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Influence (SB cantos 3 - 4)

Expressions researched:
"influence" |"influenced" |"influences" |"influencing" |"influential"

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

SB 3.1.6, Translation:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: King Dhṛtarāṣṭra became blind under the influence of impious desires to nourish his dishonest sons, and thus he set fire to the lacquer house to burn his fatherless nephews, the Pāṇḍavas.

SB 3.1.16, Purport:

A conditioned soul is absorbed in material existence under the influence of different modes of external energy. Absorbed in the false ego, he thinks that he is doing everything by himself. The external energy of the Lord, the material nature, is fully under the control of the Supreme Lord, and the conditioned soul is fully under the grip of the external energy. Therefore, the conditioned soul is fully under the control of the law of the Lord. But, due to illusion only, he thinks himself independent in his activities. Duryodhana was acting under such influence of the external nature, by which he would be vanquished at the ultimate end. He could not accept the sound advice of Vidura, but on the contrary he insulted that great soul, who was the well-wisher of his whole family. Vidura could understand this because he was a pure devotee of the Lord. In spite of being very strongly insulted by Duryodhana's words, Vidura could see that Duryodhana, under the influence of māyā, the external energy, was making progress on the path toward his own ruination.

SB 3.1.42, Purport:

Although he was the brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Vidura was completely different. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he was not foolish like his brother, and thus his brother's association could not influence him. Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his materialistic sons wanted to falsely lord it over the world by dint of their own strength. The Lord encouraged them in this, and thus they became more and more bewildered. But Vidura wanted to achieve sincere devotional service of the Lord and therefore became a soul absolutely surrendered to the Absolute Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.1.44, Purport:

Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1): the form of the Lord is eternal, blissful, and all-satisfying. His so-called birth is therefore an appearance only, like the birth of the sun on the horizon. His birth does not, like that of the living entities, take place under the influence of material nature and the bondage of the reactions of past deeds. His works and activities are independent pastimes and are not subject to the reactions of material nature.

SB 3.1.44, Purport:

One should always discriminate between the activities of the Lord and those of ordinary living beings. Thus one may come to the right conclusion regarding the Lord's transcendental position. One who can come to the conclusion of the Lord's transcendence can become a devotee of the Lord and can at once be free from all reactions of past deeds. It is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: the Lord minimizes or nullifies the reactionary influence of the devotee's past deeds. (Bs. 5.54)

SB 3.2.6, Purport:

The conditional changes of the living entity are explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta in the instructions given to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī by Lord Śrī Caitanya: "The living entities all over the universes are enjoying the effects of the respective fruitive results of their own work, life after life. Out of all of them, some may be influenced by the association of pure devotees and thus get the chance to execute devotional service by attainment of taste. This taste is the seed of devotional service, and one who is fortunate enough to have received such a seed is advised to sow it in the core of his heart.

SB 3.3.15, Translation:

When they quarrel among themselves, influenced by intoxication, with their eyes red like copper because of drinking (madhu), then only will they disappear; otherwise, it will not be possible. On My disappearance, this incident will take place.

SB 3.3.24, Purport:

The associates of the Lord who were playing the part of princely descendants of the Yadu and Bhoja dynasties were not ordinary living entities. It is not possible that they could offend any saintly man or sage, nor could the sages, who were all pure devotees of the Lord, be influenced to anger by any of the sporting activities of the princes born in the holy dynasties of Yadu or Bhoja, wherein the Lord Himself appeared as a descendant. The cursing of the princes by the sages was another transcendental pastime of the Lord to make a show of anger. The princes were cursed in order that one may know that even the descendants of the Lord, who could never be vanquished by any act of material nature, were subjected to the reactions of anger by great devotees of the Lord. One should therefore take great care and attention not to commit an offense at the feet of a devotee of the Lord.

SB 3.4.17, Translation:

O my Lord, Your eternal Self is never divided by the influence of time, and there is no limitation to Your perfect knowledge. Thus You were sufficiently able to consult with Yourself, yet You called upon me for consultation, as if bewildered, although You are never bewildered. And this act of Yours bewilders me.

SB 3.4.17, Purport:

Uddhava was never actually bewildered, but he says that all these contradictions appear to be bewildering. The whole discussion between Kṛṣṇa and Uddhava was meant for the benefit of Maitreya, who was sitting nearby. The Lord used to call Uddhava for consultation when the city was attacked by Jarāsandha and others and when He executed great sacrifices as part of His routine royal work as Lord of Dvārakā. The Lord has no past, present and future because He is unhampered by the influence of eternal time and thus nothing is hidden from Him. He is eternally self-intelligent. Therefore His calling for Uddhava to give Him enlightenment is certainly astonishing. All these actions of the Lord appear to be contradictory, although there is no contradiction in the routine activities of the Lord. Therefore it is better to see them as they are and not attempt to explain them.

SB 3.5.2, Purport:

Vidura asked Maitreya some common questions, which was not originally his intention. Uddhava asked Vidura to approach Maitreya Muni and inquire into all the truths concerning the Lord, His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes, entourage, etc., and thus when Vidura approached Maitreya, he should have asked only about the Lord. But out of natural humility he did not immediately ask about the Lord, but inquired into a subject which would be of great importance to the common man. A common man cannot understand the Lord. He must first know the real position of his life under the influence of the illusory energy. In illusion one thinks that he can be happy only by fruitive activities, but what actually happens is that one becomes more and more entangled in the network of action and reaction and does not find any solution to the problem of life. There is a nice song in this connection: "Because of a great desire to have all happiness in life, I built this house. But unfortunately the whole scheme has turned to ashes because the house was unexpectedly set on fire." The law of nature is like that. Everyone tries to become happy by planning in the material world, but the law of nature is so cruel that it sets fire to one's schemes; the fruitive worker is not happy in his schemes, nor is there any satiation of his continuous hankering for happiness.

SB 3.5.3, Purport:

Great unalloyed devotees of the Lord are compassionate towards the fallen, and therefore they travel all over the world with the mission of bringing souls back to Godhead, back to home. Such pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls, and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.

SB 3.5.11, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa-kathā is so powerful that simply by entering into a person's ear it can at once give deliverance from the bondage of family affection. Family affection is an illusory manifestation of the external energy, and it is the only impetus for all mundane activities. As long as there is mundane activity and the mind is absorbed in such engagement, one has to undergo the repetition of birth and death in the current material nescience. People are most influenced by the mode of ignorance, and some are influenced by the passionate mode of material nature, and under the spell of these two modes a living being is actuated by the material conception of life. The mundane qualities do not allow a living entity to understand his real position. The qualities of both ignorance and passion strongly bind one to the illusory bodily conception of the self.

SB 3.5.14, Purport:

According to this class of men, who are situated in pure devotional service to the Lord, the highest goal of human life is puruṣārtha, devotional service to the Lord, the real mission of life. The impersonalists, because they engage in mental speculation and have no faith in the Personality of Godhead, have no business hearing the topics of Kṛṣṇa. Such persons are pitiable for the first-class pure devotees of the Lord. The pitiable impersonalists pity those who are influenced by the modes of ignorance and passion, but the pure devotees of the Lord take pity on them both because both waste their most valuable time in the human form of life in false pursuits, sense enjoyment and mental speculative presentations of different theories and goals of life.

SB 3.5.26, Translation:

The Supreme Living Being in His feature as the transcendental puruṣa incarnation, who is the Lord's plenary expansion, impregnates the material nature of three modes, and thus by the influence of eternal time the living entities appear.

SB 3.5.27, Translation:

Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum total of matter called the mahat-tattva became manifested, and in this mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of universal manifestation out of His own body.

SB 3.5.27, Purport:

In due course of time, the impregnated material energy was manifested first as the total material ingredients. Everything takes its own time to fructify, and therefore the word kāla-coditāt, "influenced by time," is used herein. The mahat-tattva is the total consciousness because a portion of it is represented in everyone as the intellect. The mahat-tattva is directly connected with the supreme consciousness of the Supreme Being, but still it appears as matter. The mahat-tattva, or shadow of pure consciousness, is the germinating place of all creation. It is pure goodness with the slight addition of the material mode of passion, and therefore activity is generated from this point.

SB 3.5.45, Purport:

Such offenders cannot actually see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves, nor are they even able to see the devotees of the Lord. The devotees of the Lord are so kind that they roam to all places to enlighten people in God consciousness. The offenders, however, lose the chance to receive the Lord's devotees, although the offenseless common man is at once influenced by the devotees' presence. In this connection there is an interesting story of a hunter and Devarṣi Nārada. A hunter in the forest, although a great sinner, was not an intentional offender. He was at once influenced by the presence of Nārada, and he agreed to take the path of devotion, leaving aside his hearth and home. But the offenders Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, even though living amongst the demigods, had to undergo the punishment of becoming trees in their next lives, although by the grace of a devotee they were later delivered by the Lord. Offenders have to wait until they receive the mercy of devotees, and then they can become eligible to see the lotus feet of the Lord within themselves.

SB 3.5.48, Translation:

O Original Person, we are therefore but Yours only. Although we are Your creatures, we are born one after another under the influence of the three modes of nature, and for this reason we are separated in action. Therefore, after the creation we could not act concertedly for Your transcendental pleasure.

SB 3.5.48, Purport:

The cosmic creation is working under the influence of the three modes of the external potency of the Lord. Different creatures are also under the same influence, and therefore they cannot act concertedly in satisfying the Lord. Because of this diverse activity, there cannot be any harmony in the material world. The best policy, therefore, is to act for the sake of the Lord. That will bring about the desired harmony.

SB 3.6.2, Purport:

The ingredients of matter are counted as twenty-three: the total material energy, false ego, sound, touch, form, taste, smell, earth, water, fire, air, sky, eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin, hand, leg, evacuating organ, genitals, speech and mind. All are combined together by the influence of time and are again dissolved in the course of time. Time, therefore, is the energy of the Lord and acts in her own way by the direction of the Lord. This energy is called Kālī and is represented by the dark destructive goddess generally worshiped by persons influenced by the mode of darkness or ignorance in material existence. In the Vedic hymn this process is described as mūla-prakṛtir avikṛtir mahadādyāḥ prakṛti-vikṛtayaḥ sapta ṣoḍaśakas tu vikāro na prakṛtir na vikṛtiḥ puruṣaḥ. The energy which acts as material nature in a combination of twenty-three ingredients is not the final source of creation. The Lord enters into the elements and applies His energy, called Kālī. In all other Vedic scriptures the same principle is accepted.

SB 3.7.2, Purport:

The Lord is therefore the master of the energies, whereas the living entities are subjugated by them. By asking various questions about transcendental activities, Vidura is clearing the misconception that when the Lord either descends on the earth in His incarnation or appears Himself with all His potencies, He too is subjected to the influence of māyā, just like an ordinary living entity. This is generally the calculation of less intelligent philosophers who consider the position of the Lord and that of the living entities to be on the same level. Vidura is hearing the great sage Maitreya refute these arguments. The Lord is described in this verse as cin-mātra, or completely spiritual.

SB 3.7.2, Purport:

Such manifestations of the Lord's potencies are eternal and are therefore called nirguṇa, or free from all tinges of the modes of material nature, even up to the mode of material goodness. The spiritual world is transcendental even to material goodness and thus is unchangeable. Since the Supreme Lord of such eternal and unchangeable qualities is never subjugated by anything like material influence, how can His activities and form be conceived to be under the influence of illusory māyā, as is the case with the living entities?

SB 3.7.5, Purport:

One can remember incidents from his past and can conjecture about his future also on the basis of past experience. He never forgets his personal identity, even though he is placed in awkward circumstances. How then can the living entity become forgetful of his real identity as pure spirit soul and identify with matter unless influenced by something beyond himself? The conclusion is that the living entity is influenced by the avidyā potency, as confirmed in both the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The living entity is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā (7.5) as parā prakṛti, and in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa he is mentioned as the parā śakti. He is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord as potency and not as the potent.

SB 3.7.5, Purport:

One potency may be overcome by another potency, but to the potent, all potencies are under control. The jīva potency, or the kṣetrajña-śakti of the Lord, has the tendency to be overpowered by the external potency, avidyā-karma-saṁjñā, and in this way he is placed in the awkward circumstances of material existence. The living entity cannot be forgetful of his real identity unless influenced by the avidyā potency. Because the living entity is prone to the influence of the avidyā potency, he can never equal the supreme potent.

SB 3.7.6, Purport:

From another point of view, it is understood that the jīva living entity is qualitatively one with the Lord, and thus his knowledge in the pure state of life cannot be covered by nescience, especially in the presence of the Supreme Lord. How then does the living entity become subjected to ignorance and covered by the influence of māyā? The Lord is the father and protector of every living entity, and He is known as the bhūta-bhṛt, or the maintainer of the living entities. Why then should the living entity he subjected to so many sufferings and misfortunes? It should not be so, but actually we see that it happens everywhere. This question is therefore put forward by Vidura for solution.

