1|Adi 6-1975: The Glories of Sri Advaita Acarya
2|Chapter 6
3|The Glories of Sri Advaita Acarya
4|The truth of Advaita Acarya has been described in two
>|different verses. It is said that material nature has two
>|features, namely the material cause and the efficient cause.
>| The efficient causal activities are caused by Maha-Visnu,
>|and the material causal activities are caused by another
>|form of Maha-Visnu, known as Advaita. That Advaita, the
>|superintendent of the cosmic manifestation, has descended
>|in the form of Advaita to associate with Lord
>|Caitanya. When He is addressed as the servitor of Lord
>|Caitanya, His glories are magnified because unless one is
>|invigorated by this mentality of servitorship one cannot
>|understand the mellows derived from devotional service to
>|the Supreme Lord, Krsna.
5|Adi 6.1
6|TEXT 1
7|TEXT
8|vande tam srimad-advaita-
9|caryam adbhuta-cestitam
10|yasya prasadad ajno 'pi
11|tat-svarupam nirupayet
12|SYNONYMS
13|vande-I offer my respectful obeisances; tam-unto Him;
>|srimat-with all opulences; advaita-acaryam-Sri Advaita
>|Acarya; adbhuta-cestitam-whose activities are wonderful;
>|yasya-of whom; prasadat-by the mercy; ajnah api-even a
>|foolish person; tat-svarupam-His characteristics; nirupayet-
>|may describe.
14|TRANSLATION
15|I offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Advaita Acarya,
>|whose activities are all wonderful. By His mercy, even a
>|foolish person can describe His characteristics.
16|Adi 6.2
17|TEXT 2
18|TEXT
19|jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
20|jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda
21|SYNONYMS
22|jaya jaya-all glories; sri-caitanya-to Lord Sri Caitanya
>|Mahaprabhu; jaya-all glories; nityananda-to Lord Nityananda;
>| jaya advaita-candra-all glories to Advaita Acarya; jaya
>|gaura-bhakta-vrnda-all glories to the devotees of Sri
>|Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
23|TRANSLATION
24|All glories to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All glories to
>|Lord Nityananda . All glories to Advaita Acarya . And all
>|glories to all the devotees of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
>|.
25|Adi 6.3
26|TEXT 3
27|TEXT
28|panca sloke kahila sri-nityananda-tattva
29|sloka-dvaye kahi advaitacaryera mahattva
30|SYNONYMS
31|panca sloke-in five verses; kahila-described; sri-
>|nityananda-tattva-the truth of Sri Nityananda; sloka-dvaye-
>|in two verses; kahi-I describe; advaita-acaryera-of Advaita
>|Acarya; mahattva-the glories.
32|TRANSLATION
33|In five verses I have described the principle of Lord
>|Nityananda. Then in the following two verses I describe the
>|glories of Sri Advaita Acarya.
34|Adi 6.4
35|TEXT 4
36|TEXT
37|maha-visnur jagat-karta
38|mayaya yah srjaty adah
39|tasyavatara evayam
40|advaitacarya isvarah
41|SYNONYMS
42|maha-visnuh-of the name Maha-Visnu, the resting place of
>|the efficient cause; jagat-karta-the creator of the cosmic
>|world; mayaya-by the illusory energy; yah-who; srjati-
>|creates; adah-that universe; tasya-His; avatarah-
>|incarnation; eva-certainly; ayam-this; advaita-acaryah- of
>|the name Advaita Acarya; isvarah-the Supreme Lord, the
>|resting place of the material cause.
43|TRANSLATION
44|Lord Advaita Acarya is the incarnation of Maha-Visnu, whose
>|main function is to create the cosmic world through the
>|actions of maya.
45|Adi 6.5
46|TEXT 5
47|TEXT
48|advaitam harinadvaitad
49|acaryam bhakti-samsanat
50|bhaktavataram isam tam
51|advaitacaryam asraye
52|SYNONYMS
53|advaitam-known as Advaita; harina-with Lord Hari; advaitat-
>|from being nondifferent; acaryam-known as Acarya; bhakti-
>|samsanat-from the propagation of devotional service to Sri
>|Krsna; bhakta-avataram-the incarnation as a devotee; isam-
>|to the Supreme Lord; tam-to Him; advaita-acaryam-to Advaita
>|Acarya; asraye-I surrender.
