Sometimes he is a demigod in the heavenly planets and sometimes a most insignificant creature in the lower planetary systems. In this regard, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, nānā yoni sadā phire: the living entity passes through various species. Kardarya bhakṣaṇa kare: he is obliged to eat and enjoy abominable things. Tāra janma adhaḥ-pāte yāya: in this way his whole life is spoiled. Without the protection of an all-merciful Vaiṣṇava. the conditioned soul cannot get out of the clutches of māyā. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)), the living entity begins material life with his mind and the five knowledge-acquiring senses, and with these he struggles for existence within the material world. These senses are compared to rogues and thieves within the forest. They take away a man's knowledge and place him in a network of nescience.
BG 15.07 mamaivamso jiva-loke... cited (Bks)
Expressions researched:
"My eternal fragmental parts"
|"jiva-bhutah sanatanah"
|"mamaivamso jiva-loke"
|"manah-sasthanindriyani"
|"prakrti-sthani karsati"
|"they are struggling very hard with the six senses"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
So, self-realization means understanding Kṛṣṇa and one's eternal relationship with Him. The relationship of the living entities with Kṛṣṇa is also mentioned in the Fifteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (15.7). The living entities are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa; therefore, revival of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the individual living entity is the highest perfectional stage of Vedic knowledge.
BG Chapters 13 - 18
The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
In this verse the identity of the living being is clearly given. The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord—eternally. It is not that he assumes individuality in his conditional life and in his liberated state becomes one with the Supreme Lord. He is eternally fragmented. It is clearly said, sanātanaḥ. According to the Vedic version, the Supreme Lord manifests and expands Himself in innumerable expansions, of which the primary expansions are called viṣṇu-tattva and the secondary expansions are called the living entities. In other words, the viṣṇu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are the separated expansions. By His personal expansion, He is manifested in various forms like Lord Rāma, Nṛsiṁha-deva, Viṣṇumūrti and all the predominating Deities in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The separated expansions, the living entities, are eternally servitors. The personal expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the individual identities of the Godhead, are always present. Similarly, the separated expansions of living entities have their identities. As fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the living entities also have fragmental portions of His qualities, of which independence is one. Every living entity, as an individual soul, has his personal individuality and a minute form of independence. By misuse of that independence one becomes a conditioned soul, and by proper use of independence he is always liberated. In either case, he is qualitatively eternal, as the Supreme Lord is. In his liberated state he is freed from this material condition, and he is under the engagement of transcendental service unto the Lord; in his conditioned life he is dominated by the material modes of nature, and he forgets the transcendental loving service of the Lord. As a result, he has to struggle very hard to maintain his existence in the material world.
The living entities, not only human beings and the cats and dogs, but even the greater controllers of the material world—Brahmā, Lord Śiva and even Viṣṇu—are all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. They are all eternal, not temporary manifestations. The word karṣati ("struggling" or "grappling hard") is very significant. The conditioned soul is bound up, as though shackled by iron chains. He is bound up by the false ego, and the mind is the chief agent which is driving him in this material existence. When the mind is in the mode of goodness, his activities are good; when the mind is in the mode of passion, his activities are troublesome; and when the mind is in the mode of ignorance, he travels in the lower species of life. It is clear, however, in this verse, that the conditioned soul is covered by the material body, with the mind and the senses, and when he is liberated this material covering perishes, but his spiritual body manifests itself in its individual capacity. The following information is there in the Mādhyandināyana-śruti: sa vā eṣa brahma-niṣṭhā idaṁ śarīraṁ martyam atisṛjya brahmābhisampadya brahmaṇā paśyati brahmaṇā śṛṇoti brahmaṇaivedaṁ sarvam anubhavati. It is stated here that when a living entity gives up this material embodiment and enters into the spiritual world, he revives his spiritual body, and in his spiritual body he can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. He can hear and speak to Him face to face, and he can understand the Supreme Personality as He is. From smṛti also it is understood, vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ sarve vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ: in the spiritual planets everyone lives in bodies featured like the Supreme Personality of Godhead's. As far as bodily construction is concerned, there is no difference between the part-and-parcel living entities and the expansions of viṣṇu-mūrti. In other words, at liberation the living entity gets a spiritual body by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The words mamaivāṁśaḥ ("fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord") are also very significant. The fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord is not like some material broken part. We have already understood in the Second Chapter that the spirit cannot be cut into pieces. This fragment is not materially conceived. It is not like matter, which can be cut into pieces and joined together again. That conception is not applicable here, because the Sanskrit word sanātana ("eternal") is used. The fragmental portion is eternal. It is also stated in the beginning of the Second Chapter that in each and every individual body the fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord is present (dehino 'smin yathā dehe). That fragmental portion, when liberated from the bodily entanglement, revives its original spiritual body in the spiritual sky in a spiritual planet and enjoys association with the Supreme Lord. It is, however, understood here that the living entity, being the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is qualitatively one with the Lord, just as the parts and parcels of gold are also gold.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
There are degrees of knowing one's relationship with the Lord, depending on the degree of realization as to why the Supreme Lord is the dearmost object of every living being. The real reason is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7). Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: the living entities are eternally parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. The living entity is called the ātmā, and the Lord is called the Paramātmā. The living entity is called Brahman, and the Lord is called the Para-brahman, or the Parameśvara.