SB 3.7.9, Purport:

Only those who have a poor fund of knowledge say that the sun is covered by a cloud or by darkness. Similarly, the Supreme Brahman, or the Para-brahman, the Personality of Godhead, is always unaffected by the influence of the material energy, although it is one of His energies (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)).

SB 3.7.9, Purport:

There is no reason to assert that the Supreme Brahman is overpowered by the illusory energy. The clouds, darkness and snowfall can cover only a very insignificant portion of the sun's rays. Similarly, the modes of material nature may react upon the raylike living entities. It is the misfortune of the living entity, certainly not without reason, that the influence of the material energy acts on his pure consciousness and eternal bliss. This covering up of pure consciousness and eternal bliss is due to avidyā-karmā-saṁjñā, the energy which acts on the infinitesimal living entities who misuse their minute independence.

SB 3.7.9, Purport:

The sparks of fire also are fire, but the burning potency of the sparks is different from that of the original fire. When the sparks fly out of touch with the original fire, they come under the influence of a nonfiery atmosphere; thus they maintain the potency to be again one with the fire as sparks, but not as the original fire. The sparks can everlastingly remain within the original fire as its parts and parcels, but the moment the sparks become separated from the original fire, their misfortunes and miseries begin. The clear conclusion is that the Supreme Lord, who is the original fire, is never overpowered, but the infinitesimal sparks of the fire can become overpowered by the illusory effect of māyā.

SB 3.7.9, Purport:

Thus the demigods prayed to the Supreme Lord that although His activities are very difficult to understand, they can still be understood to some extent by those who sincerely engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The demigods admitted that although the Lord is apart from the material influence or creation, He nevertheless creates, maintains and annihilates the complete cosmic manifestation by the agency of the demigods.

SB 3.7.12, Purport:

The quivering quality of material existence, which comes from identification with matter or from thinking oneself, under the material influence of philosophical speculation, to be God, can be eradicated by devotional service to the Lord, by the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. As discussed in the First Canto, because the application of devotional service to Lord Vāsudeva invites pure knowledge, it quickly detaches one from the material conception of life and thus revives one's normal condition of spiritual existence, even in this life, and frees one from the material winds which cause one to quiver.

SB 3.7.40, Purport:

Vidura put forward many varieties of questions with a view to understanding the principles of transcendental loving service to the Lord. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.41), devotional service to the Lord is one, and the mind of the devotee is not diverted to the many branches of uncertainties. Vidura's purpose was to be situated in that service to the Lord, wherein one merges undivertedly. He claimed the friendship of Maitreya Muni, not because he was Maitreya's son but because Maitreya was actually the friend of all who have lost their spiritual vision due to material influence.

SB 3.8.12, Purport:

In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, kāla-śakti is mentioned as avidyā. The symptom of the influence of the kāla-śakti is that one has to work in the material world for fruitive results. The fruitive workers are described in Bhagavad-gītā as mūḍhas, or foolish. Such foolish living entities are very enthusiastic to work for some temporary benefit within perpetual bondage. One thinks himself very clever throughout his life if he is able to leave behind him a great asset of wealth for his children, and to achieve this temporary benefit he takes the risk of all sinful activities, without knowledge that such activities will keep him perpetually bound by the shackles of material bondage.

SB 3.9.3, Purport:

By devotional perfection one can understand that the impersonal brahma-jyotir is only a partial representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and that the three puruṣa expansions in the material creation are His plenary portions. In the spiritual sky of the brahma-jyotir there is no change of various kalpas or millenniums, and there are no creative activities in the Vaikuṇṭha worlds. The influence of time is conspicuous by its absence. The rays of the transcendental body of the Lord, the unlimited brahma-jyotir, are undeterred by the influence of material energy. In the material world also, the initial creator is the Lord Himself. He brings about the creation of Brahmā, who becomes the subsequent creator, empowered by the Lord.

SB 3.9.4, Purport:

In the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is made clear that the Supreme Truth is eternally uncontaminated by material touch. There is no jugglery of words and activities in the transcendental kingdom of the Lord. All the Lord's forms are transcendental, and such manifestations are ever identical. The particular form of the Lord exhibited to a devotee is not mundane, even though the devotee may retain material desire, nor is it manifest under the influence of material energy, as is foolishly considered by the impersonalists. Impersonalists who consider the transcendental forms of the Lord to be products of the material world are surely destined for hell.

SB 3.9.9, Translation:

O my Lord, the material miseries are without factual existence for the soul. Yet as long as the conditioned soul sees the body as meant for sense enjoyment, he cannot get out of the entanglement of material miseries, being influenced by Your external energy.

SB 3.9.9, Purport:

The whole trouble of the living entity in material existence is that he has an independent conception of life. He is always dependent on the rules of the Supreme Lord, in both the conditioned and liberated states, but by the influence of the external energy the conditioned soul thinks himself independent of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. His constitutional position is to dovetail himself with the desire of the supreme will, but as long as he does not do so, he is sure to drag on in the shackles of material bondage. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (2.55), prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān: he has to give up all sorts of plans manufactured by mental concoction. The living entity has to dovetail himself with the supreme will. That will help him to get out of the entanglement of material existence.

SB 3.9.18, Purport:

Brahmā is the greatest personality in the universe because he has the longest duration of life. He is the most respectable personality because of his penance, influence, prestige, etc., and still he has to offer his respectful obeisances unto the Lord. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all others, who are far, far below the standard of Brahmā, to do as he did and offer respects as a matter of duty.

SB 3.9.27-28, Purport:

The devastating water was so fearful that even Brahmā was perturbed at its appearance and became very anxious about how to situate the different planetary systems in outer space to accommodate the different kinds of living entities, such as the human beings, those lower than the human beings, and the superhuman beings. All the planets in the universe are situated according to the different grades of living entities under the influence of the modes of material nature. There are three modes of material nature, and when they are mixed with one another they become nine. When the nine are mixed they become eighty-one, and the eighty-one also become mixed, and thus we ultimately do not know how the delusion increases and increases. Lord Brahmā had to accommodate different places and situations for the requisite bodies of the conditioned souls. The task was meant only for Brahmā, and no one in the universe can even understand how difficult it was. But by the grace of the Lord, Brahmā was able to execute the tremendous task so perfectly that everyone is amazed to see the workmanship of the vidhātā, or the regulator.

SB 3.9.33, Translation:

When you are free from the conception of gross and subtle bodies and when your senses are free from all influences of the modes of material nature, you will realize your pure form in My association. At that time you will be situated in pure consciousness.

SB 3.9.42, Purport:

In the present verse, stress is given to focusing love upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The word kuryāt is significant here. This means "one must have it." It is just to stress that we must have more and more attachment to the principle of love. The influence of māyā is experienced by the part and parcel spiritual entity, but it cannot influence the Supersoul, the Paramātmā. The Māyāvādī philosophers, accepting the influence of māyā on the living entity, want to become one with the Paramātmā. But because they have no actual love for Paramātmā, they remain ever entrapped by the influence of māyā and are unable to approach the vicinity of Paramātmā. This inability is due to their lack of affection for the Paramātmā. A rich miser does not know how to utilize his wealth, and therefore, in spite of his being very rich, his miserly behavior keeps him everlastingly a poor man. On the other hand, a person who knows how to utilize wealth can quickly become a rich man, even with a small credit balance.

SB 3.9.42, Purport:

Without possessing affection for the sun, the eyes cannot bear the rays of the sun; or, in other words, such eyes have no capacity to understand the utility of the sun's rays. Similarly, the empiric philosophers, despite their theoretical knowledge of Brahman, cannot utilize the mercy of the Supreme Brahman because they lack affection. So many impersonal philosophers remain everlastingly under the influence of māyā Because, although they indulge in theoretical knowledge of Brahman, they do not develop affection for Brahman nor do they have any scope for development of affection because of their defective method. A devotee of the sun-god, even though devoid of eyesight, can see the sun-god as he is even from this planet, whereas one who is not a devotee of the sun cannot even bear the glaring sunlight.

SB 3.10.12, Translation:

This cosmic manifestation is separated from the Supreme Lord as material energy by means of kāla, which is the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Lord. It is situated as the objective manifestation of the Lord under the influence of the same material energy of Viṣṇu.

SB 3.10.17, Purport:

The material nature therefore appears to function in three phases: as the creative principle of the material world, as ignorance and as knowledge. As disclosed in the previous verse, in the fourth creation the power of knowledge is also created. The conditioned souls are not originally fools, but by the influence of the avidyā function of material nature they are made fools, and thus they are unable to utilize knowledge in the proper channel.

SB 3.10.17, Purport:

By the influence of darkness, the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Lord and is overwhelmed by attachment, hatred, pride, ignorance and false identification, the five kinds of illusion that cause material bondage.

SB 3.11.13, Translation and Purport:

Influential stars, planets, luminaries and atoms all over the universe are rotating in their respective orbits under the direction of the Supreme, represented by eternal kāla.

In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that the sun is the eye of the Supreme and it rotates in its particular orbit of time. Similarly, beginning from the sun down to the atom, all bodies are under the influence of the kāla-cakra, or the orbit of eternal time, and each of them has a scheduled orbital time of one saṁvatsara.

SB 3.11.28, Translation and Purport:

At the end of the day, under the insignificant portion of the mode of darkness, the powerful manifestation of the universe merges in the darkness of night. By the influence of eternal time, the innumerable living entities remain merged in that dissolution, and everything is silent.

This verse is an explanation of the night of Brahmā, which is the effect of the influence of time in touch with an insignificant portion of the modes of material nature in darkness. The dissolution of the three worlds is effected by the incarnation of darkness, Rudra, represented by the fire of eternal time which blazes over the three worlds. These three worlds are known as Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ (Pātāla, Martya and Svarga). The innumerable living entities merge into that dissolution, which appears to be the dropping of the curtain of the scene of the Supreme Lord's energy, and so everything becomes silent.

SB 3.12.2, Purport:

It is evident from this verse that Brahmā himself is a creation of the Supreme Lord, and the five kinds of nescience which condition the living entities in material existence are creations of Brahmā. It is simply ludicrous to think the living entity to be equal with the Supreme Being when one can understand that the conditioned souls are under the influence of Brahmā's magic wand. Patañjali also accepts that there are five kinds of nescience, as mentioned herein.

SB 3.12.3, Purport:

Although he created the different influences of nescience, Lord Brahmā was not satisfied in performing such a thankless task, but he had to do it because most of the conditioned souls wanted it to be so. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) that He is present in everyone's heart and is helping everyone to either remember of forget. The question may be raised why the Lord, who is all-merciful, helps one to remember and another to forget. Actually, His mercy is not exhibited in partiality towards one and enmity towards another.

SB 3.12.11, Purport:

There are many earthly creatures who constantly represent the Rudra element. The snake, tiger and lion are always representations of Rudra. Sometimes, because of the extreme heat of the sun, there are cases of heatstroke, and due to the extreme coldness created by the moon there are cases of collapse. There are many sages empowered with the influence of austerity and many yogīs, philosophers and renouncers who sometimes exhibit their acquired power under the influence of the Rudra principle of anger and passion. The great yogī Durvāsā, under the influence of this Rudra principle, picked a quarrel with Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, and a brāhmaṇa boy exhibited the Rudra principle by cursing the great King Parīkṣit. When the Rudra principle is exhibited by persons who are not engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the angry person falls down from the peak of his improved position.

SB 3.12.26, Purport:

A conditioned soul is under the influence of mental speculation. However great one may be in the estimation of mundane education and learning, he cannot be free from the influence of psychic activities. Therefore it is very difficult to give up lust and the desires for low activities until one is in the line of devotional service to the Lord. When one is frustrated in lust and low desires, anger is generated from the mind and expressed from between the eyebrows. Ordinary men are therefore advised to concentrate the mind by focusing on the place between the eyebrows, whereas the devotees of the Lord are already practiced to place the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the seat of their minds.

SB 3.13.5, Translation:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa was pleased to place His lotus feet on the lap of Vidura because Vidura was very meek and gentle. The sage Maitreya was very pleased with Vidura's words, and, being influenced by his spirit, he attempted to speak.

SB 3.14.48, Translation:

That topmost devotee of the Lord will have expanded intelligence and expanded influence and will be the greatest of the great souls. Due to matured devotional service, he will certainly be situated in transcendental ecstasy and will enter the spiritual sky after quitting this material world.

SB 3.15.2, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā the moon is also stated to be one of the stars. There are many stars, and when we see them glittering at night we can understand that they are reflectors of light; just as moonlight is a reflection of sunlight, other planets also reflect sunlight, and there are many other planets which cannot be seen by our naked eyes. The demoniac influence of the sons in the womb of Diti expanded darkness throughout the universe.