54|TRANSLATION
55|Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He
>|is called Advaita, and because He propagates the cult of
>|devotion, He is called Acarya. He is the Lord and the
>|incarnation of the Lord's devotee. Therefore I take shelter
>|of Him.
56|Adi 6.6
57|TEXT 6
58|TEXT
59|advaita-acarya gosani saksat isvara
60|yanhara mahima nahe jivera gocara
61|SYNONYMS
62|advaita-acarya-of the name Advaita Acarya; gosani-the Lord;
>|saksat isvara-directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
>|yanhara mahima-whose glories; nahe-not; jivera gocara-
>|within the reach of the understanding of ordinary living
>|beings.
63|TRANSLATION
64|Sri Advaita Acarya is indeed directly the Supreme
>|Personality of Godhead Himself. His glory is beyond the
>|conception of ordinary living beings.
65|Adi 6.7
66|TEXT 7
67|TEXT
68|maha-visnu srsti karena jagad-adi karya
69|tanra avatara saksat advaita acarya
70|SYNONYMS
71|maha-visnu-the original Visnu; srsti-creation; karena-does;
>|jagat-adi-the material world; karya-the occupation; tanra-
>|His; avatara-incarnation; saksat-directly; advaita acarya-
>|Prabhu Advaita Acarya.
72|TRANSLATION
73|Maha-Visnu performs all the functions for the creation of
>|the universes. Sri Advaita Acarya is His direct incarnation.
74|Adi 6.8
75|TEXT 8
76|TEXT
77|ye purusa srsti-sthiti karena mayaya
78|ananta brahmanda srsti karena lilaya
79|SYNONYMS
80|ye purusa-that personality who; srsti-sthiti-creation and
>|maintenance; karena-performs; mayaya-through the external
>|energy; ananta brahmanda-unlimited universes; srsti-
>|creation; karena-does; lilaya-by pastimes.
81|TRANSLATION
82|That purusa creates and maintains with His external energy.
>|He creates innumerable universes in His pastimes.
83|Adi 6.9
84|TEXT 9
85|TEXT
86|icchaya ananta murti karena prakasa
87|eka eka murte karena brahmande pravesa
88|SYNONYMS
89|icchaya-by His will; ananta murti-unlimited forms; karena-
>|does; prakasa-manifestation; eka eka-each and every; murte-
>|form; karena-does; brahmande-within the universe; pravesa-
>|entrance.
90|TRANSLATION
91|By His will He manifests Himself in unlimited forms, in
>|which He enters each and every universe.
92|Adi 6.10
93|TEXT 10
94|TEXT
95|se purusera amsa-advaita, nahi kichu bheda
96|sarira-visesa tanra-nahika viccheda
97|SYNONYMS
98|se-that; purusera-of the Lord; amsa-part; advaita-Advaita
>|Acarya; nahi-not; kichu-any; bheda-difference; sarira-
>|visesa-another specific transcendental body; tanra-of Him;
>|nahika viccheda-there is no separation.
99|TRANSLATION
100|Sri Advaita Acarya is a plenary part of that purusa and so
>|is not different from Him. Indeed, Sri Advaita Acarya is
>|not separate but is another form of that purusa.
101|Adi 6.11
102|TEXT 11
103|TEXT
104|sahaya karena tanra la-iya 'pradhana'
105|koti brahmanda karena icchaya nirmana
106|SYNONYMS
107|sahaya karena-He helps; tanra-His; la-iya-with; pradhana-
>|the material energy; koti-brahmanda-millions of universes;
>|karena-does; icchaya-only by the will; nirmana-creation.
108|TRANSLATION
109|He [Advaita Acarya] helps in the pastimes of the purusa,
>|with whose material energy and by whose will He creates
>|innumerable universes.
110|Adi 6.12
111|TEXT 12
112|TEXT
113|jagat-mangala advaita, mangala-guna-dhama
114|mangala-caritra sada, 'mangala' yanra nama
115|SYNONYMS
116|jagat-mangala-all-auspicious to the world; advaita-Advaita
>|Acarya; mangala-guna-dhama-the reservoir of all auspicious
>|attributes; mangala-caritra-all characteristics are
>|auspicious; sada-always; mangala-auspicious; yanra nama-
>|whose name.
