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(a) Material nature is the mother, supplying living-entity with the body (14.3)
- The total material substance, called Brahman is the source of birth
- Lord impregnates that Brahman with living entities
(b) Analogy: Scorpion lays its eggs in rice, but the rice is not the cause of the scorpion
- This refutes that material nature is the cause of the birth of living entities
- Actual seed is given by the Supreme Lord himself
(c) Text 14.3 gives an explanation of the world as follows:
- Everything that takes place is due to combination of ksetra (body) and ksetra-jna (spirit soul)
- This combination of the living-entity is made possible by the Supreme God himself
(d) Mahat-tattva – It is the total cause of the total cosmic manifestation;
- Total substance of the material cause, in which there are three modes of material nature, is sometimes called Brahman
- Ref. Mundaka Upanisad
(e) ‘Mahad-Brahma’ – Great Brahman refers to the material nature
- Constituted by 24 elements which constitute the inferior energy
- This Living entity constitutes the superior energy
(f) Living entities are seen everywhere, on all the planets (14.4)
- On earth, even within water and fire
- Even on the highest planet, where Brahma is situated
(a) What was revealed in Chapters (7 – 12) – Krishna reveals in detail the Absolute Truth as the Supreme Personality of Godhead
(b) How to understand this Chapter – Through the process of philosophical speculation
(c) Result of such learning
- Freedom from material entanglement
- One comes to an understanding of devotional service
(d) Why this knowledge is proclaimed superior to all – because
- Understanding the conditioning of the three modes is a powerful tool to assist one on the path of self-realization
- By this knowledge many sages attained perfection and transferred to spiritual world
- One can attain a transcendental nature like Krishna and thus attains liberation
- Whoever understands Chapter 14 will attain perfection
(e) “Attaining transcendental natural like My own” – implies
- One acquires qualitative equality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Freedom from birth and death
- One does not lose his identity as individual soul
- Ref. Vedic literatures – Liberated souls in transcendental planets always look to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, being engaged in His loving service
(f) Transcendental knowledge defined
- Knowledge which is not contaminated by the three modes of material nature
- Knowledge of knowing oneself on the same platform (in quality) as the Supreme Person
- Lack of this knowledge of spiritual sky – They think liberation means that spiritual identity becomes formless without variegatedness
- Conceptions in real knowledge
o Form – Spiritual world is also full of variety just like the material world. In spiritual sky one attains a spiritual form
o Activity – Spiritual world is full of spiritual activities – situation is called devotional life
o That atmosphere is uncontaminated
- Qualification – To obtain such knowledge, one must develop all spiritual qualities
- Benefit of such qualities – He is not affected by creation and destruction of material world