SB 3.15.3, Translation:

The fortunate demigods said: O great one, just see this darkness, which you know very well and which is causing us anxieties. Because the influence of time cannot touch you, there is nothing unmanifest before you.

SB 3.15.3, Purport:

Brahmā is addressed herein as Vibhu and as the Personality of Godhead. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead's incarnation of the mode of passion in the material world. He is nondifferent, in the representative sense, from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore the influence of time cannot affect him. The influence of time, which manifests as past, present and future, cannot touch higher personalities like Brahmā and other demigods. Sometimes demigods and great sages who have attained such perfection are called tri-kāla jña.

SB 3.15.24, Translation:

Lord Brahmā said: My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external nature.

SB 3.15.24, Purport:

It is said that the human form is a great boon because it is the most suitable boat for crossing over the nescience ocean. The spiritual master is considered to be the most able captain in that boat, and the information from the scriptures is the favorable wind for floating over the ocean of nescience. The human being who does not take advantage of all these facilities in this life is committing suicide. Therefore one who does not begin Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the human form of life loses his life to the influence of the illusory energy. Brahmā regrets the situation of such a human being.

SB 3.15.26, Purport:

By present standards, scientists calculate that if one could travel at the speed of light, it would take forty thousand years to reach the highest planet of this material world. But the yoga system can carry one without limitation or difficulty. The word yoga-māyā is used in this verse. Yoga-māyā-balena vikuṇṭham. The transcendental happiness exhibited in the spiritual world and all other spiritual manifestations there are made possible by the influence of yoga-māyā, the internal potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.20.43, Purport:

Unfortunately, by the influence of māyā, the conditioned soul employs the body he gets for sense gratification, forgetting that such an occupation may lead him to return to an invisible body. The devotee of the Lord, or one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, does not need to perform such ritualistic ceremonies as śrāddha because he is always pleasing the Supreme Lord; therefore his fathers and ancestors who might have been in difficulty are automatically relieved.

SB 3.21.34, Purport:

Only the siddhas, or persons liberated from material bondage, can become devotees. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā: anyone who is engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or devotional service, is already liberated from the influence of the modes of material nature. Here it is also confirmed that the path of devotional service is worshiped by liberated persons, not the conditioned souls. The conditioned soul cannot understand the devotional service of the Lord. Kardama Muni was a liberated soul who saw the Supreme Lord in person, face to face.

SB 3.22.16, Purport:

Such marriages were current in bygone ages, but at the present moment they are impossible because the strict principles of kṣatriya life have practically been abolished. Since India has become dependent on foreign countries, the particular influences of her social orders have been lost; now, according to the scriptures, everyone is a śūdra. The so-called brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas have forgotten their traditional activities, and in the absence of these activities they are called śūdras. It is said in the scriptures, kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. In the age of Kali everyone will be like śūdras. The traditional social customs are not followed in this age, although formerly they were followed strictly.

SB 3.23.12, Purport:

Here the words yogam āsthitaḥ are significant. The sage Kardama was completely perfect in yoga. As the result of real yoga practice there are eight kinds of perfection: the yogī can become smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest or lighter than the lightest, he can achieve anything he likes, he can create even a planet, he can establish influence over anyone, etc. In this way yogic perfection is achieved, and after this one can achieve the perfection of spiritual life. Thus it was not very wonderful for Kardama Muni to create a mansion in the air, according to his own desire, to fulfill the desire of his beloved wife. He at once created the palace, which is described in the following verses.

SB 3.23.43, Purport:

All the planets are here described as gola, round. Every planet is round, and each planet is a different shelter, just like islands in the great ocean. Planets are sometimes called dvīpa or varṣa. This earth planet is called Bhārata-varṣa because it was ruled by King Bharata. Another significant word used in this verse is bahv-āścaryam, "many wonderful things." This indicates that the different planets are distributed all over the universe in the eight directions, and each and every one of them is wonderful in itself. Each planet has its particular climatic influences and particular types of inhabitants and is completely equipped with everything, including the beauty of the seasons. In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.40) it is similarly stated, vibhūti-bhinnam: on each and every planet there are different opulences. It cannot be expected that one planet is exactly like another. By God's grace, by nature's law, each and every planet is made differently and has different wonderful features.

SB 3.24.43, Purport:

We are conditioned souls, but He is not affected, although the material nature has emanated from Him. He is the supreme living entity and is never affected by māyā, but we are subordinate, minute living entities, prone to be affected by the limitations of māyā. If he is in constant contact with the Supreme Lord by devotional service, the conditioned living entity also becomes freed from the infection of māyā. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā: sa guṇān samatītyaitān (BG 14.26). A person engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is at once liberated from the influence of the three modes of material nature. In other words, once the conditioned soul engages himself in devotional service, he also becomes liberated like the Lord.

SB 3.24.45, Purport:

When the conditioned soul realizes that he is subordinate to the Supreme Soul, his position is called labdhātmā, self-realization, or mukta-bandhana, freedom from material contamination. Material contamination continues as long as one thinks that he is as good as the Supreme Lord or is equal with Him. This condition is the last snare of māyā. Māyā always influences the conditioned soul. Even after much meditation and speculation, if one continues to think himself one with the Supreme Lord, it is to be understood that he is still in the last snares of the spell of māyā.

SB 3.25.18, Translation:

In that position of self-realization, by practice of knowledge and renunciation in devotional service, one sees everything in the right perspective; he becomes indifferent to material existence, and the material influence acts less powerfully upon him.

SB 3.25.18, Purport:

As the contamination of the germs of a particular disease can influence a weaker person, similarly the influence of material nature, or illusory energy, can act on the weaker, or conditioned, soul but not on the liberated soul. Self-realization is the position of the liberated state. One understands his constitutional position by knowledge and vairāgya, renunciation. Without knowledge, one cannot have realization. The realization that one is the infinitesimal part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit makes him unattached to material, conditional life.

SB 3.25.18, Purport:

In this verse, therefore, it is stated, jñāna-vairāgya-yuktena: when one is in full knowledge of one's constitutional position and is in the renounced order of life, detached from material attraction, then, by pure devotional service, bhakti-yuktena, he can engage himself as a loving servant of the Lord. Paripaśyati means that he can see everything in its right perspective. Then the influence of material nature becomes almost nil. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā: (BG 18.54) when one is self-realized he becomes happy and free from the influence of material nature, and at that time he is freed from lamentation and hankering. The Lord states that position as mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām (BG 18.54), the real state of beginning devotional service. Similarly, it is confirmed in the Nārada Pañcarātra that when the senses are purified they can then be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. One who is attached to material contamination cannot be a devotee.

SB 3.25.32, Purport:

It is stated in the Vedic literature that the demigods are different limbs of the universal body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Our senses are also controlled by different demigods; our senses are representations of various demigods, and the mind is the representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The senses, led by the mind, act under the influence of the demigods. When the service is ultimately aimed at the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the senses are in their natural position. The Lord is called Hṛṣīkeśa, for He is actually the proprietor and ultimate master of the senses. The senses and the mind are naturally inclined to work, but when they are materially contaminated they work for some material benefit or for the service of the demigods, although actually they are meant to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The senses are called hṛṣīka, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called Hṛṣīkeśa. Indirectly, all the senses are naturally inclined to serve the Supreme Lord. That is called bhakti.

SB 3.25.38, Purport:

Once one is fixed in the devotional service of the Lord, his position of transcendental service cannot be destroyed, and the pleasure and service simply increase unlimitedly. For the devotees engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere, there is no influence of time. In the material world the influence of time destroys everything, but in the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere there is no influence of time or of the demigods because there are no demigods in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Here our activities are controlled by different demigods; even if we move our hand and leg, the action is controlled by the demigods. But in the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere there is no influence of the demigods or of time; therefore there is no question of destruction. When the time element is present, there is the certainty of destruction, but when there is no time element—past, present or future—then everything is eternal. Therefore this verse uses the words na naṅkṣyanti, indicating that the transcendental opulences will never be destroyed.

SB 3.25.38, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa, of course, means Kṛṣṇa and His confidential devotees; Kṛṣṇa is not alone. When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, "Kṛṣṇa" means Kṛṣṇa in His name, in His form, in His qualities, in His abode and in His associates. Kṛṣṇa is never alone, for the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are not impersonalists. For example, a king is always associated with his secretary, his commander, his servant and so much paraphernalia. As soon as we accept Kṛṣṇa and His associates as our preceptors, no ill effects can destroy our knowledge. In the material world the knowledge which we acquire may change because of the influence of time, but nevertheless the conclusions received from Bhagavad-gītā, directly from the speeches of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, can never change. There is no use interpreting Bhagavad-gītā; it is eternal.

SB 3.25.38, Purport:

Thus one will never be cheated. By worshiping the demigods one may elevate himself to the higher planets, but during the dissolution of the material world, the deity and the abode of the deity will be destroyed. But one who worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead is promoted to the Vaikuṇṭha planets, where there is no influence of time, destruction or annihilation. The conclusion is that the time influence cannot act upon devotees who have accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as everything.

SB 3.25.42, Purport:

One who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completely protected from all other influences. He no longer serves or is obliged to anyone else. Of course he is not disobedient to anyone, but his full power of thought is absorbed in the service of the Lord. The statements by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kapila that under His direction the air is blowing, the fire is burning and the sun is giving heat are not sentimental. The impersonalist may say that the Bhāgavatam devotees create and imagine someone as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and assign qualifications to Him; but actually it is neither imagination nor an imposition of artificial power in the name of Godhead.

SB 3.26.1, Translation:

The Personality of Godhead, Kapila, continued: My dear mother, now I shall describe unto you the different categories of the Absolute Truth, knowing which any person can be released from the influence of the modes of material nature.

SB 3.26.1, Purport:

This is also explained here. By understanding the science of devotional service in Sāṅkhya philosophy, one can become free from the modes of material nature. The eternal self, after becoming freed from the spell of material nature, becomes eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. As long as one has even a slight desire to enjoy or lord it over material nature, there is no chance of his being freed from the influence of nature's material modes. Therefore, one has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead analytically, as explained in the Sāṅkhya system of philosophy by Lord Kapiladeva.

SB 3.26.5, Purport:

It is repeatedly said in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never affected by the influence of material nature. It is, rather, the conditioned souls, or the minute infinitesimal parts and parcels of the Supreme, who are affected by the influence of material nature and who appear in different bodies under the material modes.

SB 3.26.6, Translation:

Because of his forgetfulness, the transcendental living entity accepts the influence of material energy as his field of activities, and thus actuated, he wrongly applies the activities to himself.

SB 3.26.6, Purport:

The forgetful living entity can be compared to a man who is under the influence of disease and has become mad or to a man haunted by ghosts, who acts without control and yet thinks himself to be in control. Under the influence of material nature, the conditioned soul becomes absorbed in material consciousness. In this consciousness, whatever is done under the influence of the material energy is accepted by the conditioned soul as self-actuated. Actually, the soul in his pure state of existence should be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When a person is not acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is understood to be acting in material consciousness. Consciousness cannot be killed, for the symptom of the living entity is consciousness. The material consciousness simply has to be purified. One becomes liberated by accepting Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord, as master and by changing the mode of consciousness from material consciousness to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 3.26.7, Purport:

He has no responsibility; he is simply the witness of the action, but he is forced to act in that way due to his offense in his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore says in Bhagavad-gītā that māyā, His material energy, is so forceful that it is insurmountable. But if a living entity simply understands that his constitutional position is to serve Kṛṣṇa and he tries to act on this principle, then however conditioned he may be, the influence of māyā immediately vanishes. This is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā, Seventh Chapter: Kṛṣṇa takes charge of anyone who surrenders to Him in helplessness, and thus the influence of māyā, or conditional life, is removed.

SB 3.26.16, Translation:

The influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is felt in the time factor, which causes fear of death due to the false ego of the deluded soul who has contacted material nature.

SB 3.26.16, Purport:

If the spirit soul engages in the spiritual activities of devotional service, he is completely freed from the platform of birth and death. His next position is complete spiritual freedom from a material body. The fear of death is the action of the kāla, or the time factor, which represents the influence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, time is destructive. Whatever is created is subject to destruction and dissolution, which is the action of time. Time is a representation of the Lord, and it reminds us also that we must surrender unto the Lord. The Lord speaks to every conditioned soul as time. He says in Bhagavad-gītā that if someone surrenders unto Him, then there is no longer any problem of birth and death. We should therefore accept the time factor as the Supreme Personality of Godhead standing before us. This is further explained in the following verse.

SB 3.26.26, Translation:

This false ego is characterized as the doer, as an instrument and as an effect. It is further characterized as serene, active or dull according to how it is influenced by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance.