117|TRANSLATION
118|Sri Advaita Acarya is all -auspicious to the
>|world, for He is a reservoir of all auspicious
>|attributes . His characteristics, activities and
>|name are always auspicious.
119|PURPORT
120|Sri Advaita Prabhu, who is an incarnation of Maha-Visnu, is
>|an acarya, or teacher. All His activities and all the other
>|activities of Visnu are auspicious. Anyone who can view the
>|all-auspiciousness in the pastimes of Lord Visnu also
>|becomes auspicious simultaneously. Therefore, since Lord
>|Visnu is the fountainhead of auspiciousness, anyone who is
>|attracted by the devotional service of Lord Visnu can
>|render the greatest service to human society. Rejected
>|persons of the material world who refuse to understand pure
>|devotional service as the eternal function of the living
>|entities, and as actual liberation of the living being from
>|conditional life, become bereft of all devotional service
>|because of their poor fund of knowledge.
121|In the teachings of Advaita Prabhu there is no question of
>|fruitive activities or impersonal liberation. Bewildered by
>|the spell of material energy, however, persons who
>|could not understand that Advaita Prabhu is nondifferent
>|from Visnu wanted to follow Him with their impersonal
>|conceptions. The attempt of Advaita Prabhu to punish them
>|is also auspicious. Lord Visnu and His activities can
>|bestow all good fortune, directly and indirectly. In other
>|words, being favored by Lord Visnu and being punished by
>|Lord Visnu are one and the same because all the activities
>|of Visnu are absolute. According to some, Mangala was
>|another name of Advaita Prabhu. As the causal incarnation,
>|or Lord Visnu's incarnation for a particular occasion, He
>|is the supply agent or ingredient in material nature.
>|However, He is never to be considered material. All His
>|activities are spiritual. Anyone who hears about and
>|glorifies Him becomes glorified himself, for such
>|activities free one from all kinds of misfortune. One
>|should not invest any material contamination or
>|impersonalism in the Visnu form. Everyone should try to
>|understand the real identity of Lord Visnu, for by such
>|knowledge one can attain the highest stage of perfection.
122|Adi 6.13
123|TEXT 13
124|TEXT
125|koti amsa, koti sakti, koti avatara
126|eta lana srje purusa sakala samsara
127|SYNONYMS
128|koti amsa-millions of parts and parcels; koti sakti-
>|millions and millions of energies; koti avatara-millions
>|upon millions of incarnations; eta-all this; lana-taking;
>|srje-creates; purusa-the original person, Maha-Visnu;
>|sakala samsara-all the material world.
129|TRANSLATION
130|Maha-Visnu creates the entire material world, with millions
>|of His parts, energies and incarnations.
131|Adi 6.14-15
132|TEXTS 14-15
133|TEXT
134|maya yaiche dui amsa-'nimitta', 'upadana'
135|maya-'nimitta'-hetu, upadana-'pradhana'
136|purusa isvara aiche dvi-murti ha-iya
137|visva-srsti kare 'nimitta' 'upadana' lana
138|SYNONYMS
139|maya-the external energy; yaiche-as; dui amsa-two parts;
>|nimitta-the cause; upadana-the ingredients; maya-the
>|material energy; nimitta-hetu-original cause; upadana-
>|ingredients; pradhana-immediate cause; purusa-the person
>|Lord Visnu; isvara-the Supreme Personality of Godhead;
>|aiche-in that way; dvi-murti ha-iya-taking two forms; visva-
>|srsti kare-creates this material world; nimitta-the
>|original cause; upadana-the material cause; lana-with.
140|TRANSLATION
141|Just as the external energy consists of two parts-the
>|efficient cause [nimitta] and the material cause [upadana],
>|maya being the efficient cause and pradhana the material
>|cause-so Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
>|assumes two forms to create the material world with the
>|efficient and material causes.
