Generally, if all our activity is stopped by unfavourable weather, we think, «This is very bad!» We are men of action, men who exploit the environment and nature for gathering some energy. We are always trying to collect some energy for our use. That is our nature. The very nature of those who live in this mortal world is to collect more and more energy and wealth that can be utilised in a time of need. If there is any hindrance to that end, we think it is a very bad circumstance, in opposition to the object of our life. But to remind us about the importance of our inner wealth, we are advised that the outer nature cannot do us so much harm as can our internal nature, that is, our apathy to collect more wealth for the inner existence, the inner self. Be mindful of that!
Losing things of this mortal world is not bad; it is all coming and going. The body itself, the centre of all this activity, will also vanish. Then what is the necessity of collecting so much energy for the bodily connection? So, awaken your soul, the real person within; search him out and try to help him. That is possible only with help from the sadhu.
The day in which we do not find any saint, or have any discussion about the real purpose of life, the inner life, the inner substance, that day we are the loser. Be conscious of that. In all respects, in any way possible, mind your own lesson, mind your own interest, find your own self. Be unmindful towards the external world and circumstances and dive deep into the reality, the inner world. Find your inner self and the inner world where you live, where your inner self is living. Try to find your home, to go back to God, back to home. Your energy must be utilised for going home, and not for wandering in the other land, the land of death. Try to avoid the land of death at any cost; always try to find the eternal soil, that soil to which you belong. Try to understand what is your home and why it is your home. Home comfort: what does it mean? It means our birthplace — the place where we are born.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam we find this verse:
satam prasangan mama virya-samvido
bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah
taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani
sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati
«In the association of pure devotees, discussions about Me are very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. Such talks, which are full of spiritual potency, are a source of sweetness, and by such cultivation the path of liberation from worldly life quickly opens. Then gradually one attains firm faith, which in due course develops into taste, and then real love for Me.»
This was spoken by the incarnation of the Lord, Sri Kapiladev, to his mother, Devahuti, in response to her inquiry as to what is the real goal of life and how to attain it. It came about in this way. Devahuti was married to the sage Kardama Rsi. After passing some years in the enjoyment of married life, Devahuti conceived a child in her womb from the rsi. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says: «Prajanas chasmi kandarpah: of Cupids, I am He who ensures progeny.» And elsewhere it is said, «Prajanaya na rataye: married life is not meant for enjoyment, but for the purpose of producing good progeny.» So, when the objective of their marriage was achieved, the rsi proposed that he retire from married life. He told Devahuti, «You have a child in your womb, and it is not an ordinary child; the Lord Himself is coming. So I am going to live alone for my own higher purpose of life.» Then Devahuti said, «I have such a good partner; I am fortunate to have a saint like you as my husband, but I did not take advantage of your noble personality to learn anything about Brahma, about the Lord, about my inner life’s necessity and its fulfilment. I did not inquire about that. I was only busy to serve you, to satisfy your desires. Though I had such a noble companion, I did not utilise my fortune. Now I pray that you may stay for some time and teach me, help me in spiritual life, and then you may go.»
Kardama Rsi said, «You will get help from your son. It is the Lord Himself who is coming, not an ordinary child. Remember this, and in time you will receive that spiritual help from Him. So I won’t stay. I shall go now.» He departed, but soon the child appeared, and He was brought up by Devahuti. Because of her great motherly affection, however, as her son grew, she gradually forgot what her husband had revealed: that He was not an ordinary child.
In the course of time, when the boy had grown and was one day absorbed, Devahuti was reminded, «Oh, the mood of my child does not seem to be ordinary.» She could understand that He was engaged in deep thought, and considered: «His father foretold that the Lord would appear through me, and now I see it is true. My son’s mood does not seem to be worldly, but it is from above. His mind is absorbed in transcendental thought.»