SB 3.26.40, Purport:

When there is insufficient hunger and thirst, it is understood that there is a shortage of fire within the stomach, and the Āyur-vedic treatment is performed in connection with the fire element, agni-māndyam. Since fire is increased by the secretion of bile, the treatment is to increase bile secretion. The Āyur-vedic treatment thus corroborates the statements in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The characteristic of fire in subduing the influence of cold is known to everyone. Severe cold can always be counteracted by fire.

SB 3.27.2, Translation:

When the soul is under the spell of material nature and false ego, identifying his body as the self, he becomes absorbed in material activities, and by the influence of false ego he thinks that he is the proprietor of everything.

SB 3.27.15, Purport:

This concept of being lost is due to false ego, and it continues as long as one is not awakened to the sense of his existence as an eternal servitor of the Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers' concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is another symptom of being lost in false ego. One may falsely claim that he is the Supreme Lord, but actually he is not. This is the last snare of māyā's influence upon the living entity. To think oneself equal with the Supreme Lord or to think oneself to be the Supreme Lord Himself is also due to false ego.

SB 3.27.15, Purport:

The Māyāvādī philosophers' concept of becoming one with the Supreme Lord is another symptom of being lost in false ego. One may falsely claim that he is the Supreme Lord, but actually he is not. This is the last snare of māyā's influence upon the living entity. To think oneself equal with the Supreme Lord or to think oneself to be the Supreme Lord Himself is also due to false ego.

SB 3.27.19, Purport:

Although the living entity desires freedom from the contamination of matter, he is not given release. Actually, as soon as a living entity puts himself under the control of the modes of material nature, his acts are influenced by the qualities of material nature, and he becomes passive. It is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ: (BG 3.27) the living entity acts according to the qualities or modes of material nature. He falsely thinks that he is acting, but unfortunately he is passive. In other words, he has no opportunity to get out of the control of material nature because it has already conditioned him. In Bhagavad-gītā it is also stated that it is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material nature.

SB 3.27.21, Purport:

One must hear these scriptures repeatedly from reliable sources in order to become fixed in serious devotional service. Through engagement in such devotional service, one becomes freed from the contamination of māyā. It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that hearing about the Supreme Personality of Godhead cleanses the heart of all contamination caused by the influence of the three modes of material nature. By continuous, regular hearing, the effects of the contamination of lust and greed to enjoy or lord it over material nature diminish, and when lust and greed diminish, one then becomes situated in the mode of goodness.

SB 3.27.23, Translation:

The influence of material nature has covered the living entity, and thus it is as if the living entity were always in a blazing fire. But by the process of seriously discharging devotional service, this influence can be removed, just as wooden sticks which cause a fire are themselves consumed by it.

SB 3.27.26, Translation:

The influence of material nature cannot harm an enlightened soul, even though he engages in material activities, because he knows the truth of the Absolute, and his mind is fixed on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.27.26, Purport:

This ātmārāma position can be attained by one who knows the truth as it is. The truth is that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the enjoyer and that the living entities are meant for His service and enjoyment. One who knows this truth, and who tries to engage all resources in the service of the Lord, escapes all material reactions and influences of the modes of material nature.

SB 3.27.26, Purport:

Although both are engaged in the association of material activities, the devotee is liberated, and the materialist is conditioned. This is because the devotee, who is constructing the temple, has fixed his mind upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but the nondevotee, who is constructing the skyscraper, has his mind fixed in sense gratification. If, while performing any activity, even in material existence, one's mind is fixed upon the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, one will not be entangled or conditioned. The worker in devotional service, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is always independent of the influence of material nature.

SB 3.27.30, Purport:

For a devotee, the process of merging into the Brahman effulgence is considered to be hellish, and yogic power or the preliminary perfection of yogic power, to be able to control the senses, is automatically achieved. As for elevation to higher planets, a devotee considers this to be simply hallucinatory. A devotee's attention is concentrated only upon the eternal loving service of the Lord, and therefore the power of death has no influence over him. In such a devotional state, a perfect yogī can attain the status of immortal knowledge and bliss.

SB 3.28.31, Purport:

As long as one is in conditional life, in the material body, it is natural that he will suffer from anxieties and agonies. One cannot avoid the influence of material energy, even when one is on the transcendental plane. Sometimes disturbances come, but the agonies and anxieties of the devotees are at once mitigated when they think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His beautiful form or the smiling face of the Lord. The Lord bestows innumerable favors upon His devotee, and the greatest manifestation of His grace is His smiling face, which is full of compassion for His pure devotees.

SB 3.28.35, Purport:

Yathārciḥ. Arciḥ means "flame." When a lamp is broken or the oil is finished, we see that the flame of the lamp goes out. But according to scientific understanding, the flame is not extinguished; it is conserved. This is conservation of energy. Similarly, when the mind stops functioning on the material platform, it is conserved in the activities of the Supreme Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers' conception of cessation of the functions of the mind is explained here: cessation of the mental functions means cessation of activities conducted under the influence of the three modes of material nature.

SB 3.29.1-2, Purport:

In this Twenty-ninth Chapter, the glories of devotional service are elaborately explained, and the influence of time on the conditioned soul is also described. The purpose of elaborately describing the influence of time is to detach the conditioned soul from his material activities, which are considered to be simply a waste of time. In the previous chapter, material nature, the spirit and the Supreme Lord, or Supersoul, are analytically studied, and in this chapter the principles of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service—the execution of activities in the eternal relationship between the living entities and the Personality of Godhead—are explained.

SB 3.29.4, Translation:

Please also describe eternal time, which is a representation of Your form and by whose influence people in general engage in the performance of pious activities.

SB 3.29.4, Purport:

However ignorant one may be regarding the path of good fortune and the path down to the darkest region of ignorance, everyone is aware of the influence of eternal time, which devours all the effects of our material activities. The body is born at a certain time, and immediately the influence of time acts upon it. From the date of the birth of the body, the influence of death is also acting; the advancement of age entails the influence of time on the body. If a man is thirty or fifty years old, then the influence of time has already devoured thirty or fifty years of the duration of his life.

SB 3.29.4, Purport:

Everyone is conscious of the last stage of life, when he will meet the cruel hands of death, but some consider their age and circumstances, concern themselves with the influence of time and thus engage in pious activities so that in the future they will not be put into a low family or an animal species. Generally, people are attached to sense enjoyment and so aspire for life on the heavenly planets. Therefore, they engage themselves in charitable or other pious activities, but actually, as stated in Bhagavad-gītā, one cannot get relief from the chain of birth and death even if he goes to the highest planet, Brahmaloka, because the influence of time is present everywhere within this material world. In the spiritual world, however, the time factor has no influence.

SB 3.29.14, Translation:

By attaining the highest platform of devotional service, as I have explained, one can overcome the influence of the three modes of material nature and be situated in the transcendental stage, as is the Lord.

SB 3.29.14, Purport:

Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya, who is supposed to be the leader of the impersonalist school of philosophers, has admitted in the beginning of his comments on Bhagavad-gītā that Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material creation; except for Him, everything is within the material creation. It is also confirmed in the Vedic literature that before the creation there was only Nārāyaṇa; neither Lord Brahmā nor Lord Śiva existed. Only Nārāyaṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, is always in the transcendental position, beyond the influence of material creation.

SB 3.29.14, Purport:

The material qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance cannot affect the position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore He is called nirguṇa (free from all tinges of material qualities). Here the same fact is confirmed by Lord Kapila: one who is situated in pure devotional service is transcendentally situated, as is the Lord. Just as the Lord is unaffected by the influence of the material modes, so too are His pure devotees. One who is not affected by the three modes of material nature is called a liberated soul, or brahma-bhūta soul (SB 4.30.20). Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54) is the stage of liberation. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am not this body." This is applicable only to the person who constantly engages in the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa and is thus in the transcendental stage; he is above the influence of the three modes of material nature.

SB 3.29.37, Purport:

Everyone is afraid of the activities of time, but a devotee who knows that the time factor is another representation or manifestation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to fear from the influence of time. The phrase rūpa-bhedāspadam is very significant. By the influence of time, so many forms are changing. For example, when a child is born his form is small, but in the course of time that form changes into a larger form, the body of a boy, and then the body of a young man. Similarly, everything is changed and transformed by the time factor, or by the indirect control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Usually, we do not see any difference between the body of a child and the body of a boy or young man because we know that these changes are due to the action of the time factor. There is cause for fear for a person who does not know how time acts.

SB 3.29.39, Purport:

This does not mean that the Lord is someone's enemy and someone else's friend. He helps everyone; one who is not bewildered by the influence of material energy is saved, and one who is bewildered is destroyed. It is said, therefore, hariṁ vinā na mṛtim taranti: no one can be saved from the repetition of birth and death without the help of the Supreme Lord. It is therefore the duty of all living entities to take shelter of the lotus feet of Viṣṇu and thus save themselves from the cycle of birth and death.

SB 3.29.45, Purport:

By the influence of eternal time, which is a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the father begets a son, and the father dies by the influence of cruel death. But by time's influence, even the lord of cruel death is killed. In other words, all the demigods within the material world are temporary, like ourselves. Our lives last for one hundred years at the most, and similarly, although their lives may last for millions and billions of years, the demigods are not eternal. No one can live within this material world eternally.

SB 3.30.1, Translation:

The Personality of Godhead said: As a mass of clouds does not know the powerful influence of the wind, a person engaged in material consciousness does not know the powerful strength of the time factor, by which he is being carried.

SB 3.30.1, Purport:

The great politician-paṇḍita named Cāṇakya said that even one moment of time cannot be returned even if one is prepared to pay millions of dollars. One cannot calculate the amount of loss there is in wasting valuable time. Either materially or spiritually, one should be very alert in utilizing the time which he has at his disposal. A conditioned soul lives in a particular body for a fixed measurement of time, and it is recommended in the scriptures that within that small measurement of time one has to finish Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus gain release from the influence of the time factor. But, unfortunately, those who are not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are carried away by the strong power of time without their knowledge, as clouds are carried by the wind.

SB 3.30.4, Purport:

The satisfaction of the living entity in a particular type of body, even if it is most abominable, is called illusion. A man in a higher position may feel dissatisfaction with the standard of life of a lower-grade man, but the lower-grade man is satisfied in that position because of the spell of māyā, the external energy. Māyā has two phases of activities. One is called prakṣepātmikā, and the other is called āvaraṇātmikā. Āvaraṇātmikā means "covering," and prakṣepātmikā means "pulling down." In any condition of life, the materialistic person or animal will be satisfied because his knowledge is covered by the influence of māyā. In the lower grade or lower species of life, the development of consciousness is so poor that one cannot understand whether he is happy or distressed. This is called āvaraṇātmikā. Even a hog, who lives by eating stool, finds himself happy, although a person in a higher mode of life sees that the hog is eating stool. How abominable that life is!

SB 3.30.5, Translation:

The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight in hellish enjoyment.

SB 3.30.5, Purport:

After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog's life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, "Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king's body," he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities.

SB 3.30.7, Purport:

It is said that it is easier to maintain a great empire than to maintain a small family, especially in these days, when the influence of Kali-yuga is so strong that everyone is harassed and full of anxieties because of accepting the false presentation of māyā's family. The family we maintain is created by māyā; it is the perverted reflection of the family in Kṛṣṇaloka. In Kṛṣṇaloka there are also family, friends, society, father and mother; everything is there, but they are eternal. Here, as we change bodies, our family relationships also change.

SB 3.30.14, Translation:

The foolish family man does not become averse to family life although he is maintained by those whom he once maintained. Deformed by the influence of old age, he prepares himself to meet ultimate death.

SB 3.31.14, Purport:

The difference between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is that the living entity is prone to be subjected to material nature, whereas the Supreme Godhead is always transcendental to material nature as well as to the living entities. When the living entity is put into material nature, then his senses and qualities are polluted, or designated. There is no possibility for the Supreme Lord to become embodied by material qualities or material senses, for He is above the influence of material nature and cannot possibly be put in the darkness of ignorance like the living entities. Because of His full knowledge, He is never subjected to the influence of material nature. Material nature is always under His control, and it is therefore not possible that material nature can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.31.14, Purport:

Since the identity of the living entity is very minute, he is prone to be subjected to material nature, but when he is freed from this material body, which is false, he attains the same, spiritual nature as the Supreme Lord. At that time there is no qualitative difference between him and the Supreme Lord, but because he is not so quantitatively powerful as to never be put under the influence of material nature, he is quantitatively different from the Lord.

SB 3.31.15, Translation:

The human soul further prays: The living entity is put under the influence of material nature and continues a hard struggle for existence on the path of repeated birth and death. This conditional life is due to his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, without the Lord's mercy, how can he again engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord?