142|PURPORT
143|There are two kinds of research to find the original cause
>|of creation. One conclusion is that the Supreme Personality
>|of Godhead, the all-blissful, eternal, all knowing form, is
>|indirectly the cause of this cosmic manifestation and
>|directly the cause of the spiritual world, where there are
>|innumerable spiritual planets known as Vaikunthas as well
>|as His personal abode, known as Goloka Vrndavana. In other
>|words, there are two manifestations-the material cosmos and
>|the spiritual world. As in the material world there are
>|innumerable planets and universes, so in the spiritual
>|world there are also innumerable spiritual planets and
>|universes, including the Vaikunthas and Goloka. The Supreme
>|Lord is the cause of both the material and spiritual worlds.
>| The other conclusion, of course, is that this cosmic
>|manifestation is caused by an inexplicable unmanifested
>|void. This argument is meaningless.
144|The first conclusion is accepted by the Vedanta
>|philosophers, and the second is supported by the atheistic
>|philosophical system of the Sankhya smrti, which directly
>|opposes the Vedantic philosophical conclusion. Material
>|scientists cannot see any cognizant spiritual substance
>|that might be the cause of the creation. Such atheistic
>|Sankhya philosophers think that the symptoms of knowledge
>|and living force visible in the innumerable living
>|creatures are caused by the three qualities of the cosmic
>|manifestation. Therefore the Sankhyites are against the
>|conclusion of Vedanta regarding the original cause of
>|creation.
145|Factually, the supreme absolute spirit soul is the cause of
>|every kind of manifestation, and He is always complete,
>|both as the energy and as the energetic. The cosmic
>|manifestation is caused by the energy of the Supreme
>|Absolute Person, in whom all energies are conserved.
>|Philosophers who are subjectively engaged in the cosmic
>|manifestation can appreciate only the wonderful energies of
>|matter. Such philosophers accept the conception of God only
>|as a product of material energy. According to their
>|conclusions, the source of the energy is also a product of
>|the energy. Such philosophers wrongly observe that the
>|living creatures within the cosmic manifestation are caused
>|by the material energy, and they think that the supreme
>|absolute conscious being must similarly be a product of the
>|material energy.
146|Since materialistic philosophers and scientists are too
>|much engaged with their imperfect senses, naturally they
>|conclude that the living force is a product of a material
>|combination. But the actual fact is just the opposite.
>|Matter is a product of spirit. According to the Bhagavad-
>|gita, the supreme spirit, the Personality of Godhead, is
>|the source of all energies. When one advances in research
>|work by studying a limited substance within the limits of
>|space and time, one is amazed by the various wonderful
>|cosmic manifestations, and naturally one goes on
>|hypnotically accepting the path of research work or the
>|inductive method. Through the deductive way of
>|understanding, however, one accepts the Supreme Absolute
>|Person, the Personality of Godhead, as the cause of all
>|causes, who is full with diverse energies and who is
>|neither impersonal nor void. The impersonal manifestation
>|of the Supreme Person is another display of His energy.
>|Therefore the conclusion that matter is the original cause
>|of creation is completely different from the real truth.
>|The material manifestation is caused by the glance of the
>|Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is inconceivably potent.
>| Material nature is electrified by the supreme authority,
>|and the conditioned soul, within the limits of time and
>|space, is trapped by awe of the material manifestation. In
>|other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is actually
>|realized in the vision of a material philosopher and
>|scientist through the manifestations of His material energy.
>| For one who does not understand the power of the Supreme
>|Personality of Godhead or His diverse energies because of
>|not knowing the relationship between the source of the
>|energies and the energies themselves, there is always a
>|chance of error, which is known as vivarta. As long as
>|materialistic scientists and philosophers do not come to
>|the right conclusion, certainly they will hover above the
>|material field, bereft of proper understanding of the
>|Absolute Truth.
147|The great Vaisnava philosopher Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana
>|has very nicely explained the materialistic conclusion in
>|his Govinda-bhasya on the Vedanta-sutra. He
>|writes as follows:
148|"The Sankhya philosopher Kapila has connected the different
>|elementary truths according to his own opinion. Material
>|nature, according to him, consists of the equilibrium of
>|the three material qualities, goodness, passion and
>|ignorance. Material nature produced the material energy,
>|known as mahat, and mahat produced the false ego. The ego
>|produced the five objects of sense perception, which
>|produced the ten senses (five for acquiring knowledge and
>|five for working), the mind and the five gross elements.
