Aṣṭau prakṛtayaḥ, eight material elements, that is described in the Bhagavad-gītā—bhūmir āpo 'nalo vayuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca (BG 7.4)—earth, water, fire, air, sky, and the mind, ahaṅkāra, mind, egotism and khaṁ mano buddhi, and intelligence. These are gross and subtle material elements. Aṣṭau prakṛtayaḥ proktās traya eva hi tad-guṇāḥ, and these material elements are moving by the interaction of the three material qualities—sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tamo-guṇa.
One who is situated in the sattva-guṇa, he is also existing on these eight material elements. And one who is existing in the modes of passion, he is also existing on the . . . Brahmin's body, take for example. Brahmin is in the sattva-guṇa, and kṣatriya is in the raja-guṇa. Vaiśya is mixed up, and śūdra is the tamo-guṇa.
So existing means the consciousness according to the contamination of different condition of the guṇas . . . this condition is the guṇas. Sattva-guṇa, one who is in sattva-guṇa, his consciousness is different from the consciousness of the raja-guṇa. One who is whose consciousness is raja-guṇa, his consciousness is different from the tamo-guṇa.
In this way you will find different types of consciousness. In pure there are three. If they're mixed up—three into three, it becomes nine. Again mixed up—nine into nine, it becomes eighty-one. Again mixed up—eighty-one . . . in this way you will find varieties of life. But they're based on the three types of consciousness—sattva-guṇa consciousness, raja-guṇa consciousness, tamo-guṇa consciousness.
So when one is transcendental to this contaminated consciousness, polluted by the three qualities of material nature, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
- aṣṭau prakṛtayaḥ proktās
- traya eva hi tad-guṇāḥ
- vikārāḥ ṣoḍaśācāryaiḥ
- pumān ekaḥ samanvayāt
- (SB 7.7.22)
But the soul is the same. By his external affection in the material world under different qualities, he's appearing different. Therefore, we have got 8,400,000's of species of life, by different consciousness. And when one comes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no such differentiation—there is one consciousness, "Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, I am His servant," that's all.
So long one does not come to this platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of so-called eternity, fraternity, unity, universal brotherhood. That is not possible. It is impossible, because they are all contaminated.
- dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto
- jagat tasthur iti dvidhā
- atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo
- neti netīty atat tyajan
- (SB 7.7.23)
(reads Sanskrit commentary) The Sāṅkhya philosophy here . . . the description is Sāṅkhya philosophy—twenty-four elements. Twenty-four elements: eight gross and subtle elements, and then their production, the ten indriya, senses, working senses and knowledge-acquiring senses. Eight, ten, eighteen. Then the sense object, five. Eighteen plus five, equals to twenty-three.
And then the ātmā, or the soul—twenty-four elements. The Sāṅkhya philosophy, they have analyzed. The Sāṅkhya philosophy . . . and European philosophers, they like very much this Sāṅkhya philosophy system because in the Sāṅkhya philosophy these twenty-four elements have been very much lucidly explained. Sāṅkhya philosophy.
Dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto jagat. So there are two kinds of bodies, jagat and tasthuḥ—moving and not moving—but they're all combination of these twenty-four elements. Atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti netīty: now, one has to find out the ātmā from these twenty-four elements by eliminate:, "Where is ātmā? Where is ātmā? Where is ātmā?" But one can find out in that way, provided he follows the rules and regulation and the process. That is possible.