Bodily conception of life (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"bodily conception of life"

CC Preface and Introduction

The eight principles of sāṅkhya-yoga are meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life.

CC Adi Preface: The eight principles of sāṅkhya-yoga—observing the regulative principles, following the rules, practicing the various sitting postures, performing the breathing exercises, withdrawing one’s senses from the sense objects, etc.—are meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life. The intelligent man situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not try to forcibly stop his senses from acting. Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. No one can stop a child from playing by leaving him inactive; rather, the child can be stopped from engaging in nonsense by being engaged in superior activities. Similarly, the forceful restraint of sense activities by the eight principles of yoga is recommended for inferior men; superior men, being engaged in the superior activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, naturally retire from the inferior activities of material existence.

CC Madhya-lila

If a person does not change his name after initiation, it is to be understood that he will continue in his bodily conception of life.

CC Madhya 1.208, Purport: it is essential for a disciple to change his name after initiation.

śaṅkha-cakrādy-ūrdhva-puṇḍra-

dhāraṇādy-ātma-lakṣaṇam

tan nāma-karaṇaṁ caiva

vaiṣṇavatvam ihocyate

“After initiation, the disciple’s name must be changed to indicate that he is a servant of Lord Viṣṇu. The disciple should also immediately begin marking his body with tilaka (ūrdhva-puṇḍra), especially his forehead. These are spiritual marks, symptoms of a perfect Vaiṣṇava.” This is a verse from the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa. A member of the sahajiyā-sampradāya does not change his name; therefore he cannot be accepted as a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava. If a person does not change his name after initiation, it is to be understood that he will continue in his bodily conception of life.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu speaks to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.

CC Madhya 6.233, Translation: My dear Bhaṭṭācārya, today you have been released from material bondage in the bodily conception of life; you have cut to pieces the shackles of the illusory energy.

The karmīs are fully under the bodily conception of life, and the jñānīs, although theoretically understanding that they are not the body, also have no information about the lotus feet of the Lord because they overly stress impersonalism.

CC Madhya 6.235, Purport: Māyāvādī sannyāsīs do not purify their intelligence, mind and ego, and consequently they cannot engage in the service of the Lord or expect the causeless mercy of the Lord. Although they rise to a very high position by executing severe austerities and penances, they still hover in the material world without the benediction of the lotus feet of the Lord. Sometimes they rise to the Brahman effulgence, but because their minds are not completely purified, they must return to material existence. The karmīs are fully under the bodily conception of life, and the jñānīs, although theoretically understanding that they are not the body, also have no information about the lotus feet of the Lord because they overly stress impersonalism. Consequently both karmīs and jñānīs are unfit for receiving the mercy of the Lord and becoming devotees.

People of this age can simply chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and thus can rid themselves of the bodily conception of life and become eligible to engage in the Lord’s devotional service.

CC Madhya 6.242, Purport: Because the people of this age are so fallen, they can simply chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In this way they can rid themselves of the bodily conception of life and become eligible to engage in the Lord’s devotional service. One cannot engage in the devotional service of the Lord without being purified of all contamination.

A materialist mistakenly accepts the bodily conception of life.

CC Madhya 12.61, Purport: In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that a materialist mistakenly accepts the body and mind as the source of material enjoyment. In other words, a materialist accepts the bodily conception of life. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not regard the son of Mahārāja Pratāparudra with the idea that he was a materialist, being the son of a materialist. Nor did He consider Himself the enjoyer. Māyāvādī philosophers make a great mistake by assuming that the sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], the transcendental form of the Lord, is like a material body. However, there is no material contamination in transcendence, nor is there any possibility of imagining a spirituality in matter. One cannot accept matter as spirit.

CC Antya-lila

People who are under the bodily conception of life are called materialists.

CC Antya 6.275, Purport: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that people who are under the bodily conception of life are called materialists. If we accept the offerings of such people, place them before the Lord and invite Vaiṣṇavas to partake of the prasādam, that attempt will gain us only a material reputation, not the actual benefit of service to a pure Vaiṣṇava. One should therefore try to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead by fully surrendering at His lotus feet. If one engages for the service of the Lord whatever money one has honestly earned, that is spiritual service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas.

The materialists are fully absorbed in the bodily conception of life. Therefore they sometimes turn against the Vaiṣṇavas.

CC Antya 6.276, Purport: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that people who are advanced in learning but attached to material enjoyment, who are puffed up by material possessions, by birth in an elevated aristocratic family or by education, may offer showbottle devotional service to the Deity and also offer prasādam to Vaiṣṇavas. Because of their ignorance, however, they cannot understand that since their minds are materially polluted, neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, nor the Vaiṣṇavas accept their offerings. If one accepts money from such materialistic persons to offer food to the Deity and Vaiṣṇavas, a pure Vaiṣṇava does not accept it. This causes unhappiness for the materialists because they are fully absorbed in the bodily conception of life. Therefore they sometimes turn against the Vaiṣṇavas.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

The regulative principles and the rules of yoga, the various sitting postures and breathing exercises performed in an attempt to withdraw one's senses from the sense objects are methods meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Preface: Without knowing the actual process by which the mind and senses can be controlled, less intelligent men either try to stop the mind and senses by force, or they give in to them and are carried away by the waves of sense gratification. The regulative principles and the rules of yoga, the various sitting postures and breathing exercises performed in an attempt to withdraw one's senses from the sense objects are methods meant for those who are too much engrossed in the bodily conception of life. The intelligent man who is situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not try to forcibly stop his senses from acting. Rather, he engages his senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

One who attains to the perfection of understanding his real nature gives up his designative (material, or bodily) conception of life.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16: The ultimate nature, or the perpetual eternal nature of the living entity, is to serve the Supreme Lord. One who attains to the perfection of understanding his real nature—as eternal servant of the Lord—gives up his designative (material, or bodily) conception of life. That is real knowledge. Those who are in pursuit of knowledge and who get the opportunity to associate with a pure devotee also engage in the devotional service of the Lord.

Nectar of Instruction

When a person is relieved from unwanted things, he becomes fixed in executing his Kṛṣṇa activities and becomes free from material existence and loses interest in the bodily conception of life.

Nectar of Instruction 7, Purport: When a person is relieved from unwanted things, he becomes fixed in executing his Kṛṣṇa activities. Indeed, he becomes attached to such activities and experiences ecstasy in executing devotional service. This is called bhāva, the preliminary awakening of dormant love of Godhead. Thus the conditioned soul becomes free from material existence and loses interest in the bodily conception of life, including material opulence, material knowledge and material attraction of all variety. At such a time one can understand who the Supreme Personality of Godhead is and what His maya is.