>|Counting the purusa, or the enjoyer, with these twenty-four
>|elements, there are twenty-five different truths. The
>|nonmanifested stage of these twenty-five elementary truths
>|is called prakrti, or material nature. The qualities of
>|material nature can associate in three different stages,
>|namely as the cause of happiness, the cause of distress and
>|the cause of illusion. The quality of goodness is the cause
>|of material happiness, the quality of passion is the cause
>|of material distress, and the quality of ignorance is the
>|cause of illusion. Our material experience lies within the
>|boundaries of these three manifestations of happiness,
>|distress and illusion. For example, a beautiful woman is
>|certainly a cause of material happiness for one who
>|possesses her as a wife, but the same beautiful woman is a
>|cause of distress to a man whom she rejects or who is the
>|cause of her anger, and if she leaves a man she becomes the
>|cause of illusion.
149|"The two kinds of senses are the ten external senses and
>|the one internal sense, the mind. Thus there are eleven
>|senses. According to Kapila, material nature is eternal and
>|all-powerful. Originally there is no spirit, and matter has
>|no cause. Matter itself is the chief cause of everything.
>|It is the all-pervading cause of all causes. The Sankhya
>|philosophy regards the total energy (mahat-tattva), the
>|false ego and the five objects of sense perception as the
>|seven diverse manifestations of material nature, which has
>|two features, known as the material cause and efficient
>|cause. The purusa, the enjoyer, is without transformation,
>|whereas material nature is always subject to transformation.
>| But although material nature is inert, it is the cause of
>|enjoyment and salvation for many living creatures. Its
>|activities are beyond the conception of sense perception,
>|but still one may guess at them by superior intelligence.
>|Material nature is one, but because of the interaction of
>|the three qualities, it can produce the total energy and
>|the wonderful cosmic manifestation. Such transformations
>|divide material nature into two features, namely the
>|efficient and material causes. The purusa, the enjoyer, is
>|inactive and without material qualities, although at the
>|same time He is the master, existing separately in each and
>|every body as the emblem of knowledge. By understanding the
>|material cause, one can guess that the purusa, the enjoyer,
>|being without activity, is aloof from all kinds of
>|enjoyment or superintendence. Sankhya philosophy, after
>|describing the nature of prakrti (material nature) and
>|purusa (the enjoyer), asserts that the creation is only a
>|product of their unification or proximity to one another.
>|With such unification the living symptoms are visible in
>|material nature, but one can guess that in the person of
>|the enjoyer, purusa, there are powers of control and
>|enjoyment. When the purusa is illusioned for want of
>|sufficient knowledge, He feels Himself to be the enjoyer,
>|and when He is in full knowledge He is liberated. In the
>|Sankhya philosophy the purusa is described to be always
>|indifferent to the activities of prakrti.
150|"The Sankhya philosopher accepts three kinds of evidences,
>|namely direct perception, hypothesis and traditional
>|authority. When such evidence is complete, everything is
>|perfect. The process of comparison is within such
>|perfection. Beyond such evidence there is no proof. There
>|is not much controversy regarding direct perceptional
>|evidence or authorized traditional evidence. The Sankhya
>|system of philosophy identifies three kinds of procedures-
>|namely, parimanat (transformation), samanvayat (adjustment)
>|and saktitah (performance of energies)-as the causes of the
>|cosmic manifestation."
151|Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, in his commentary on the
>|Vedanta-sutra, has tried to nullify this conclusion because
>|he thinks that discrediting these so-called causes of the
>|cosmic manifestation will nullify the entire Sankhya
>|philosophy. Materialistic philosophers accept matter to be
>|the material and efficient cause of creation; for them,
>|matter is the cause of every type of manifestation.
>|Generally they give the example of a waterpot and clay.
>|Clay is the cause of the waterpot, but the clay can be
>|found as both cause and effect. The waterpot is the effect
>|and clay itself is the cause, but clay is visible
>|everywhere. A tree is matter, but a tree produces fruit.
>|Water is matter, but water flows. In this way, say the
>|Sankhyites, matter is the cause of movements and production.
>| As such, matter can be considered the material and
>|efficient cause of everything in the cosmic manifestation.