SB 3.31.15, Purport:

One can be liberated in the knowledge of the Absolute Truth simply by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is clearly said herein that our memory is lost because we are now covered by His material energy. Arguments may be put forward as to why we have been put under the influence of this material energy by the supreme will of the Lord. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says, "I am sitting in everyone's heart, and due to Me one is forgetful or one is alive in knowledge." The forgetfulness of the conditioned soul is also due to the direction of the Supreme Lord. A living entity misuses his little independence when he wants to lord it over material nature. This misuse of independence, which is called māyā, is always available, otherwise there would be no independence. Independence implies that one can use it properly or improperly. It is not static; it is dynamic. Therefore, misuse of independence is the cause of being influenced by māyā.

SB 3.31.15, Purport:

Māyā is so strong that the Lord says that it is very difficult to surmount her influence. But one can do so very easily "if he surrenders unto Me." Mām eva ye prapadyante: anyone who surrenders unto Him can overcome the influence of the stringent laws of material nature. It is clearly said here that a living entity is put under the influence of māyā by His will, and if anyone wants to get out of this entanglement, this can be made possible simply by His mercy.

SB 3.31.15, Purport:

The activities of the conditioned souls under the influence of material nature are explained here. Every conditioned soul is engaged in different types of work under the influence of material nature. We can see in the material world that the conditioned soul acts so powerfully that he is playing wonderfully in creating the so-called advancements of material civilization for sense gratification. But actually his position is to know that he is an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. When he is actually in perfect knowledge, he knows that the Lord is the supreme worshipful object and that the living entity is His eternal servant. Without this knowledge, he engages in material activities; that is called ignorance.

SB 3.31.16, Purport:

When a conditioned soul is seriously anxious to get out of the influence of the material clutches, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated within him as Paramātmā, gives him this knowledge: "Surrender unto Me." As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā, "Give up all other engagements. Just surrender unto Me." It is to be accepted that the source of knowledge is the Supreme Person. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. Mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). The Lord says, "Through Me one gets real knowledge and memory, and one also forgets through Me." To one who wants to be materially satisfied or who wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord gives the opportunity to forget His service and engage in the so-called happiness of material activities.

SB 3.31.18, Purport:

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, intelligence and forgetfulness are both supplied by the Supersoul sitting with the individual soul within the body. When He sees that a conditioned soul is very serious about getting out of the clutches of the material influence, the Supreme Lord gives intelligence internally as Supersoul and externally as the spiritual master, or, as an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead Himself, He helps by speaking instructions such as Bhagavad-gītā. The Lord is always seeking the opportunity to reclaim the fallen souls to His abode, the kingdom of God. We should always feel very much obliged to the Personality of Godhead, for He is always anxious to bring us into the happy condition of eternal life.

SB 3.31.20, Purport:

By the influence of māyā, the external energy, one forgets everything just after birth. Therefore the child is praying that he prefers to remain within the womb rather than come out. It is said that Śukadeva Gosvāmī, on this consideration, remained for sixteen years within the womb of his mother; he did not want to be entangled in false bodily identification. After cultivating such knowledge within the womb of his mother, he came out at the end of sixteen years and immediately left home so that he might not be captured by the influence of māyā. The influence of māyā is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā as insurmountable. But insurmountable māyā can be overcome simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.14): mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. Whoever surrenders unto the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa can get out of this false conception of life. By the influence of māyā only, one forgets his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa and identifies himself with his body and the by-products of the body—namely wife, children, society, friendship and love. Thus he becomes a victim of the influence of māyā, and his materialistic life of continued birth and death becomes still more stringent.

SB 3.31.29, Purport:

In Bhagavad-gītā, Third Chapter, verse 36, Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa about the cause of a living being's lust. It is said that a living entity is eternal and, as such, qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. Then what is the reason he falls prey to the material and commits so many sinful activities by the influence of the material energy? In reply to this question, Lord Kṛṣṇa said that it is lust which causes a living entity to glide down from his exalted position to the abominable condition of material existence. This lust circumstantially changes into anger. Both lust and anger stand on the platform of the mode of passion. Lust is actually the product of the mode of passion, and in the absence of satisfaction of lust, the same desire transforms into anger on the platform of ignorance. When ignorance covers the soul, it is the source of his degradation to the most abominable condition of hellish life.

SB 3.31.32, Translation:

If, therefore, the living entity again associates with the path of unrighteousness, influenced by sensually minded people engaged in the pursuit of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, he again goes to hell as before.

SB 3.32.5, Purport:

Persons who work at their prescribed duties, not for sense gratification but for gratification of the Supreme Lord, are called niḥsaṅga, freed from the influence of the modes of material nature. Nyasta-karmāṇaḥ indicates that the results of their activities are given to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such persons appear to be acting on the platform of their respective duties, but such activities are not performed for personal sense gratification; rather, they are performed for the Supreme Person. Such devotees are called praśāntāḥ, which means "completely satisfied." Śuddha-cetasaḥ means Kṛṣṇa conscious; their consciousness has become purified.

SB 3.32.9, Purport:

The word avyākṛtam is very significant in this verse. The same meaning is stated in Bhagavad-gītā, in the word sanātana. This material world is vyākṛta, or subject to changes, and it finally dissolves. But after the dissolution of this material world, the manifestation of the spiritual world, the sanātana-dhāma, remains. That spiritual sky is called avyākṛta, that which does not change, and there the Supreme Personality of Godhead resides. When, after ruling over the material universe under the influence of the time element, Lord Brahmā desires to dissolve it and enter into the kingdom of God, others then enter with him.

SB 3.32.12-15, Translation:

My dear mother, someone may worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with a special self-interest, but even demigods such as Lord Brahmā, great sages such as Sanat-kumāra and great munis such as Marīci have to come back to the material world again at the time of creation. When the interaction of the three modes of material nature begins, Brahmā, who is the creator of this cosmic manifestation and who is full of Vedic knowledge, and the great sages, who are the authors of the spiritual path and the yoga system, come back under the influence of the time factor. They are liberated by their nonfruitive activities and they attain the first incarnation of the puruṣa, but at the time of creation they come back in exactly the same forms and positions as they had previously.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.15, Purport:

They are proportionately freed from the coverings of ignorance under material existence according to different levels of work and under different influences of the modes of material nature. For example, the sufferings of jīvas situated in the mode of goodness are less than those of jīvas situated in the mode of ignorance. Pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is the birthright of all living entities because every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. The consciousness of the Lord is also in the part and parcel, and according to the proportion to which that consciousness is cleared of material dirt, the living entities are differently situated.

SB 4.2.6, Translation:

Influenced by his personal bodily luster, all the fire-gods and other participants in that great assembly, with the exceptions of Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, gave up their own sitting places and stood in respect for Dakṣa.

SB 4.6.30, Translation:

All these atmospheric influences unsettled the forest elephants who flocked together in the sandalwood forest, and the blowing wind agitated the minds of the damsels there for further sexual enjoyment.

SB 4.6.30, Purport:

Whenever there is a nice atmosphere in the material world, immediately there is an awakening of the sexual appetite in the minds of materialistic persons. This tendency is present everywhere within this material world, not only on this earth but in higher planetary systems as well. In complete contrast with the influence of this atmosphere on the minds of the living entities within the material world is the description of the spiritual world. The women there are hundreds and thousands of times more beautiful than the women here in this material world, and the spiritual atmosphere is also many times better. Yet despite the pleasant atmosphere, the minds of the denizens do not become agitated because in the spiritual world, the Vaikuṇṭha planets, the spiritualistic minds of the inhabitants are so much absorbed in the spiritual vibration of chanting the glories of the Lord that such enjoyment could not be surpassed by any other enjoyment, even sex, which is the culmination of all pleasure in the material world.

SB 4.6.49, Translation:

My dear lord, you are never bewildered by the formidable influence of the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore you are omniscient and should be merciful and compassionate toward those who are bewildered by the same illusory energy and are very much attached to fruitive activities.

SB 4.6.49, Purport:

A Vaiṣṇava is never bewildered by the influence of the external energy because he is engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The Lord states in Bhagavad-gītā (7.14):

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te

"My divine energy consisting of the three modes of material nature is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." A Vaiṣṇava should take care of those who are bewildered by this māyā instead of becoming angry with them, because without a Vaiṣṇava's mercy they have no way to get out of the clutches of māyā. Those who have been condemned by māyā are rescued by the mercy of devotees.

SB 4.6.49, Purport:

"I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls." Those who are under the influence of the illusory energy are attracted to fruitive activities, but a Vaiṣṇava preacher attracts their hearts to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.7.30, Translation:

Śrī Bhṛgu said: My dear Lord, all living entities, beginning from the highest, namely Lord Brahmā, down to the ordinary ant, are under the influence of the insurmountable spell of illusory energy, and thus they are ignorant of their constitutional position. Everyone believes in the concept of the body, and all are thus submerged in the darkness of illusion. They are actually unable to understand how You live in every living entity as the Supersoul, nor can they understand Your absolute position. But You are the eternal friend and protector of all surrendered souls. Therefore, please be kind toward us and forgive all our offenses.

SB 4.7.44, Translation:

The Vidyādharas said: Dear Lord, this human form of body is meant for attaining the highest perfectional objective, but, impelled by Your external energy, the living entity misidentifies himself with his body and with the material energy, and therefore, influenced by māyā, he wants to become happy by material enjoyment. He is misled and always attracted by temporary, illusory happiness. But Your transcendental activities are so powerful that if one engages in the hearing and chanting of such topics, he can be delivered from illusion.

SB 4.7.44, Purport:

The human form of life is called arthada because the body can very nicely help the embodied soul to achieve the highest perfection. Prahlāda Mahārāja said that even though temporary, the body can give us the highest perfectional achievement. In the process of evolution from the lower to the higher grade of living, the human form of life is a great boon. But māyā is so strong that in spite of achieving this great boon of the human form of life, we are influenced by temporary material happiness, and we forget our goal of life. We are attracted by things which will cease to exist. The beginning of such attraction is the temporary body.

SB 4.7.44, Purport:

This spell of māyā is called āvaraṇātmikā śakti because it is so strong that the living entity is satisfied in any abominable condition. Even if he is born as a worm living within the intestine or abdomen in the midst of urine and stool, still he is satisfied. This is the covering influence of māyā. But the human form of life is a chance to understand, and if one misses this opportunity, he is most unfortunate. The way to get out of illusory māyā is to engage in the topics of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya advocated a process whereby everyone may remain in his present position without change but simply hear from the proper authoritative sources about Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya advised everyone to spread the word of Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.7.45, Purport:

If one performs saṅkīrtana-yajña by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, there is no need to arrange elaborate paraphernalia for the prescribed sacrificial ceremonies recommended in the Vedas. In the chant of the holy names, Hare and Kṛṣṇa, Hare means the energy of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is the viṣṇu-tattva. Combined together they are everything. In this age, persons are harassed by the influence of Kali-yuga and cannot arrange for all the requisite paraphernalia for performing sacrifice as recommended in the Vedas. But if one simply chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that he is performing all kinds of yajña because there is nothing within our vision except Hare (the energy of Kṛṣṇa) and Kṛṣṇa. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His energies. Thus since everything is a manifestation of His energy, it is to be understood that everything is Kṛṣṇa.

SB 4.7.51, Purport:

As parts and parcels, the living entities are not different from the Supreme Lord; the energy emanated from Him is not different from Him. But in the actual activity of this material world, the living entity is under the different qualities of material energy and in different forms. There are 8,400,000 life forms. The same living entity acts under the influence of the different qualities of material nature. The entities have different bodies, but originally, in the beginning of creation, Lord Viṣṇu is alone. For the purpose of creation, Brahmā is manifested, and for annihilation there is Lord Śiva.

SB 4.8.19, Purport:

The harsh words used by Suruci to her stepson were true because unless one is favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead one cannot achieve any success in life. Man proposes, God disposes. Sunīti, the mother of Dhruva Mahārāja, agreed with her co-wife's advice that Dhruva engage himself in the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Indirectly, the words of Suruci were a benediction for Dhruva Mahārāja, for because of the influence of his stepmother's words, he became a great devotee.

SB 4.8.68, Translation:

The great sage Nārada replied: My dear King, please do not he aggrieved about your son. He is well protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although you have no actual information of his influence, his reputation is already spread all over the world.

SB 4.8.68, Purport:

Śaraṇāgati, or surrender, means acceptance or firm belief that wherever the surrendered soul lives he is always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he is never alone or unprotected. Dhruva Mahārāja's affectionate father thought his young boy, only five years old, to be in a very precarious position in the jungle, but Nārada Muni assured him, "You do not have sufficient information about the influence of your son." Anyone who engages in devotional service, anywhere within this universe, is never unprotected.

SB 4.8.80, Purport:

This example of Dhruva Mahārāja's closing the holes of his personal body and thereby closing the breathing holes of the total universe clearly indicates that a devotee, by his personal devotional service, can influence all the people of the whole world to become devotees of the Lord. lf there is only one pure devotee in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can change the total consciousness of the world into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is not very difficult to understand if we study the behavior of Dhruva Mahārāja.