The smallness or greatness of different souls is described in the Varāha Purāṇa as svāṁśa-vibhinnāṁśa. The svāṁśa soul is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the vibhinnāṁśa souls, or small particles, are eternally small particles, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7)). The small living entities are eternally part and parcel, and therefore it is not possible for them to be quantitatively as great as the Supersoul.
SB Canto 4
Being influenced by the three modes of material nature, the living entity tries to dominate material nature, but actually he is not the puruṣa (enjoyer) but prakṛti, as described in Bhagavad-gītā (7.5): apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām. Thus the jīva, or living entity, is actually prakṛti, or the marginal energy of the Supreme Lord. Being associated with material energy, he tries to lord it over the material nature. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
By endeavoring to dominate material nature, the living entity simply struggles hard for existence. Indeed, he struggles so hard to enjoy himself that he cannot even enjoy the material resources.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that the living entity, since time immemorial, is suffering the threefold miseries of material nature due to his demoniac attitude, which is his spirit of revolt against the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa also confirms this in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." Every living entity is part and parcel of God. There is no reason for the living entity's being put into the miserable threefold condition of material existence but that he voluntarily accepts material existence on the false pretext of becoming an enjoyer.
The first step of self-realization is to know oneself as spirit soul apart from the body. In the second stage of self-realization, one comes to know that every soul, every individual living entity, is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, Paramātmā, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
All living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Unfortunately, in this present civilization both men and women are allowed to be attracted to one another from the very beginning of life, and because of this they are completely unable to come to the platform of self-realization.
At the time of death King Purañjana was thinking of his wife, and this is called polluted consciousness. As Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
The living entity is, after all, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, Kṛṣṇa. In other words, Kṛṣṇa's constitutional position and the living entity's constitutional position are the same qualitatively. The only difference is that the living entity is eternally an atomic particle of the Supreme Spirit. Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). In this material world of conditional life, the fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord, the individual soul, is struggling due to his contaminated mind and consciousness. As part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, a living entity is supposed to think of Kṛṣṇa, but here we see that King Purañjana (the living entity) is thinking of a woman. Such mental absorption with some sense object brings about the living entity's struggle for existence in this material world.
If we do not change our consciousness in this life, whatever we do in the name of social, political, religious or communal and national welfare will be the cause of our bondage. This means we have to continue in material, conditional life. As explained in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. When the mind and senses are engaged in material activities, one has to continue his material existence and struggle to attain happiness. In each and every life one is engaged in the struggle to become happy. Actually no one in this material world is happy, but the struggle gives a false sense of happiness.
Even though both of them are original spiritual identities, the living entity forgets his identity when he comes in contact with material nature and becomes conditioned. At such a time he identifies himself as a product of the material nature. Because of the material body, he forgets that he is the eternal (sanātana) part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in this way: mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7). The word sanātana is found in several places in Bhagavad-gītā. Both the Lord and the living entity are sanātana (eternal), and there is also a place known as sanātana, beyond this material nature.
Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
Here it is also explained that the living entity comes in contact with the sixteen material elements and is influenced by the three modes of material nature. The living entity and this combination of elements combine to form what is called jīva-bhūta, the conditioned soul that struggles hard within material nature.