>|Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana has therefore enunciated the
>|nature of pradhana as follows:
152|"Material nature is inert, and as such it cannot be the
>|cause of matter, neither as the material nor as the
>|efficient cause. Seeing the wonderful arrangement and
>|management of the cosmic manifestation generally suggests
>|that a living brain is behind this arrangement, for without
>|a living brain such an arrangement could not exist. One
>|should not imagine that such an arrangement can exist
>|without conscious direction. In our practical experience we
>|never see that inert bricks can themselves construct a big
>|building.
153|"The example of the waterpot cannot be accepted
>|because a waterpot has no perception of pleasure and
>|distress. Such perception is within. Therefore the covering
>|body, or the waterpot, cannot be synchronized with it.
154|"Sometimes the material scientist suggests that trees grow
>|from the earth automatically, without assistance from a
>|gardener, because that is a tendency of matter. They also
>|consider the intuition of living creatures from birth to be
>|material. But such material tendencies as bodily intuition
>|cannot be accepted as independent, for they suggest the
>|existence of a spirit soul within the body. Actually,
>|the tree or the body of a living creature
>|has no tendency or intuition; the tendency and intuition
>|exist because the soul is present within the body. In this
>|connection, the example of a car and driver may be given
>|very profitably. The car has a tendency to turn right and
>|left, but one cannot say that the car itself, as matter,
>|turns right and left without the direction of a driver. A
>|material car has neither tendencies nor intuitions
>|independent of the intentions of the driver within the car.
>|The same principle applies for the automatic growth of
>|trees in the forest. The growth takes place because of the
>|soul's presence within the tree.
155|"Sometimes foolish people take for granted that because
>|scorpions are born from heaps of rice, the rice has
>|produced the scorpions. The real fact, however, is this :
>|the mother scorpion lays eggs within the rice , and by the
>|proper fermentation of the rice the eggs give birth to
>|several baby scorpions, which in due course come out. This
>|does not mean that the rice gives birth to the scorpions.
>|Similarly, sometimes bugs are seen to come from dirty beds.
>|This does not mean, however, that the beds give birth to
>|the bugs. It is the living soul that comes forth, taking
>|advantage of the dirty condition of the bed. There are
>|different kinds of living creatures. Some of them come from
>|embryos, some from eggs and some from the fermentation of
>|perspiration. Different living creatures have different
>|sources of appearance, but one should not conclude that
>|matter produces such living creatures.
156|"The example cited by materialists that trees automatically
>|come from the earth follows the same principle. Taking
>|advantage of a certain condition, a living entity comes
>|from the earth. According to the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad,
>|every living being is forced by divine superintendence to
>|take a certain type of body according to his past deeds.
>|There are many varieties of bodies, and because of a divine
>|arrangement a living entity takes bodies of different
>|shapes.
157|"When a person thinks 'I am doing this,' the 'I am' does
>|not refer to the body. It refers to something more than the
>|body, or within the body. As such, the body as it is has
>|neither tendencies nor intuition; the tendencies and
>|intuition belong to the soul within the body. Material
>|scientists sometimes suggest that the tendencies of male
>|and female bodies cause their union and that this is the
>|cause of the birth of the child. But since the purusa,
>|according to Sankhya philosophy, is always unaffected,
>|where does the tendency to give birth come from?
158|"Sometimes material scientists give the example that milk
>|turns into curd automatically and that distilled water
>|pouring from the clouds falls down to earth, produces
>|different kinds of trees, and enters different kinds of
>|flowers and fruits with different fragrances and tastes.
>|Therefore, they say, matter produces varieties of material
>|things on its own. In reply to this argument, the same
>|proposition of the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad-that different
>|kinds of living creatures are put into different kinds of
>|bodies by the management of a superior power-is repeated.