SB 4.8.81, Purport:

Dhruva Mahārāja's influence, attained by executing devotional service unto the Lord, was felt even by the demigods, who had never before experienced such a situation. Because of Dhruva Mahārāja's controlling his breathing, the entire universal breathing process was choked. It is by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that material entities cannot breathe whereas spiritual entities are able to breathe; material entities are products of the Lord's external energy, whereas spiritual entities are products of the Lord's internal energy.

SB 4.9.9, Translation:

Persons who worship You simply for the sense gratification of this bag of skin are certainly influenced by Your illusory energy. In spite of having You, who are like a desire tree and are the cause of liberation from birth and death, foolish persons, such as me, desire benedictions from You for sense gratification, which is available even for those who live in hellish conditions.

SB 4.9.16, Purport:

People in general, who are under the influence of avidyā-śakti, or māyā, have neither knowledge nor devotion. But when a person who is a little advanced and is therefore called a jñānī advances even more, he is in the category of a jñāna-miśra-bhakta, or a devotee whose love is mixed with empiric knowledge. When he is still further advanced, he can realize that the Absolute Truth is a person with multienergies. An advanced devotee can understand the Lord and His creative energy. As soon as one accepts the creative energy of the Absolute Truth, the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are also understood.

SB 4.9.29, Purport:

In this verse Maitreya replied to Vidura that Dhruva Mahārāja, influenced by a revengeful attitude towards his insulting stepmother, did not think of mukti, nor did he know what mukti was. Therefore he failed to aim for mukti as his goal in life. But a pure devotee also does not want liberation. He is a soul completely surrendered to the Supreme Lord, and he does not demand anything from the Lord. This position was realized by Dhruva Mahārāja when he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead present personally before him because he was elevated to the vasudeva platform.

SB 4.9.33, Translation:

Dhruva Mahārāja lamented: I was under the influence of the illusory energy; being ignorant of the actual facts, I was sleeping on her lap. Under a vision of duality, I saw my brother as my enemy, and falsely I lamented within my heart, thinking, "They are my enemies."

SB 4.9.50, Purport:

It is also significant in this verse that Sunīti, mother of Dhruva Mahārāja, is described as vīra-sū, a mother who produced a great hero. There are many heroes in the world, but there is no comparison to Dhruva Mahārāja, who was not only a heroic emperor of this planet, but also a great devotee. A devotee is also a great hero because he conquers the influence of māyā. When Lord Caitanya inquired from Rāmānanda Rāya about the most famous man in this world, the latter replied that anyone who is known as a great devotee of the Lord is to be accepted as the most famous.

SB 4.9.65, Translation:

The saintly King Uttānapāda, hearing of the glorious deeds of Dhruva Mahārāja and personally seeing also how influential and great he was, felt very satisfied, for Dhruva's activities were wonderful to the supreme degree.

SB 4.11.14, Purport:

Atheists do not believe in God, and certainly they do not please Him. Here it is clearly said that upon pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead one immediately attains to the spiritual platform and enjoys unlimited blissful life. To become free from material existence means to become free from the influence of material nature.

SB 4.11.21, Purport:

Bhagavad-gītā (9.25) gives a warning to the living entities: yānti deva-vratā devān—those who are addicted to the worship of the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, and those who are addicted to worship of the Pitās, forefathers, go to the Pitās. Those who are inclined to material activities remain in the material sphere. But persons who engage in devotional service reach the abode of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, where there is neither birth nor death nor different varieties of life under the influence of the law of karma. The best interest of the living entity is to engage himself in devotional service and go back home, back to Godhead. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura advised: "My friend, you are being washed away in material nature's waves of time. Please try to understand that you are the eternal servant of the Lord. Then everything will stop, and you will be eternally happy."

SB 4.12.41, Translation:

The great sage Nārada said: Simply by the influence of his spiritual advancement and powerful austerity, Dhruva Mahārāja, the son of Sunīti, who was devoted to her husband, acquired an exalted position not possible to attain even for the so-called Vedāntists or strict followers of the Vedic principles, not to speak of ordinary human beings.

SB 4.12.47, Translation:

Anyone who hears this narration of Dhruva Mahārāja acquires exalted qualities like him. For anyone who desires greatness, prowess or influence, here is the process by which to acquire them, and for thoughtful men who want adoration, here is the proper means.

SB 4.13.23, Translation:

It is the duty of all citizens in a state never to insult the king, even though he sometimes appears to have done something very sinful. Because of his prowess, the king is always more influential than all other ruling chiefs.

SB 4.14.12, Purport:

Saintly persons are not interested in political matters, yet they are always thinking of the welfare of the people in general. Consequently they sometimes have to come down to the political field and take steps to correct the misguided government or royalty. However, in Kali-yuga, saintly persons are not as powerful as they previously were. They used to be able to burn any sinful man to ashes by virtue of their spiritual prowess. Now saintly persons have no such power due to the influence of the age of Kali. Indeed, the brāhmaṇas do not even have the power to perform sacrifices in which animals are put into a fire to attain a new life. Under these circumstances, instead of actively taking part in politics, saintly persons should engage in chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. By the grace of Lord Caitanya, by simply chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the general populace can derive all benefits without political implications.

SB 4.14.15, Translation:

Those who live according to religious principles and who follow them by words, mind, body and intelligence are elevated to the heavenly kingdom, which is devoid of all miseries. Being thus rid of the material influence, they achieve unlimited happiness in life.

SB 4.16.14, Translation:

ust as the sun-god expands his shining rays up to the Arctic region without impedance, the influence of King Pṛthu will cover all tracts of land up to the Arctic region and will remain undisturbed as long as he lives.

SB 4.16.14, Purport:

Although the Arctic region is not visible to ordinary persons, the sun shines there without impediment. Just as no one can check the sunshine from spreading all over the universe, no one could check the influence and reign of King Pṛthu, which would remain undisturbed as long as he lived. The conclusion is that the sunshine and the sun-god cannot be separated, nor could King Pṛthu and his ruling strength be separated. His rule over everyone would continue without disturbance. Thus the King could not be separated from his ruling power.

SB 4.16.27, Purport:

Such a peaceful and prosperous government, devoid of anxiety, was established by Pṛthu Mahārāja. Thus the inhabitants of both saintly and demoniac planets were all engaged in glorifying the activities of Mahārāja Pṛthu. Persons or nations anxious to spread their influence all over the world should consider this point. If one is able to eradicate completely the threefold miseries of the citizens, he should aspire to rule the world. One should not aspire to rule for any political or diplomatic consideration.

SB 4.19.22, Purport:

In Kali-yuga the pākhaṇḍīs are very prominent. However, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has tried to kill all these pākhaṇḍīs by introducing His saṅkīrtana movement. Those who take advantage of this saṅkīrtana movement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness will be able to save themselves from the influence of these pākhaṇḍīs.

SB 4.20.3, Purport:

In daily life we find that when a madman commits murder, he is excused even by a high-court judge. The idea is that a living entity is always pure because he is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When he falls into the clutches of material energy, he becomes a victim of the three modes of material nature. Indeed, whatever he does, he does under the influence of material nature. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.14):

na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi
lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ
na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ
svabhāvas tu pravartate

"The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature."

SB 4.20.3, Purport:

Actually the living entity, or soul, does not do anything; everything is done under the influence of the modes of material nature. When a man is diseased, the symptoms of the disease become a source of all kinds of pain. Those who are advanced in transcendental consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are never envious, neither of the soul nor of the activities of the soul under the influence of material nature. Advanced transcendentalists are called sudhiyaḥ. Sudhī means "intelligence," sudhī means "highly advanced," and sudhī means "devotee." One who is both devoted and highly advanced in intelligence does not take action against the soul or the body. If there is any discrepancy, he forgives. It is said that forgiveness is a quality of those who are advancing in spiritual knowledge.

SB 4.20.4, Translation:

If a personality like you, who are so much advanced because of executing the instructions of the previous ācāryas, is carried away by the influence of My material energy, then all your advancement may be considered simply a waste of time.

SB 4.20.7, Purport:

Due to being covered by the material body, the living entities are not self-effulgent, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Paramātmā, is self-effulgent. The living entities, being contaminated by the modes of material nature, are called saguṇa, whereas Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is nirguṇa, not being under the influence of the material modes. The living entities, being encaged in material qualities, are guṇāśrita, whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is guṇāśraya. The conditioned soul's vision is covered by material contamination; therefore he cannot see the cause of his actions, and he cannot see his past lives.

SB 4.20.25, Purport:

It is explained in the previous verse that one has to hear glorification of the Lord from the mouth of a pure devotee. This is further explained here. The transcendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee is so powerful that it can revive the living entity's memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In our material existence, under the influence of illusory māyā, we have almost forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord, exactly like a man sleeping very deeply who forgets his duties. In the Vedas it is said that every one of us is sleeping under the influence of māyā. We must get up from this slumber and engage in the right service, for thus we can properly utilize the facility of this human form of life. As expressed in a song by Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda, Lord Caitanya says, jīva jāga, jīva jāga. The Lord asks every sleeping living entity to get up and engage in devotional service so that his mission in this human form of life may be fulfilled. This awakening voice comes through the mouth of a pure devotee.

SB 4.20.26, Purport:

Others who are associating with them and hearing the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra from the lips of pure devotees are also becoming captivated by the transcendental vibration. Transcendental vibrations are very much effective when chanted among Āryans, but even though one does not belong to the Āryan family, he will become a Vaiṣṇava simply by hearing the mantra because the vibration has great influence over everyone.

SB 4.20.34, Purport:

When the Lord appears, He remains in His spiritual position, uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, and therefore in Bhagavad-gītā the Lord expresses the quality of His appearance as ātma-māyayā, "performed by internal potency." The Lord, being infallible, is not forced by material nature to take birth in this material world. He appears in order to reestablish the perfect order of religious principles and to vanquish the demoniac influence in human society.

SB 4.21.9, Translation:

Vidura said: My dear brāhmaṇa Maitreya, it is very enlightening to understand that King Pṛthu was enthroned by the great sages and brāhmaṇas. All the demigods presented him with innumerable gifts, and he also expanded his influence upon personally receiving strength from Lord Viṣṇu. Thus he greatly developed the earth.

SB 4.21.12, Purport:

The word askhalita indicates that orders by the king could not be disobeyed by anyone in the entire world. Such orders, however, were never issued to control saintly persons or the descendants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. The Supreme Lord is known as Acyuta, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is addressed as such by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me 'cyuta (BG 1.21)). Acyuta refers to one who does not fall because He is never influenced by the modes of material nature. When a living entity falls down to the material world from his original position, he becomes cyuta, which means that he forgets his relationship with Acyuta. Actually every living entity is a part and parcel, or a son, of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When influenced by the modes of material nature, a living entity forgets this relationship and thinks in terms of different species of life; but when he again comes to his original consciousness, he does not observe such bodily designations. This is indicated in Bhagavad-gītā (5.18) by the words paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ.

SB 4.21.52, Purport:

"When one engages in devotional service in the first stages of hearing and chanting, the Lord, who is in everyone's heart, helps the devotee in cleansing his heart." (SB 1.2.17) In the gradual cleansing process, one is relieved of the influence of passion and ignorance and is situated on the platform of goodness. The result of association with the qualities of passion and ignorance is that one becomes lusty and greedy. But when one is elevated to the platform of goodness, he is satisfied in any condition of life and is without lust and greed. This mentality indicates one's situation on the platform of goodness. One has to transcend this goodness and raise himself to the pure goodness called vivṛddha-sattva, or the advanced stage of goodness.

SB 4.22.3, Translation:

Every conditioned soul is influenced by a particular mixture of the modes of material nature. As such, the conditioned soul is attracted to certain types of activity which he is forced to perform because he is completely under the influence of material nature. Here Pṛthu Mahārāja is compared to such a conditioned soul, not because he was a conditioned soul but because he was so anxious to receive the Kumāras that it was as if without them he would have lost his life. The conditioned soul is attracted by the objects of sense gratification.

SB 4.22.4, Purport:

When the great sages accepted their reception, according to the instructions of the śāstras, and finally took their seats offered by the King, the King, influenced by the glories of the sages, immediately bowed down. Thus he worshiped the four Kumāras.

SB 4.22.28, Purport:

Being covered by material desires, a spirit soul is also considered to be covered by designations belonging to a particular type of body. Thus he considers himself an animal, man, demigod, bird, beast, etc. In so many ways he is influenced by false identification caused by false egotism, and being covered by illusory material desires, he distinguishes between matter and spirit. When one is devoid of such distinctions, there is no longer a difference between matter and spirit.

