Mysteries of the Vedas

Using the bow of the holy names, we should send our mind in the direction of the Lord, just as an arrow shot toward a target. This arrow of the mind should be sharpened by devotion to the Lord and not allowed to deviate to anything else. By this fixed meditation we can attain the Lord, entering the spiritual sky, just as an arrow enters its target. The process of chanting should be practiced with...

The pastime of Dhruva Mahārāja is well-known and is a great source of inspiration for all devotees. As Srila Prabhupāda explains in his purport to text eight: "The incidents in the life of Dhruva Mahārāja are very attractive for devotees. From his pious actions, one can learn how one can detach himself from material possessions and how one can enhance one’s devotional service by severe austerities...

Both the Lord and the jiva reside inside the heart, but they are not the same. One is infinite and the other infinitesimal, one is the whole and the other the part. The individual soul is thus meant to serve the Lord. There are many eternals, but the Lord is the chief. The soul is present inside the body as consciousness, but not as a physical particle. It can't be detected or measured by experime...

Daksa was thus brought back to life and immediately regretted his mistakes. He also remembered the death of his daughter, which caused him great pain. Daksa thus chocked up and couldn't speak. With great endeavor, he was able to finally pacify his mind and offer heartfelt prayers to Lord Shiva. Having been pardoned by him and blessed to again perform the sacrifice. First of all, the sacrificial ar...

Both the original purpose of the Vedas and the path of fruitive sacrifices come from the Lord, just as all living beings, fonts of sustenance, and spiritual qualities and practices. The material bodies of the living entities are very complicated machines, composed of the senses and mind, intelligence, vital air, etc., and all of these were created by the Lord, together with the sense objects. In o...

Having already given all his arguments, Lord Shiva didn't say anything more when Sati decided to disregard his instructions and go alone, but his followers accompanied Sati, understanding that this was Lord Shiva's desire. They organized a procession for Sati, so she could travel comfortably. However, when Sati reached the opulent arena of the sacrifice, no one received her apart from her mother a...

Although the Lord has no material form, as declared in the previous verse, He is the source of the material manifestation. Having originated from the energy of the Lord, the material creation is in one sense a manifestation of the Lord, and thus yogis who are not capable of conceiving His personal form are advised to meditate on the universe as a form of the Lord, with the higher planets forming H...

The first chapter of the 4th canto ended with Maitreya mentioning that Sati, the youngest daughter of Daksa, left her body at a younger age without leaving any descendants, due to the enviousness of her father towards her husband. Vidhura inquires from Maitreya how this could be possible. He is astonished both about Sati voluntarily destroying her body and about how it was possible that Daksa, an...

Opposite to the karmi, who is mad after sense gratification, is the renounced sage, who has firm faith and fully dedicates himself to the practice of devotional service, purified of all material desires. Such a pure devotee escapes the cycle of birth and death and attains the Lord. After many lives as a karmi, going through the process of performing fruitive activities and being elevated to the ce...

The Srimad Bhagavatam is composed of numerous pastimes with deep spiritual significance. These are not random stories, but pastimes carefully selected, describing the activities of the Lord and His pure devotees. By studying these descriptions we can learn about them and thus gradually become attracted to the path of pure devotional service. In the material platform, hearing about a person is very...

Sacrifices performed with perfect knowledge and without material desires carry the performer to the spiritual sky. This pure performance of sacrifice is true renunciation. However, when one doesn't have the proper understanding, he is instead elevated to the higher planets, up to Satyaloka. As Krsna mentions in the Gita, one's destination follows his mentality and process of worship. Sacrifices th...

Lord Kapila concludes His teachings by offering a summary of all the topics discussed. In the Gita, Krsna mentions: "Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me." All activities should be performed with the ultimate goal of satisfying Krsna and understanding Him. Unless one adds devotional...