She then slowly approached Him: «Child, your father told me that You are not an ordinary boy of this world. You are divine. I wanted some spiritual advice from him, but he told me that You would advise me. For so long I did not heed that, but today Your mood is encouraging me; it is reminding me of those words of Your father and encouraging me to approach You for spiritual advice. Be pleased to advise me about what is spiritual truth. Who am I? What is this world? How can I find the proper direction of life? Who is the owner of this world, and what is my duty towards Him? You are not an ordinary boy, so I want to know all these things from You, my child.» Then from the lips of her son came this verse, given in the Srimad Bhagavatam:
satam prasangan mama virya-samvido
bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah
taj-josanad asv apavarga-vartmani
sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati
Lord Kapila said, satam prasangan Mama virya-samvido, «Talks about Me which are full of potency can only be found coming from the lips of My devotees. Not only lip-deep words, but words that have got depth, spirit, power, that represent reality, come from the lips of My real devotee. Such words are not shallow, but are surcharged with spirit, with life, and can enliven us. Bhavanti hrt-karna-rasayanah kathah, they satisfy both our ear and our heart and give a taste of spiritual joy, rasayanah. Their words are surcharged with the ecstasy of the spiritual world, and colour our ear, our mind, and our heart — physically, mentally, and also on the plane of our soul. Taj-josanad, by hearing from the real source, from that real sadhu, asv apavarga-vartmani, we are led towards relief from this worldly life. By a gradual process, we attain these things: sraddha ratir bhaktir anukramisyati, first, sraddha, ever increasing faith; then rati, slight taste; then we get real love, bhakti. By anukramisyati, a gradual process, we are taken towards the higher domain.»
In this way the boy began to advise His mother, Devahuti. This Devahuti Nandan, Kapila, was the son of Kardama Rsi, but there was another Kapila whose sankhya philosophy does not recognise God. It only analyses the material elements, gradually eliminating everything of spiritual substance. So there are two Kapilas, both of whom gave sankhya philosophy1: the divine son of Kardama Rsi (Kardama Kapila) and the other, Sankhyaka Kapila. Kapila the son of Kardama and Devahuti gave what is known as sankhya, but He has given recognition to the Supreme Lord, Isvar, whereas the atheist Kapila claimed Isvar-asiddhe, there is no necessity of any God to explain the existence of this world. That is his conclusion. The nyayikas (logicians) say that there must be One who has created this world. This world has been created, so there must be someone who has done it. Their highest conclusion is that there must be a creator, and He is God, Isvar. But the atheistic Kapila says, «No, there is no necessity of any God to explain the existence of this material world: Isvar-asiddhe. His finding, his conclusion, is that there is no necessity of a creator; automatically everything exists. Only two things are necessary: first, a particle of spirit, and second, matter. Matter and spirit combined, siva and sakti, have created this world. There are so many spiritual particles, like specks of sand or dust, and by their combination with matter this world is going on automatically.
Once, while at the Madras Math, I met a gentleman from Madhupur who was a follower of this school of thought. He was an educated Bengali gentleman, and I asked him, «What have you got from your guru, that Kapila?»
He said «So many souls are there, yata jiva, and everyone is a siva, independent of this matter.»
I said, «You are satisfied with this explanation?»
«Yes, I am satisfied: pasa baddhah bhavet jivah, pasa muktah sada sivah (the soul while conditioned is jiva, when liberated is siva).»
I told him: «Where your philosophy ends, our philosophy, that of the Bhagavat school, begins.»
«How is it so?» that gentleman asked.
«You will have to explain where these sivas exist. There are so many sivas, like particles of spiritual dust; but should we not think they must be living in some position, and that there must exist some relationship between them? There are so many, and some sort of relationship must be there between them, and they must also stay somewhere, in some position, some plane. And how are they harmonised together, or are they each an independent unit, all fighting with one another? If not, then what is their nature? The Bhagavat has come to explain about the mukta-jivas, the liberated souls. These souls, who were once diseased, are now free from that disease. In their healthy condition, what do they do? What is their position, their characteristic, their nature, their object, their pastimes? We have to know that. So, Bhagavatam has given us an explanation.»
