Mysteries of the Vedas

The ultimate goal of the process of bhakti-yoga is to develop pure love of Godhead. As Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita: "One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state, he attains pure devotional service unto Me." Pure devoti...

After describing the greatness of the Lord, the text proceeds to define ananda, spiritual bliss. This whole chapter urges us to seek this ananda, and this section tries to define it. As a point of reference, it starts by defining the extension of human bliss. In terms of material enjoyment, no one can be happier than a young, handsome man, who is strong, intelligent, well-versed in the scriptures,...

In the previous two chapters, Lord Kapila described the constitution of the universe, the nature of the soul, and the entanglement in the illusory material world. He then concluded that devotional service is the supreme process to become free from this conditioning. Now, in chapters 28 and 29, Lord Kapila will explain the process of devotional service in more detail. The first step in order to bec...

The ātmā of the mano-maya person is the same as that of the prāṇa-maya, which is the vijñāna-maya, or the soul. Our self has many layers, including the gross body, the vital air, the mind, material intelligence, and the false ego, but all of this is sustained by the soul. However, not everyone sees himself as the soul, therefore this is a level of understanding that we need to reach at some point...

In this part, the "fall" of the soul in the material world continues to be discussed. What binds us to this temporary world, and how can we finally become free? What exactly is our position here and how can the pure soul become so covered by illusion to the point of becoming a dog or a horse? A very important point to be understood in this connection is the role of the false ego and how it twists...

Just like the souls merge into the body of Lord Viṣṇu at the end of each day of Brahma, and also after the final dissolution of the universe, the soul goes to the small space inside the heart to meet the Lord in His form as Paramātmā at the end of each day, during deep sleep. Being the eternal part and parcel of the Lord, the soul can't remain separated from Him. Thus, at the end of each cycle of...

The process of reinforcing a positive identification instead of adopting the negative process of destroying one's material identity is commonly offered in the scriptures. The passages that speak about duties emphasize the idea of cultivating a positive identity, such as a responsible husband, a dedicated wife, an obedient child, a humble disciple, and so on. Although being a husband or a wife is n...

The vyāhṛti are sacred syllables or mantras which are very foundational in the Vedic tradition. They are found in the Gayatri mantra and recited in all kinds of sacrifices and ceremonies. Bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, and svaḥ refer to the three planetary systems, which are part of the universal body of the Lord, just like all demigods.  Bhūr refers to the earthly planetary system, including both Bhu-mandala and...

For the process of seeing to happen, for example, there must be an observer, the cooperation of the demigods who control vision (for the sense of vision to work) and some object to be observed. Without an observer, there is no activity of the senses. If there is no cooperation from the demigods, one can't see, and his vision is useless if there is nothing to be seen. In this way, if one is absent,...

Verses of the Taittiriya Upanisad are often quoted by Srila Prabhupada. Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana also quotes several verses in the Govinda Bhasya and explains their conclusions. It is considered one of the eleven principal Upaniṣads. Although a relatively small book, it brings very deep knowledge about the nature of the absolute truth and our relationship with Him.  The name "Taittiriya" comes...

A central point in Prabhupada's teachings is the idea that the soul is an eternal servant of Krishna. The original consciousness of the soul is Krishna Consciousness, and being eternal, this original consciousness can't be lost, although it may be temporarily covered. Due to free will, the soul comes to the material world, where due to the identification with the false ego, the soul gradually beco...

p to this point, we had a description of the creation of the material elements, which is part of the primary creation performed by the Lord. Up to this point, there are no material universes, just the mass of material elements in the form of the mahat-tattva. The elements are now manifest, but still not assembled in the form of the universes. The next verses explain how the universes came into bei...

From the same combination of false ego and the material mode of passion from the creation of intelligence, the senses are created. The five senses for acquiring knowledge (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) depend on the intelligence to work, while the senses of action (the tongue, hands, legs, genital and excretory system) depend on the vital energy (prana) to operate. In this way, the vital ai...

The previous chapters in the second and third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam include several descriptions of the creation of the universe. Each of these descriptions brings new details, helping us to progressively grow our understanding. These different explanations may seem at first disconnected from each other, but they just offer the same description from different angles, just like a description o...