SB Canto 5
The first business of one trying to advance in spiritual life is to control the mind and senses. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
Although the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and are therefore in a transcendental position, they are still suffering in this material world and struggling for existence due to the mind and the senses. To get out of this false struggle for existence and become happy in the material world, one has to control the mind and senses and be detached from material conditions.
The living entity is seated on a machine (the body), and according to the order of the Supreme Lord, he operates the machine. This is the secret of transmigration of the soul from one body to another. The living entity thus becomes entangled in fruitive activities in this material world. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati: the living entity is struggling very hard against the six senses, which include the mind.
As explained in the next verse, Kṛṣṇa is the original source of all living entities. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), wherein Kṛṣṇa says:
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." All living entities are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore when they revive their original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they possess all the good qualities of Kṛṣṇa in a small quantity.
SB Canto 6
As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.14):
- daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
- mama māyā duratyayā
- mām eva ye prapadyante
- māyām etāṁ taranti te
"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) the Lord says:
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." The living entity's struggle for existence within the material world is due to his rebellious nature. Unless a living entity surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, he must continue this life of struggle.
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a fad. It is a bona fide movement intended to promote the welfare of all conditioned souls by trying to elevate everyone to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (18.54):
- brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
- na śocati na kāṅkṣati
"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything." Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) the Lord says:
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." The living entity is actually part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is unaffected by material conditions, but because the mind (manaḥ) is affected, the senses are affected, and the living entity struggles for existence within this material world.
A devotee who has fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord knows very well that the creative energy of the living entities, from Lord Brahmā down to the small ant, exists because the living entities are part and parcel of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) the Lord says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts." The living entities are nothing but very small portions of the supreme spirit, like sparks of a fire. Because they are part of the Supreme, they have a creative quality in a very minute quantity.
SB Canto 7
Devotees, especially, do not create friends and enemies. A devotee sees that every living being is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa (mamaivāṁśo jīva-bhūtaḥ (15.7)). Therefore a devotee treats friends and enemies equally by trying to educate them both in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Of course, atheistic men do not follow the instructions of pure devotees, but instead consider a devotee their enemy. A devotee, however, never creates a situation of friendship and enmity.
The Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, is the seed-giving father of all living entities because the living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord (mamaivāṁśo ...jīva-bhūtaḥ (15.7)). As there is no difficulty in establishing the intimate relationship between a father and son, there is no difficulty in reestablishing the natural, intimate relationship between Nārāyaṇa and the living entities.
In Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) Lord Kṛṣṇa clearly says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ: "All the living entities are part of Me." Therefore the living entities are qualitatively the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the leader, the Supreme among all the living entities. In the Vedas it is said, nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13): the Lord is the chief individual living entity, the leader of the subordinate living entities. Because the living entities are parts or samples of God, their qualities are not different from those of the Supreme Lord.
In this material world, everyone thinks that he has conquered his enemies, not understanding that his enemies are his uncontrolled mind and five senses (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)). In this material world, everyone has become a servant of the senses. Originally everyone is a servant of Kṛṣṇa, but in ignorance one forgets this, and thus one is engaged in the service of māyā through lusty desires, anger, greed, illusion, madness and jealousy.
SB Canto 8
Our real problem is that we are entangled in materialistic activities, and because we are conditioned, our struggle continues through punishment in material existence in one body after another in different forms of life. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." The living entities are actually minute forms who are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is full in everything, and the small particles of the Lord are also originally qualified like Him, but because of their minute existence, they are infected by material attraction and thus entangled.
Prakṛti can give us material bodies, but as spirit souls we are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7): mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ. The living entity, being part and parcel of God, is not a product of this material world. Therefore the Lord is described in this verse as ātma-mūla, the original source of everything. He is the seed of all existences (bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 7.10)).
Plants, trees, insects, aquatics, demigods, beasts, birds and all other living entities are sons or parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, but because they are struggling with different mentalities, they have been given different types of bodies (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)). Thus they have become sons of prakṛti, or material nature, which is impregnated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Every living entity in this material world is struggling for existence, and the only salvation or relief from the cycle of birth and death in the evolutionary process is full surrender. This is indicated by the word namaḥ, "I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."