SB 4.22.32, Purport:

Human life is especially meant for self-realization. "Self" refers to the Superself and the individual self, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity. When, however, one becomes more interested in the body and bodily sense gratification, he creates for himself obstructions on the path of self-realization. By the influence of māyā, one becomes more interested in sense gratification, which is prohibited in this world for those interested in self-realization. Instead of becoming interested in sense gratification, one should divert his activities to satisfy the senses of the Supreme Soul. Anything performed contrary to this principle is certainly against one's self-interest.

SB 4.22.38, Purport:

As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the material energy, represented as earth, water, air, fire, sky, etc., and the spiritual energy, the living entity, are both energies of the Supreme Lord. Even though the energies and the energetic are identical, the living entity, individual soul, being prone to be influenced by the external energy, considers the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be one with himself.

SB 4.22.39, Purport:

The Lord is always transcendental to the material manifestation, even though it appears that the Lord and the material manifestation are one and the same. According to the Vaiṣṇava philosophy, He is one and different simultaneously. The material energy is a manifestation of His external potency, and since the potency is identical with the potent, it appears that the Lord and individual soul are one; but actually the individual soul is under the influence of material energy, and the Lord is always transcendental to it. Unless the Lord is superior to the individual soul, there is no question of prapadye, or surrender unto Him. This word prapadye refers to the process of devotional service. Simply by nondevotional speculation on the rope and the snake, one cannot approach the Absolute Truth. Therefore devotional service is stressed as more important than deliberation or mental speculation to understand the Absolute Truth.

SB 4.22.39, Purport:

There are three kinds of transcendentalists trying to overcome the influence of the modes of material nature—the jñānīs, yogīs and bhaktas. All of them attempt to overcome the influence of the senses, which is compared to the incessant waves of a river. The waves of a river flow incessantly, and it is very difficult to stop them. Similarly, the waves of desire for material enjoyment are so strong that they cannot be stopped by any process other than bhakti-yoga. The bhaktas, by their transcendental devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord, become so overwhelmed with transcendental bliss that automatically their desires for material enjoyment stop.

SB 4.22.56, Purport:

Similarly, Pṛthu Mahārāja exacted taxes and gave such strong orders to the citizens and government that no one had the power to disobey him. On the other hand, he pleased everyone just like the moonshine. Both the sun and the moon have particular influences by which they maintain order in the universe, and modern scientists and philosophers should become familiar with the Supreme Lord's perfect plan for universal maintenance.

SB 4.23.18, Purport:

When Pṛthu Mahārāja became spiritually powerful by the enhancement of his spiritual knowledge (jñāna) and renunciation of material desires, he became a prabhu, or master of his senses (sometimes called gosvāmī or svāmī). This means that he was no longer controlled by the influence of material energy. When one is strong enough to give up the influence of material energy, he is called prabhu. In this verse the word svarūpa-sthaḥ is also very significant. The real identity of the individual soul lies in understanding or attaining the knowledge that he is eternally a servant of Kṛṣṇa. This understanding is called svarūpopalabdhi.

SB 4.24.28, Purport:

Lord Vāsudeva, or Kṛṣṇa, is described in Bhagavad-gītā as Puruṣottama. Actually He is the enjoyer (puruṣa) and the Supreme (uttama) as well. He is the enjoyer of everything—the prakṛti and the puruṣa. 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.

SB 4.24.34, Purport:

As such, He can control our senses and out of His mercy engage them in the service of the master of the senses. In the conditioned state, the living entity struggles in this material world and engages his senses for material satisfaction. However, if the living entity is graced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can engage these very senses in the service of the Lord. Lord Śiva desires not to be misled by the material senses but to engage always in the service of the Lord without being subject to contamination by materialistic influences. By the grace and help of Lord Vāsudeva, who is all-pervading, one can engage his senses in devotional service without deviation, just as the Lord acts without deviation.

SB 4.24.56, Purport:

To say nothing of the karmīs, the jñānīs undergo severe austerities to attain the impersonal brahma-jyotir, but because they do not find the lotus feet of the Lord, they fall down again into this material existence. Unless one is fully situated in unalloyed devotional service, there is no guarantee of liberation, even if one is elevated to the heavenly planets or to the impersonal Brahman effulgence. A devotee's achievement, however, is never lost by the influence of time. Even if a devotee cannot completely execute devotional service, in his next life he begins from the point where he left off. Such an opportunity is not given to the karmīs and jñānīs, whose achievements are destroyed. The bhakta's achievement is never destroyed, for it goes on perpetually, be it complete or incomplete. This is the verdict of all Vedic literatures. Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo'bhijāyate (BG 6.41). If one is unable to complete the process of bhakti-yoga, he is given a chance in his next life to take birth in a pure family of devotees or in a rich family. In such families a person can have a good opportunity to further progress in devotional service.

SB 4.24.56, Purport:

Thus the devotees of the Lord are not under the jurisdiction of Yamarāja. Yamarāja is a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he controls the death of every living entity. Yet he has nothing to do with the devotees. Simply by blinking his eyes, time personified can destroy the entire cosmic manifestation, but he has nothing to do with the devotee. In other words, devotional service which is rendered by the devotee in this lifetime can never be destroyed by time. Such spiritual assets remain unchanged, being beyond the influence of time.

SB 4.24.59, Purport:

Specifically, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra purifies one, and this chanting is therefore recommended by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam: (CC Antya 20.12) by chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, the mirror of the heart is cleansed, and the devotee loses interest in everything external. When one is influenced by the external energy of the Lord, his heart is impure. When one's heart is not pure, he cannot see how things are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Idaṁ hi viśvaṁ bhagavān ivetaraḥ (SB 1.5.20). He whose heart is purified can see that the whole cosmic manifestation is but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but he whose heart is contaminated sees things differently. Therefore by sat-saṅga, or association with devotees, one becomes perfectly pure in heart.

SB 4.24.66, Purport:

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities which are in actuality carried out by nature."

Everything is enacted by the laws of nature, and these laws are under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The atheists, or unintelligent men, do not know this. They are busy making their own plans, and big nations are busy expanding their empires. And yet we know that in due course of time many empires have come into existence and been destroyed.

SB 4.25.20, Purport:

The body has already been compared to a beautiful garden. During youth the sex impulse is awakened, and the intelligence, according to one's imagination, is prone to contact the opposite sex. In youth a man or woman is in search of the opposite sex by intelligence or imagination, if not directly. The intelligence influences the mind, and the mind controls the ten senses. Five of these senses gather knowledge, and five work directly. Each sense has many desires to be fulfilled. This is the position of the body and the owner of the body, purañjana, who is within the body.

SB 4.25.29, Purport:

In this verse Purañjana states that the girl appears to be an ordinary woman. However, since he is attracted by her, he requests that she become as happy as the goddess of fortune by associating with him. Thus he introduces himself as a great king with great influence so that she might accept him as her husband and be as happy as the goddess of fortune. To desire to enjoy this material world as a subordinate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is godly. The demons, however, want to enjoy this material world without considering the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the difference between a demon and a demigod.

SB 4.25.29, Purport:

The word bhuvi-spṛk mentioned in this verse is very significant. When the demigods sometimes come to this planet, they do not touch the ground. Purañjana could understand that this girl did not belong to the transcendental world or the higher planetary system because her feet were touching the ground. Since every woman in this world wants her husband to be very influential, rich and powerful, Purañjana, to seduce the girl, introduced himself as such a personality. In the material world, whether one be a man or a woman, one wants to enjoy. A man wants to enjoy a beautiful woman, and a woman wants to enjoy a powerful, opulent man. Every living entity who possesses such material desires is called puruṣa, an enjoyer. Superficially it appears that the woman is the enjoyed and the man is the enjoyer, but internally everyone is an enjoyer. Consequently everything in this material world is called māyā.

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

The living entity is always being influenced by the three qualities-sattva (goodness), rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance). This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.13). Tribhir guṇamayair bhāvaiḥ: the living entity is bewildered by the three qualities of material nature. These three qualities are described in this verse as three flags. By a flag, one can come to know who the owner of the chariot is; similarly, by the influence of the three qualities of material nature, one can easily know the direction in which the chariot is moving. In other words, one who has eyes to see can understand how the body is being driven, influenced by the particular type of quality of material nature. In these three verses the activity of the living entity is described to prove how the body becomes influenced by the quality of ignorance, even when a person wants to be religious. Nārada Muni wanted to prove to King Prācīnabarhiṣat that the King was being influenced by the tamo-guṇa, the quality of ignorance, even though the King was supposed to be very religious.

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

According to karma-kāṇḍīya, the process of fruitive activities, a person performs various sacrifices directed by the Vedas, and in all those sacrifices animal-killing, or experimenting on the life of animals to test the power of Vedic mantras, is enjoined. Animal-killing is certainly conducted under the influence of the mode of ignorance. Even though one may be religiously inclined, animal sacrifice is recommended in the śāstras, not only in the Vedas but even in the modern scriptures of other sects. These animal sacrifices are recommended in the name of religion, but actually animal sacrifice is meant for persons in the mode of ignorance.

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." Because King Prācīnabarhiṣat was engaged in performing various sacrifices in which animals were killed, Nārada Muni pointed out that such sacrifices are influenced by the mode of ignorance. From the very beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.2) it is said: projjhita-kaitavo 'tra. All kinds of religious systems that are involved in cheating are completely kicked out of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the bhagavad-dharma, the religion dealing with one's relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, animal sacrifice is not recommended. In the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—there is no recommendation for animal sacrifices.

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

In these three verses, King Purañjana's going to the forest to kill animals is symbolic of the living entity's being driven by the mode of ignorance and thus engaging in different activities for sense gratification. The material body itself indicates that the living entity is already influenced by the three modes of material nature and that he is driven to enjoy material resources. When the body is influenced by the mode of ignorance, its infection becomes very acute. When it is influenced by the mode of passion, the infection is at the symptomatic stage. However, when the body is influenced by the mode of goodness, the materialistic infection becomes purified. The ritualistic ceremonies recommended in religious systems are certainly on the platform of goodness, but because within this material world even the mode of goodness is sometimes polluted by the other qualities (namely passion and ignorance), a man in goodness is sometimes driven by the influence of ignorance.

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

It is herein described that King Purañjana once went to the forest to kill animals. This means that he, the living entity, came under the influence of the mode of ignorance. The forest in which King Purañjana engaged in hunting was named Pañca-prastha. The word pañca means "five," and this indicates the objects of the five senses. The body has five working senses, namely the hands, the legs, the tongue, the rectum and the genitals. By taking full advantage of these working senses, the body enjoys material life. The chariot is driven by five horses, which represent the five sense organs—namely the eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. These sense organs are very easily attracted by the sense objects. Consequently, the horses are described as moving swiftly. On the chariot King Purañjana kept two explosive weapons, which may be compared to ahaṅkāra, or false ego. This false ego is typified by two attitudes: "I am this body" (ahantā), and "Everything in my bodily relationships belongs to me" (mamatā).

SB 4.26.1-3, Purport:

The living entity carries out various desires through five different processes, which indicate the working of the five working senses. The golden ornaments and dress indicate that the living entity is influenced by the quality of rajo-guṇa, passion. One who has a good deal of money or riches is especially driven by the mode of passion. Being influenced by the mode of passion, one desires so many things for enjoyment in this material world. The eleven commanders represent the ten senses and the mind. The mind is always making plans with the ten commanders to enjoy the material world. The forest named Pañca-prastha, where the King went to hunt, is the forest of the five sense objects: form, taste, sound, smell and touch.

SB 4.26.4, Purport:

Wherever a king goes, he is supposed to be accompanied by his queen, but when the king, or conditioned soul, becomes greatly overpowered by the desire for sense gratification, he does not care for religious principles. Instead, with great pride, he accepts the bow and arrow of attachment and hatred. Our consciousness is always working in two ways—the right way and the wrong way. When one becomes too proud of his position, influenced by the mode of passion, he gives up the right path and accepts the wrong one. Kṣatriya kings are sometimes advised to go to the forest to hunt ferocious animals just to learn how to kill, but such forays are never meant for sense gratification. Killing animals to eat their flesh is forbidden for human beings.

SB 4.26.5, Translation:

At that time King Purañjana was very much influenced by demoniac propensities. Because of this, his heart became very hard and merciless, and with sharp arrows he killed many innocent animals in the forest, taking no consideration.

SB 4.26.5, Purport:

When a man becomes too proud of his material position, he tries to enjoy his senses in an unrestricted way, being influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. He is thus described as asuric, or demoniac. When people are demoniac in spirit, they are not merciful toward the poor animals. Consequently, they maintain various animal slaughterhouses. This is technically called sūnā, or hiṁsā, which means the killing of living beings. In Kali-yuga, due to the increase of the modes of passion and ignorance, almost all men are asuric, or demoniac; therefore they are very much fond of eating flesh, and for this end they maintain various kinds of animal slaughterhouses.