In this second part of the course on the teachings of Lord Kapila, we will study the nature of this material world and our relationship with it. The soul is transcendental, just like the Lord is, but because the soul is very small, it can fall under the control of material energy, while the Lord never falls into illusion. Even though it may be dificult to understand how the transcendental soul fal...

The explanation of the Sankhya philosophy in the Srimad Bhagavatam encompasses eight of the final chapters of the third canto. In these chapters, Lord Kapila offers an incredibly detailed explanation about the universe, the goal of life, and the process of devotional service, the very means to achieve this goal. Lord Kapila explains our existence in this material world, as well as details about th...

📎 Main topics: - The Vaishnava schools - Nimbārkacarya meets Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu - Ramanujacarya - Visistadvaita-vada (specific monism, non-dualism with distinctions, or purified monism) - The three wishes of Yamunacarya - The Visistadvaita philosophy - Madhvacarya - Suddha-dvaita (purified dualism) The Vaishnava schools - Sankaracarya spoke the truth, but not the whole truth. He hinted at th...

Meeting with Vyasadeva - Srila Madhvacarya appears in the Gaudyia Vaishnava disciplic succession as a disciple of Vyasadeva. How this can be if he appeared on the planet thousands of years after Vyasadeva compiled the Vedas? - He was able to personally meet Vyasadeva in Badrinath (his hermitage in the Himalayas). - There is the earthly Badrinath, a place in the Himalayas where anyone can go, and t...

📎 Main topics in this episode: - The evolution of spiritual understanding - Lord Buddha - Sunyavada (nihilism) Who is Siddhartha? His philosophy Rejecting the Vedas Nirvana Buddha, the avatar - Sankaracarya - Advaita-Vedanta (non-dualism) Who is Sankaracarya? Life and teachings The Advaita philosophy What is Brahman? Why he did that? An example Mayavada The most horrible philosophy The main ideas...

📎 Main topics in this episode: - Applying the six levels of thinking to the study of the sastras 1) Memorizing 2) Understanding 3) Practical application 4) Thinking and analyzing 5) Evaluation 6) Hypotheses - Why is it useful to study the Vedanta-sutra? - The Bhaktivedanta Bhasya The main ideas: - Applying the six levels of thinking to the study of the sastras. - An idea that is prevalent in mode...

Before narrating the explanation given by Lord Kapila in the Sankhya philosophy, Maitreya described the family life of Kardama Muni and Devahuti in chapters 3.23 and 3.24. One may question why Srimad Bhagavatam describes their family life, instead of focusing on the teachings of Lord Kapila, but the obvious answer is that Bhagavatam describes it because that’s not less important. The family life o...

Before, it was mentioned that “Hearing that her grandson would be a great devotee and that her sons would be killed by Kṛṣṇa, Diti was highly pleased in mind.” At the same time, however, Diti was afraid of the disturbances her sons would cause, and thus she delayed their delivery as long as possible, keeping them for 100 years inside her womb. One reason for that was selfless: she wanted to spare...

At the end of the previous chapter, the narration returned to Suta Goswami speaking to Śaunaka Ṛṣi and the other sages in Naimiṣāraṇya. Actually, the whole Bhagavatam is spoken by him, it is just that during the narration the focus changes to Sukadeva Goswami and Maharaja Pariksit, Maitreya and Vidura, or other speakers in different parts of the text. It’s also important to remember that a few cha...

After hearing about the creation of Brahma in the previous chapter, culminating with the creation of the Manus, Vidura asks to hear more about the descendants of Svāyambhuva Manu. Most of the narrations of the Srimad Bhagavatam revolve around the genealogical tree that started with Brahma and his sons. This succession started at the beginning of the current day, with the creation of the universe,...

In chapter 6, Maitreya described the process of creation from the point of view of the Lord, explaining how the Lord participates in the process of creation. Although in reality the Lord never gets in contact with the material energy, remaining aloof, still He participates in every step of creation through His different energies. In the classical Indian systems of philosophy, two common ideas abou...