Everything material must change from one form to another—for example, from earth to earthen pot and from earthen pot to earth again. All our creations are temporary, impermanent. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, is eternal, and similarly the living entities, who are parts of Him, are also eternal (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7)). The Supreme Personality of Godhead is sanātana, eternal, and the individual living entities are also eternal. The difference is that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is the supreme eternal, whereas the individual souls are minute, fragmental eternals.
Whatever is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a mantra and is suitable for delivering the conditioned souls from mental speculation. The conditioned souls are engaged in a struggle for existence (manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7)). Deliverance from this struggle constitutes the highest benefit, but unless one gets a mantra from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, deliverance is impossible. The beginning mantra is the Gāyatrī mantra.
SB Canto 9
In this age we see much material improvement, but still people are struggling to get more and more material opulence. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). Although every living entity is a part of the Supreme Being, because of lusty desires one continuously struggles for so-called betterment of one's economic condition. To have a satisfied mind, one must give up his heart disease of lusty desires. This can be done only when one is Kṛṣṇa conscious.
Materialistic men sometimes ask why God has created the material world for the suffering of the living entities. The material creation is certainly meant for the suffering of the conditioned souls, who are part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as confirmed by the Lord Himself in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." All the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and are as good as the Lord qualitatively, but quantitatively there is a great difference between them, for the Lord is unlimited whereas the living entities are limited. Thus the Lord possesses unlimited potency for pleasure, and the living entities have a limited pleasure potency.
Both the Lord and the living entity, being qualitatively spirit soul, have the tendency for peaceful enjoyment, but when the part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead unfortunately wants to enjoy independently, without Kṛṣṇa, he is put into the material world, where he begins his life as Brahmā and is gradually degraded to the status of an ant or a worm in stool. This is called manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. There is a great struggle for existence because the living entity conditioned by material nature is under nature's full control (prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27)). Because of his limited knowledge, however, the living entity thinks he is enjoying in this material world. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati. He is actually under the full control of material nature, but still he thinks himself independent (ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate). Even when he is elevated by speculative knowledge and tries to merge into the existence of Brahman, the same disease continues.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
There are different grades of forms, known as svāṁśa and vibhinnāṁśa. The svāṁśa expansions, or viṣṇu-tattva, are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whereas the vibhinnāṁśa are jīva-tattva, who are part and parcel of the Lord (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7)). If we accept Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and worship Him, all the parts and expansions of the Lord are automatically worshiped. Sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā (SB 4.31.14). Kṛṣṇa is known as Acyuta (senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me 'cyuta (BG 1.21)). By worshiping Acyuta, Kṛṣṇa, one automatically worships all the demigods.
A nondevotee or atheist also cultivates God consciousness—by trying to avoid God in everything. For example, so-called scientists who want to create life by a combination of chemicals regard the external, material elements as supreme. Such scientists do not like the idea that life is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. As clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7)), the living entities do not arise from a combination of material elements, such as earth, water, air and fire, but are separated portions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: the living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and thus they are qualitatively one with the Lord. We can understand that when the Supreme Lord appears or disappears as an incarnation, there is no other cause than His pleasure potency. We cannot force the Supreme Personality of Godhead to appear.
There are many persons who worship different demigods, considering all of them to be separate gods, which in fact they are not. The fact is that every demigod, and every living entity, is part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ (BG 15.7)). The demigods are also in the category of living entities; they are not separate gods. But men whose knowledge is immature and contaminated by the modes of material nature worship various demigods, according to their intelligence.
The avatāras incessantly appear, like incessantly flowing water. No one can count how many waves there are in flowing water, and similarly there is no limitation of the avatāras. And Kṛṣṇa is the full representation of all avatāras because He is the source of all avatāras. Kṛṣṇa is aṁśī, whereas others are aṁśa, part of Kṛṣṇa. All living entities, including us, are aṁśas (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7)). These aṁśas are of different magnitude. Human beings (who are minute aṁśas) and the demigods, viṣṇu-tattva and all other living beings are all part of the Supreme. Nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.13). Kṛṣṇa is the full representation of all living entities, and when Kṛṣṇa is present, all avatāras are included in Him.