>|Under superior superintendence, various souls, according to
>|their past activities, are given the chance to take a
>|particular type of body, such as that of a tree, animal,
>|bird or beast, and thus their different tendencies develop
>|under these circumstances. The Bhagavad-gita (13.22) also
>|further affirms:
159|purusah prakrti-stho hi
160|bhunkte prakrti-jan gunan
161|karanam guna-sango 'sya
162|sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
163|'The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways
>|of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to
>|his association with that material nature. Thus he meets
>|with good and evil among various species.' The soul is
>|given different types of bodies. For example, were souls
>|not given varieties of tree bodies, the different varieties
>|of fruits and flowers could not be produced. Each class of
>|tree produces a particular kind of fruit and flower; it is
>|not that there is no distinction between the different
>|classes. An individual tree does not produce flowers of
>|different colors or fruits of different tastes. There are
>|demarcated classes, as we find them among humans, animals,
>|birds and other species. There are innumerable living
>|entities, and their activities, performed in the material
>|world according to the different qualities of the material
>|modes of nature, give them the chance to have different
>|kinds of life.
164|"Thus one should understand that pradhana, matter, cannot
>|act unless impelled by a living creature. The materialistic
>|theory that matter independently acts cannot, therefore, be
>|accepted. Matter is called prakrti, which refers to female
>|energy. A woman is prakrti, a female. A female cannot
>|produce a child without the association of a purusa, a man.
>|The purusa causes the birth of a child because the man
>|injects the soul, which is sheltered in the semen, into the
>|womb of the woman. The woman, as the material cause,
>|supplies the body of the soul, and as the efficient cause
>|she gives birth to the child. But although the woman
>|appears to be the material and efficient cause of the birth
>|of a child, originally the purusa, the male, is the cause
>|of the child. Similarly, this material world gives rise to
>|varieties of manifestations due to the entrance of
>|Garbhodakasayi Visnu within the universe. He is present not
>|only within the universe but within the bodies of all
>|living creatures, as well as within the atom. We understand
>|from the Brahma-samhita that the Supersoul is present
>|within the universe, within the atom and within the heart
>|of every living creature. Therefore the theory that matter
>|is the cause of the entire cosmic manifestation cannot be
>|accepted by any man with sufficient knowledge of matter and
>|spirit.
165|"Materialists sometimes give the argument that as straw
>|eaten by a cow produces milk automatically, so material
>|nature, under different circumstances, produces varieties
>|of manifestations. Thus originally matter is the cause. In
>|refuting this argument, we may say that an animal of the
>|same species as the cow-namely, the bull-also eats straw
>|like the cow but does not produce milk. Under the
>|circumstances, it cannot be said that straw in connection
>|with a particular species produces milk. The conclusion
>|should be that there is superior management, as confirmed
>|in the Bhagavad-gita (9.10), where the Lord says,
>|mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: 'This material
>|nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and
>|it is producing all moving and unmoving beings.' The
>|Supreme Lord says, mayadhyaksena ('under My superintendence'
>|). When He desires that the cow produce milk by eating
>|straw, there is milk, and when He does not so desire it,
>|the mixture of such straw cannot produce milk. If the way
>|of material nature had been that straw produced milk, a
>|stack of straw could also produce milk. But that is not
>|possible. And the same straw given to a human female also
>|cannot produce milk. That is the meaning of the Bhagavad-
>|gita's statement that only under superior orders does
>|anything take place. Matter itself has no power to produce
>|independently. The conclusion, therefore, is that matter,
>|which has no self-knowledge, cannot be the cause of the
>|material creation. The ultimate creator is the Supreme
>|Personality of Godhead.
166|"If matter were accepted as the original cause of creation,
>|all the authorized scriptures in the world would be useless,
>| for in every scripture, especially the Vedic scriptures
>|like the Manu-smrti, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
>|said to be the ultimate creator. The Manu-smrti is
>|considered the highest Vedic direction to humanity. Manu is
>|the giver of law to mankind, and in the Manu-smrti it is
>|clearly stated that before the creation the entire
>|universal space was darkness, without information and
>|without variety, and was in a state of complete suspension,
>|like a dream. Everything was darkness. The Supreme
>|Personality of Godhead then entered the universal space,
>|and although He is invisible, He created the visible cosmic
>|manifestation. In the material world the Supreme
>|Personality of Godhead is not manifested by His personal
>|presence, but the presence of the cosmic manifestation in
>|different varieties is the proof that everything has been
>|created under His direction. He entered the universe with
>|all creative potencies, and thus He removed the darkness of
>|the unlimited space.
167|"The form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is
>|described to be transcendental, very subtle, eternal, all-
>|pervading, inconceivable and therefore nonmanifested to the