SB 4.26.6, Translation:

If a king is too attracted to eating flesh, he may, according to the directions of the revealed scriptures on sacrificial performances, go to the forest and kill some animals that are recommended for killing. One is not allowed to kill animals unnecessarily or without restrictions. The Vedas regulate animal-killing to stop the extravagance of foolish men influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance.

SB 4.26.11, Purport:

Unless one can become free from the influence of passion and ignorance, he cannot be pacified, and without being pacified, one cannot understand the science of God. King Purañjana's returning home is indicative of man's returning to his original consciousness, known as Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is absolutely necessary for one who has committed a lot of sinful activities, especially killing animals or hunting in the forest.

SB 4.27.11, Purport:

The conclusion is that neither the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, nor His devotee ever sanctions animal-killing in the name of religion. Indeed, Kṛṣṇa incarnated Himself as Lord Buddha to put an end to animal-killing in the name of religion. Animal sacrifice under the name of religion is conducted by the influence of tamo-guṇa (the mode of ignorance), as indicated in the Eighteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (18.31-32):

yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca
kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca
ayathāvat prajānāti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā
manyate tamasāvṛtā
sarvārthān viparītāṁś ca
buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī

"That understanding which cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious, between action that should be done and action that should not be done—that imperfect understanding, O son of Pṛthā, is in the mode of passion.

SB 4.28.9, Translation:

The objects of enjoyment became stale by the influence of Kālakanyā. Due to the continuance of his lusty desires, King Purañjana became very poor in everything. Thus he did not understand the aim of life. He was still very affectionate toward his wife and children, and he worried about maintaining them.

SB 4.29.4, Purport:

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." As soon as one desires to enjoy his senses, he puts himself under the control of material energy and automatically, or mechanically, is placed into the cycle of birth and death in various life-forms.

SB 4.29.5, Translation:

The great sage Nārada continued: The word pramadā mentioned in this regard refers to material intelligence, or ignorance. It is to be understood as such. When one takes shelter of this kind of intelligence, he identifies himself with the material body. Influenced by the material consciousness of "I" and "mine," he begins to enjoy and suffer through his senses. Thus the living entity is entrapped.

SB 4.29.16, Purport:

The heart feels satisfaction, jubilation or illusion according to the effects of the modes of material nature. Actually the living entity in his material condition remains inert. It is the modes of material nature that act on the mind and heart. The results are enjoyed or suffered by the living entity. This is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.27):

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature."

SB 4.29.17, Translation:

Formerly it was explained that the Queen is one's intelligence. While one is awake or asleep, that intelligence creates different situations. Being influenced by contaminated intelligence, the living entity envisions something and simply imitates the actions and reactions of his intelligence.

SB 4.29.18-20, Purport:

"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again." Even if one is promoted to Brahmaloka, the highest planet in the universe, he has to come down again to the lower planetary systems. Thus he is wandering up and down perpetually, under the influence of the three modes of material nature. Being illusioned, he thinks he is making progress. He is like an airplane encircling the earth day and night, incapable of leaving the earth's gravitational field. Factually there is no progress because the airplane is conditioned by the earth's gravity.

SB 4.29.18-20, Purport:

The living entity struggles very hard due to the influence of fruitive activity and mental speculation and simply gets a different type of body life after life. He eats all kinds of nonsense and is condemned by his activities of sense enjoyment, If one really wants to progress in life, he must give up the ways of karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa, fruitive activities and mental speculation. Being fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can become free from the entanglement of birth and death and the vain struggle for existence. In these verses the words mṛga-tṛṣṇāṁ pradhāvati are very significant because the living entity is influenced by a thirst for sense enjoyment. He is like a deer that goes to the desert to search out water. In a desert an animal simply searches in vain for water. Of course there is no water in the desert, and the animal simply sacrifices his life in an attempt to find it. Everyone is planning for future happiness, thinking that somehow or other, if he can reach a certain point, he will be happy. In actuality, however, when he comes to that point, he sees that there is no happiness. He then plans to go further and further to another point. This is called mṛga-tṛṣṇā, and its basis is sense enjoyment in this material world.

SB 4.29.22, Purport:

Encaged within the body, the living being accepts Kālakanyā, old age, just before death. Yavaneśvara is the emblem of death, Yamarāja. Before going to the place of Yamarāja, the living entity accepts Jarā, old age, the sister of Yamarāja. One is subjected to the influence of Yavana-rāja and his sister due to impious activity. Those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and are engaged in devotional service under the instructions of Nārada Muni are not subjected to the influence of Yamarāja and his sister Jarā. If one is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he conquers death. After leaving the material body, he does not accept another body that is material but returns home, back to Godhead. This is verified by Bhagavad-gītā (4.9).

SB 4.29.23-25, Purport:

Knowing the basic misery of material existence, one should be induced to get out of the material clutches and return home, back to Godhead. Actually the living entity is not at all happy in this material body. Because of the body, he suffers thirst and hunger and is influenced by the mind, by words, by anger, by the belly, by the genitals, by the rectum, and so on. Manifold miseries encircle the transcendental living entity simply because he desires to satisfy his senses in this material world. If he simply withdraws from activities of sense gratification and applies his senses in the service of the Lord, all the problems of material existence will immediately diminish, and with the advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be freed from all tribulation and, after giving up the body, will return home, back to Godhead.

SB 4.29.26-27, Translation:

The living entity by nature has minute independence to choose his own good or bad fortune, but when he forgets his supreme master, the Personality of Godhead, he gives himself up unto the modes of material nature. Being influenced by the modes of material nature, he identifies himself with the body and, for the interest of the body, becomes attached to various activities. Sometimes he is under the influence of the mode of ignorance, sometimes the mode of passion and sometimes the mode of goodness. The living entity thus gets different types of bodies under the modes of material nature.

SB 4.29.28, Translation:

Those who are situated in the mode of goodness act piously according to Vedic injunctions. Thus they are elevated to the higher planetary systems where the demigods live. Those who are influenced by the mode of passion engage in various types of productive activities in the planetary systems where human beings live. Similarly, those influenced by the mode of darkness are subjected to various types of misery and live in the animal kingdom.

SB 4.29.28, Purport:

There are three planetary systems—upper, middle and lower. Those influenced by the mode of goodness are given places in the upper planetary systems—Brahmaloka (Satyaloka), Tapoloka, Janaloka and Maharloka. Those influenced by the mode of passion are given places in the Bhūrloka and Bhuvarloka. Those influenced by the mode of ignorance are given places in Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala, Pātāla or the animal kingdom. Qualitatively the living entity is the same as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but because of his forgetfulness he gets different bodies in different planetary systems. At the present moment human society is overly influenced by the mode of passion, and consequently people are engaged in working in big factories. They forget how distressful it is to live in such places. In Bhagavad-gītā such activities are described as ugra-karma, that is, distressful activities. Those who utilize the energies of the worker are called capitalists, and those who actually perform the work are called laborers. In actuality they are both capitalists, and the workers are in the modes of passion and ignorance. The result is that there is always a distressful situation. In contrast to these men are those influenced by the mode of goodness—the karmīs and jñānīs. The karmīs, under the direction of Vedic instructions, try to elevate themselves to higher planetary systems. The jñānīs try to merge into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal feature of the Lord. In this way all classes of living entities in various species of life are existing within this material world. This explains superior and inferior life—forms within the material world.

SB 4.29.29, Translation:

Covered by the mode of ignorance in material nature, the living entity is sometimes a male, sometimes a female, sometimes a eunuch, sometimes a human being, sometimes a demigod, sometimes a bird, an animal, and so on. In this way he is wandering within the material world. His acceptance of different types of bodies is brought about by his activities under the influence of the modes of nature.

SB 4.29.29, Purport:

Under the influence of māyā, the living entity becomes exactly like a person haunted by a ghost. Such a person speaks all kinds of nonsense. When the living entity is covered by the influence of māyā, he becomes a so-called scientist, philosopher, politician or socialist, and at every moment presents different plans for the benefit of human society. All these plans are ultimately failures because they are illusory. In this way the living entity forgets his position as an eternal servant of the Lord. He instead becomes a servant of māyā. In any case he remains a servant.

SB 4.29.30-31, Translation:

The living entity is exactly like a dog, who, overcome with hunger, goes from door to door for some food. According to his destiny, he sometimes receives punishment and is driven out and at other times receives a little food to eat. Similarly, the living entity, being influenced by so many desires, wanders in different species of life according to destiny. Sometimes he is high, and sometimes he is low. Sometimes he goes to the heavenly planets, sometimes to hell, sometimes to the middle planets, and so on.

SB 4.29.41, Purport:

We therefore see that devotees known as sahajiyā, who make everything very easy, do not associate with advanced devotees. Such persons, in the name of devotional activities, are addicted to all kinds of sinful acts—illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. There are many so-called devotees passing themselves off as devotees while engaging in these sinful activities. In other words, one who is influenced by sinful activity cannot be accepted as a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A person addicted to sinful life cannot develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as indicated in this verse.

SB 4.29.46, Purport:

The word ātma-bhāvitaḥ also indicates that a devotee is always engaged in preaching to deliver conditioned souls. It is said of the six Gosvāmīs: nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau. A pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always thinking of how fallen, conditioned souls can be delivered. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, influenced by the merciful devotees' attempt to deliver fallen souls, enlightens the people in general from within by His causeless mercy. If a devotee is blessed by another devotee, he becomes free from karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa activities. As confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā, vedeṣu durlabham: the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be realized through karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa. Adurlabham ātma-bhaktau: the Lord is realized only by a sincere devotee.

SB 4.29.56, Purport:

Actually the so-called teachers or leaders of material society do not really know the goal of life. They are described in Bhagavad-gītā as māyayāpahṛta jñānāḥ (BG 7.15). They appear to be very learned scholars, but actually the influence of the illusory energy has taken away their knowledge. Real knowledge means searching out Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). All Vedic knowledge is meant for searching out Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). In Bhagavad-gītā (10.2) Kṛṣṇa says, aham ādir hi devānāṁ: "I am the source of the demigods." Thus Kṛṣṇa is the origin and beginning of all demigods, including Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and all others.

SB 4.29.74, Translation:

The five sense objects, the five sense organs, the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the mind are the sixteen material expansions. These combine with the living entity and are influenced by the three modes of material nature. Thus the existence of the conditioned soul is understood.

SB 4.29.74, Purport:

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. The total material existence is first agitated by the three modes of material nature, and these become the living conditions of the living entity. Thus the subtle and gross bodies develop, and the ingredients are earth, water, fire, air, sky, and so on. According to Śrī Madhvācārya, when consciousness, the living force in the heart, is agitated by the three modes of material nature, then the subtle body of the living entity, consisting of the mind, the sense objects, the five senses that acquire knowledge and the five senses for acting in the material condition, becomes possible.

SB 4.29.76-77, Purport:

"The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature." (BG 3.27)

Material nature is very strong, and the material modes force one to accept another body. This force is visible when the living entity transmigrates from a superior body to an inferior one. One who acts like a dog or hog in the present body will certainly be forced to accept the body of a dog or hog in the next life. A person may be enjoying the body of a prime minister or a president, but when he understands that he will be forced to accept the body of a dog or hog, he chooses not to leave the present body.

SB 4.30.3, Purport:

Here the Supreme Personality of Godhead is described as purañjana. According to Madhvācārya, the living entity is called purañjana because he has become an inhabitant of this material world, and under the influence of the three modes of material nature, he is forced to live within it. The Supreme Personality of Godhead creates this material world (pura), and He also enters within it. Aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham (Bs. 5.35). The Lord enters within the heart of the living entity and within the atom; therefore both the living entity and the Lord are called purañjana.

SB 4.30.18, Purport:

The word pakva-guṇāśayāḥ has special significance, for it means that by devotional service one is able to give up the influence of the three modes of material nature. As long as one is influenced by the modes of material nature, he cannot return to Godhead. It is clearly explained that all planets in the material world—beginning from Brahmaloka down to the hellish planets—are unfit places for a devotee. padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). A place where there is danger at every step is certainly not a comfortable place.

SB 4.30.24, Translation:

Dear Lord, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You because Your existence is completely independent of all material influences. Your Lordship always takes away the devotee's miserable conditions, for Your brain plans how to do so. You live everywhere as Paramātmā; therefore You are known as Vāsudeva. You also accept Vasudeva as Your father, and You are celebrated by the name Kṛṣṇa. You are so kind that You always increase the influence of all kinds of devotees.

SB 4.30.24, Purport:

Again and again the Lord is very much interested in increasing the influence of His devotees. Therefore He is described herein as prabhave sarva-sātvatām. The sātvata community is a community of Vaiṣṇavas, pure devotees of the Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has unlimited powers, and He wants to see that His devotees are also entrusted with unlimited powers. A devotee of the Lord is always, therefore, distinguished from all other living entities.

Page Title:Influence (SB cantos 3 - 4)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, JayaNitaiGaura
Created:19 of Jul, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=227, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:227