be but a bag of stool, urine, blood, bones, mucus, pus, and so on.  A young man, however, sees her as the most desirable object of pleasure.  A hungry dog see her as a delicious piece of meat."

 It is very difficult, therefore, to discern where happiness lies.  The simple fact is that there is no happiness in inert, ignorant, temporary, and miserable material objects.  The sage Paräçara says (V.P. 2.6.47-49):

          "The same object causes misery, happiness, envy and anger in different people.  How can one categorically determine the nature of an object?"

          "Even one particular object sometimes invokes love, pain, anger, and happiness in the same person."

          "Therefore, material objects do not have the ability to grant happiness or inflict pain.  Feelings of happiness and distress are simply mental transformations."

          The technical term for these different mental states is called vrttis.  From our past experience based on our karma we have developed an internal mechanism to represent to ourselves a particular state as happiness or misery. In ignorance we identify with the mind and according to the mental state we are experiencing that dictates whether or no we feel ourself happy or miserable. We pursue the sense objects in the belief that sense pleasure equals happiness, but in the Bhagavad-gétä, Lord Kåñëa refers to sense objects as the source of misery. He says, ye hi saàsparça-ja bhogä duùkha-yonaya eva te, "An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses".  Duhkha-yoni means "the source of misery". real happiness is the quality of spirit and not inert matter.

          Feelings of happiness and distress due to contact with material objects, result from karma.  Karma never forces us to suffer or enjoy, however, it only presents a particular situation.  It is up to us how we interpret it.  If we are slaves of our senses, then we are bound to suffer or enjoy a particular situation according to our past impressions.  But if we have developed the eye of knowledge (jïäna-cakñu), then we will not be affected.  Lord Kåñëa says (B.g.2.50),  buddhi-yukto jahätéha ubhe sukåta-duñkåte.  "Endowed with the wisdom of yoga, one gets rid of both good and evil even in this life." He also says (B.g. 4.37):

          "As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities".

          Therefore mugdha or bewildered means one who has not developed the eye of discrimination through scriptural knowledge. Devotees have a totally different vision of the universe. They see everything in relation to Kåñëa. Owing to this understanding they do not abhor it but try to use everything in the service of the Lord. And although Lord says that sense objects are the sources of misery, duùkha yonaya, they become the source of pleasure for devotees, having been offered to the Lord. The jïäna-märgés try to renounce everything but devotees have no such fear from the material object. Some philosophers explain the material world to be illusory--that it has no factual existence--and compare it to a dream.  They say that a dream has no factual existence as no one experiences it while awake, and similarly this material world is illusory, mithyä, since it is not experienced as soon as one achieves perfection. 

          Lord Brahmä does not accept this view.  He does not consider the material world to be an imaginary and created out of mere ignorance.  In this verse asat does not mean "illusion" or mithyä, rather it means "transient".  The reasoning is that since it exists in the Lord, who exists eternally, it is existing.  Here the word mäyä means "inconceivable power" and not "magic".  The Lord has such potency and that's why He is called Mäyé, or the Lord of Mäyä.  This was discussed in detail in Section Twenty-three.  The sruti also confirms yasya bhäsä sarvamidaà vibhäti,  "All this shines forth after His brilliance" (Svetäçvatara 6.14).  The shining is not false, but to mistake inert matter for transcendence is illusion.

          When Brahmä compares the material world to a dream he does not mean that it is false or non-existent for dreams are a different type of reality.  In Govinda-bhäñya on Brahma sütra (2.2.29) Çréla Baladeva Vidyabhuñaëa writes that objects in a dream do not have the same characteristics as those in the waking state.  Objects seen in a dream are memories of objects experienced during the waking state.  Objects in a dream may change instantly, while those seen in the waking state continue for a long time.

          According to Çréla Vyäsadeva, the Supreme Lord actually creates the objects of the dreaming state.  They are real but the difference is that the Lord creates them for a temporary purpose, for a particular soul.  The external world is created for all the jévas, for a longer period.  He states this in the following Sutra (3.2.1),  sandhye såñtiräha hi. "The dream state is also the creation of the Lord because the scripture says so."  Here sandhyä (junction) means "dreams" as in Båhad A.U. 4.3.9. sandhyaà tåtéyaà svapna-sthänaà

          According to Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhuñaëa, the scripture referred to by this Sütra are mantras such as (Katha Upaniñad. 4.4):

          "When a sober person realizes that the objects he perceives while awake or asleep are due to the omnipresent Supersoul, he grieves no more."  Dreams are real and they are creations of the Lord's mäyä potency.

          Another reason dreams are considered real is that they sometimes indicate pending events in reference to the wakeful state.  Çrémad Bhägavatam describes that when Kåñëa and Balaräma arrived in Mathurä, Kaàsa detected bad omens while awake and in his dreams as well.  These were indicative of his imminent death (S.B. 10.42.30):

          "He dreamt that he was being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey and drinking poison, and also that a naked man smeared with oil was passing by wearing a garland of nalada flowers".

          If dreams were unreal they could not indicate a real incident.  In the wakeful state a person enjoys or suffers the results of his past karma, similarly his dreams bring him suffering or enjoyment.  Good dreams are the result of good karma and bad dreams the result of bad karma.  The Lord allocates the result of karma during our wakeful state.  He does the same in our dream state.

          According to Manu, reactions for activities performed by the body, mind, and speech affect their respective sources. (M.S. 12.8):

          "Embodied souls experience the reactions of good and bad mental acts with the mind, the reactions of good and bad physical acts with the body, and the result of good and bad vocal acts with the organ of speech."

          Since every physical action is preceded by a mental action, mental karma is more voluminous and needs to be worked out in dreams as well as in the wakeful state.  Thus during sleep, as well as during our wakeful state, one receives reactions of mental karma.   Dreams present a mixture of experiences and the sequence is not necesssarily in any proper order.  Whatever one sees in dreams, however, is a mixture of what has been experienced in this life or a past life.  Çré Närada confirms this to king Pracinabarhisat (S.B. 4.29.64.65)

          "Sometimes we suddenly experience something that was never experienced in the present body by sight or hearing. Sometimes we see such things suddenly in dreams."

          "Therefore, my dear King, the living entity, who has a subtle mental covering, develops all kinds of thoughts and images because of his previous body.  Take this from me as certain.  There is no possibility of concocting anything mentally without having perceived it in a previous body."

          This establishes that dreams are not phantasmagoria but a different type of creation.  Similarly the material world is not mithyä, as described in the Brahmäväda slogan Brahmä satyaà jagan mithyä.  It is an inferior creation of the Lord, but by his satta, jïäna. and ananda it gives the illusion that it is eternal, conscious, and pleasure giving.

Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that without the existence of the Lord the universe will have no existence just like the horns of a rabbit. A rabbit has no horns and thus the statement "horns of a rabbit" is meaningless. In saskrit a meaningless statement is not considered as a statement. Kavi Karëapur gives an example of such a statement (Alaìkära kaustubha)

"This son of a barren woman is appearing beautiful with a chaplet of sky flowers on his head, holding a bow made of rabbit horns and attired in garments made from the hairs of tortoise."

          Just as the verse is meaningless similarly without Lord's existence, the world would have no meaning. Therefore Lord Kåñëa says--viñtabhyä ham idaà  kåtsnam ekäàçena sthito jagat--without a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire univese (Bg. 10.42).

In the following Text Çréla Jéva Gosvämé shows the all pervasive feature of Lord Kåñëa's body by showing that it exists everywhere.