Prabhupada 0816 - This Body is a Machine, but We Are Accepting Machine as Myself
751015 - Lecture SB 01.07.05-6 - Johannesburg
- yayā sammohito jīva
- ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam
- paro 'pi manute 'narthaṁ
- tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate
- (SB 1.7.5)
So our present position is like this, that sammohita, bewildered, puzzled by māyā. We are eternal part and parcel of God, but on account of being enchanted by this material energy, or external energy of God, we have forgotten ourself, and we are now entangled. We have forgotten our goal of life. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). The conditioned soul... Conditioned soul means the living being, the spirit soul who is conditioned by these laws of material nature. The laws of material nature is that you have to accept a certain type of body according to your propensity. We create propensity. And Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He gives you the facility: "All right." Just like the tiger, he wants to suck blood. Or any man, if he wants to suck blood, then he will be given the facility of a tiger's body. If a person has no discrimination in eating—whatever available, he can eat—then he will be given facility of become a pig. Up to stool, he can eat.
So this is stated very clearly in the Bhagavad-gītā:
- īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
- hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati
- bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
- yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
- (BG 18.61)
This is very significant. Yantrārūḍhāni māyayā. We are riding on a machine. This body is a machine, but we are accepting machine as myself. This is called sammohita, "bewildered." If you are running on a car, if you think, "I am the car," as it is foolishness, similarly, I have got this yantra, machine, body, and it is running on on account of my presence, or I am driving, or Kṛṣṇa is giving me intelligence how to drive. But if I identify myself with this body, exactly like a foolish man—he is driving the car, and if he identifies himself with the car, he is a foolish man—so this is called sammohita. Yayā sammohito jīva. Therefore the example, as I was citing yester..., last night, that we do not see the driver, and when the driver goes away, then we see that the car is not moving, and then I can understand, "Oh, the driver, my father or my son, has gone away." We sometimes cry, "My father has gone away" or "My son has gone away," but because we are sammohita, we actually never saw the father and the son. We accepted this coat-pant body as father and son. This is called sammoha, bewildered.
Yayā sammohito jīva ātmānam: the spirit soul, ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam... This body is tri-guṇātmakam. The body is made according to the modes of material nature: kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya (BG 13.22). Everything is very clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. This is further development. Bhagavad-gītā... If you understand Bhagavad-gītā, and if you actually surrender to Kṛṣṇa... The last word of Kṛṣṇa is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). If you actually understand Bhagavad-gītā, this will be the result. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ hareḥ (SB 1.5.17). Sva-dharma. Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya. So that means every one of us... Dharma means occupational duty. That is dharma, characteristic. So Kṛṣṇa orders, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). If we accept it, even by sentiment... That is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Tyaktvā sva-dharmaṁ caraṇāmbujaṁ hareḥ patet tato yadi, bhajann apakvo 'tha. Nārada Muni says that "If somebody, even by sentiment—'All right, Kṛṣṇa says sarva-dharmān parityajya. Let us stop any other business, become Kṛṣṇa conscious'—even one accepts by sentiment, not thoroughly understanding, he is also fortunate." He also fortunate because he accepts the real thing. Therefore Nārada Muni said that "Even one accepting by sentiment, and later on," bhajann apakvo 'tha, "his execution of devotional service not mature and he falls down, then," Nārada Muni says, yatra kva vābhadram abhūd amuṣya kim, "where is the loss for that person? And the other hand, the other person who has not accepted this—he is very regularly executing his respons..., material responsibility—what does he gain by that?" This is the opinion. "If Kṛṣṇa consciousness is accepted even by sentiment, and after that, even he falls down, there is no loss. And if we are very faithful to our material duties, then," Nārada Muni says, "what do we gain by that?" So this is very important thing.