Devarsi Narad asked Vyasadev, «Explain what is the normal, natural condition of the liberated souls, who are not diseased.» And that has been given. There is a Centre, and all function in connection with Him, and are all harmonised together. In Srimad Bhagavad-gita the Lord says:
yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate
ekam sankhyam cha yogam cha yah pasyati sa pasyati
«He has true vision who can see that the sankhya and yoga systems are one and the same.» One person is trying to reach the ultimate goal by external elimination, and the other by internal elimination: «This is body, this is mind, this is soul (atma), then Supersoul (Paramatma)», and onwards. The search is all within. The process of elimination is within. And by that he is trying to reach the core. And the other, by elimination of the elements of the external world (earth, water, fire, air, ether), is trying to understand the Origin.
That is sankhya: neti, neti, neti, «This is not it, this is not it; this is dependent, this is also dependent; this is not original, nor this, nor this. All are effects. Then what is the Cause?» To inquire through the external process is sankhya, and the internal process is through yoga — pranayam, pratyahara, dhyana, dharana, samadhi.2 So by elimination of the effect we come in contact with the cause; from the gross we start towards the subtle, and we reach more and more subtle planes in the causal direction.
This is the process in both sankhya and yoga. But in the beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam, Sukadev Goswami, who is speaking to Pariksit Maharaj, begins his talk by saying that these two, sankhya and yoga, and also sva-dharma parinisthaya (fulfilling one’s Vedic duty), can all give us liberation, but there is something more:
etavan sankhya-yogabhyam sva-dharma-parinisthaya
janma labhah parah pumsam ante narayana-smrtih
He says, etavan, so far, by these processes, we are told our liberation may be achieved: by sankhya, external elimination; by yoga, internal elimination; and also by sva-dharma parinistaya, discharging one’s duty as it is recommended in the Veda. To perform whatever is one’s respective duty as it is recommended, without any special aim or object, is niskam (action free from personal desire). Because it has been advised by the sastra as my duty in my present position, I am doing it, but in a disinterested way, without any special end. As a brahman, I am told, «You must do these things», so I am doing them. As a ksatriya, my duty is to keep the peace and control the evil-doers; that is my duty, and I am doing it. As a vaisya, I am advised to do such and such. Because it is advised in the sastra, I am doing my respective duty in a disinterested way, that is, without any special aim or interest. All these three processes — sankhya, yoga, and Vedic duty — lead us to liberation (mukti). But, janma labhah parah pumsam ante Narayana smrtih, after we get relief from the external bondage, the fulfilment of life is in remembering our Lord Narayan, the Creator, and our relationship with Him. We must get out of the net we are entangled in, and after getting release from this entanglement we must search out our proper relationship with the Prime Cause. Who are we in our relationship with Him? Here the Bhagavat begins:
etavan sankhya-yogabhyam sva-dharma-parinisthaya
janma labhah parah pumsam ante narayana-smrtih
Janma-labhah means fulfilment of our existence, our birth; labhah means the gain, the fulfilment, the end. What is that? Ante Narayana-smrtih, our connection, our reconnection with the Centre, the all-harmonising Centre, that should be our goal, and the Bhagavatam comes to tell us this. So many other sastras come to give us release from this external bondage; but with internal progress, after crossing the marginal plane, we get admission into the Paravyoma, the special area, Vaikuntha. That is, we get the visa: ‘Viraja’, ‘Brahmaloka’ bhedi’ ‘Paravyoma’ paya. We catch the flow of the current going towards the Centre; that is the visa. Sankhya, yoga, and sva-dharma parinisthaya can give us the passport to get out of the land where we are living, but after that, if we want to attain something, then a visa is necessary.
(1) sankhya: to enumerate or count.
(2) Breath control, withdrawing the senses from their objects, concentration, meditation, full absorption, and trance.