Kṛṣṇa's appearance means paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8)—the devotees are protected, and the miscreants are vanquished. Whenever Kṛṣṇa comes, He distributes the highest goal of life, devotional service. He appears as Caitanya Mahāprabhu for the same purpose because unless one comes to devotional service, one cannot be delivered from the miseries of the material world (duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15)), where the living beings struggle for existence. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
- jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
- prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Because of conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind." The living entities are struggling to become happy, but unless they take to the bhakti cult, their happiness is not possible.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
The example of misunderstanding a rope to be a snake is mentioned in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, but it is meant to explain the error of identifying the body with the soul. Since the soul is actually a spiritual particle, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke), it is due to illusion (vivarta-vāda) that a human being, like an animal, identifies the body with the self. This is a proper example of vivarta, or illusion.
CC Madhya-lila
When one becomes the Lord's devotee, he is rescued from this dangerous ocean of birth and death. The Lord is always prepared to shower His mercy upon fallen souls struggling against miserable material conditions. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
Thus every living being is struggling hard in this material nature. Actually the living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and when he surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he attains release from the ocean of birth and death.
“"If we divide the tip of a hair into a hundred parts and then take one of these parts and divide it again into a hundred parts, that very fine division is the size of but one of the numberless living entities. They are all cit-kaṇa, particles of spirit, not matter."
This is quoted from the commentary on the portion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam wherein the Vedas personified offer their obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms this statement in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7): mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ. "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts."
“To impregnate with the seeds of the living entities, the Lord Himself does not directly touch the material energy, but by His specific functional expansion He touches the material energy, and thus the living entities, who are His parts and parcels, are impregnated into material nature.
According to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāni prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
In the present verse of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the word prakṛti-sparśana refers to the Lord's glancing over material nature and placing the living entities in contact with dull matter.
“"These qualities are sometimes very minutely exhibited in living beings, but they are fully manifested in the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
This verse is found in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.1.30). Living entities are parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
The qualities of Kṛṣṇa are present in the living entity in minute, atomic quantities.
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not based upon bodily designations. It is a transcendental movement on the platform of spiritual understanding. If the people of the world understood that the basic principle of life is spiritual identification, they would understand that the business of the spirit soul is to serve the Supreme Spirit, Kṛṣṇa. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7), mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts." All living entities in different life forms are sons of Kṛṣṇa.
CC Antya-lila
A person under the control of the external energy, however, cannot understand that distinction. Such a person cannot understand that the Supreme Person is the original great fire, whereas the living entities are simply small fragmental parts of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7):
- mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
- manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
There is a distinction between the body and the soul of the materially existing living being, but because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Jagannātha do not possess material bodies, there is no distinction between Their bodies and souls.
His Lordship the Supreme Personality of Godhead has an unlimited spiritual identity, never to be broken, whereas the consciousness of the living entity is limited and fragmented. The living entities are fragmental portions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead eternally (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ (BG 15.7)). It is not that they are covered by the material energy in conditioned life but become one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead when freed from the influence of material energy. Such an idea is offensive.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.87.30) the personified Vedas pray to the Lord, "O supreme eternal, if the living entities were equal with You and thus all-pervading and all-powerful like You, there would be no possibility of their being controlled by Your external energy, māyā." Therefore, the living entities should be accepted as fragmental portions of the Supreme. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) when the Lord says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: "The living entities are My fragmental portions, eternally." As fragmental portions, they are qualitatively one with the Supreme, but they are not unlimited.
The constitutional position of the living entity as a fragment of the Supreme Lord is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Upaniṣads. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9) states,
- bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca
- bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate
"If the tip of a hair were divided into one hundred parts, and if one of those parts were again divided into a hundred parts, that one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair would be the dimension of the living entity." As already mentioned, this position of the living entity as a fragment of the Supreme Lord is declared in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) to be eternal; it cannot be changed. A person who understands his constitutional position as a fragment of the Supreme Lord and engages himself in devotional service with all seriousness at once becomes immortal.
| Page Title: | BG 15.07 mamaivamso jiva-loke... cited (Bks) |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas, Visnu Murti |
| Created: | 02 of Mar, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=2, SB=34, CC=8, OB=2, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 46 |