In the previous verses, the difference between parā-vidyā and aparā-vidyā was already revealed, and the cultivation of materialistic knowledge that leads just to an improvement of one's material position was already condemned. This idea will be further emphasized in the next verses, where the destination of karmis who attain svarga-loka by performing ritual sacrifices is described and equally frow...

Although we are eternal servants of Krsna, when we come in contact with the false ego, followed by the mind, intelligence, etc. a new material identity is formed. This identity is different from the real identity of the soul, but because we firmly identify with it, for practical purposes, this material identity becomes "us". In this way, we become entrapped in the material dreamland. Although the...

Brahman is described as omniscient, being everywhere and knowing everything in all detail (sarva-jñaḥ sarva-vid). Brahman includes the creative potency (tapaḥ), responsible for producing the mahat-tattva, the seed of the material creation. The words jñāna-maya indicate that this creative potency is not some mechanical unconscious force but is rooted in intelligent and knowledge-based intention. Th...

In chapter 31, Lord Kapila gives a quite negative description of the life of a baby in the womb and after birth. Lord Kapila describes, for example, that "Bitten again and again all over the body by the hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition." And that, "Laid d...

The Upanisads are famous for bringing up complicated philosophical concepts in just a few words. The verse 1.1.8 of the Mundaka Upanisad is a surprising example, describing the whole process of creation and the workings of the universe in just 14 words! When the complete meaning is understood, we can appreciate the deep meaning of the verse, as well as to better understand the way the Upanisads co...

In chapter 30, Lord Kapila describes the negative results of sinful activities. The problem with material activities connected with sense gratification is that they are almost always sinful and thus result in quite painful results in the long run. We receive the human form of life as an opportunity to realize our eternal position as servants of Krishna. It is a great blessing, but it also entails...

In this material world, we can observe that a creator is always different from the elements used in his creation. An artist may use paint to create artwork, a builder may use bricks to build a house, and so on. The builder (the efficient cause) is different from the bricks (the material cause) and when the bricks are transformed into the house, they cease having a separate existence, becoming some...

Although Lord Kapila describes the practice of mystic yoga, the ultimate goal is pure devotional service, therefore the process He describes is not different from what we practice apart from a few details. We meditate on the deity instead of meditating in Paramatma inside the heart, but the process of meditation on the form of the Lord is the same. Similarly, we chant the Mahamantra instead of the...

The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.9) confirms: naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā proktānyenaiva su-jñānāya preṣṭha, “This realization, my dear boy, cannot be acquired by logic. It must be spoken by an exceptionally qualified spiritual master to a knowledgeable disciple.” Even in Vedic times, there were many rsis and munis, and they would not be capable of understanding the absolute truth using their intellects. Thi...

Impersonalists generally believe that to become free from material contamination one should renounce all material activities and connections. However, we can see that Lord Kapila offers a different path. These instructions apply both to neophytes and pure devotees. Arjuna is certainly a pure devotee, and the Lord gave him similar instructions in the Bhagavad-Gita. For a Vaishnava, the process is n...

Srila Vyasadava composed the Upanisads by selecting passages from the four original Vedas that deal directly with the topic of self-realization. The Aitareya and Kaushitaki Upanisads are derived from the Rig Veda, the Chandogya and Kena Upanisads from the Sama Veda, the Brihadaranyaka, Isha, Taittiriya and Katha Upanisads from the Yajur Veda and the Mundaka Upanisad, togueter with the Mandukya and...

In the previous chapters, Lord Kapila already described the creation and structure of the material world and how the soul becomes entrapped in it, as well as the process of devotional service by which the soul can become free. Just as material life starts when the soul's consciousness becomes focused on the material world, liberation comes when our consciousness is transferred back to Krishna. Thi...

Although the Lord is always with us, our consciousness is currently focused on matter, and thus we can't associate with Him. We are covered by the false ego, intelligence, mind, senses, and gross body, and by identifying with these different layers, we can't see the Lord. The teachings of the Taittiriya Upanisad help us to gradually purify our consciousness, helping us to see ourselves as what we...