Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
This is transcription of Srimad Bhagavatam class given by our beloved spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj on Srimad Bhagavatam verse 3.31.14, on 26th and 27th June 2003 in Auckland, Newzealand.
yaḥ pañca-bhūta-racite rahitaḥ śarīre
cchanno ’yathendriya-guṇārtha-cid-ātmako ’ham
tenāvikuṇṭha-mahimānam ṛṣiṁ tam enaṁ
vande paraṁ prakṛti-pūruṣayoḥ pumāṁsam
I am separated from the Supreme Lord because of my being in this material body, which is made of five elements, and therefore my qualities and senses are being misused, although I am essentially spiritual. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to material nature and the living entities, because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious in His spiritual qualities, I offer my obeisances unto Him.
(Maharaj sang the above verse in Brahma samhitha tune and requested devotees to repeat it after him.)
"These are the prayers by the unborn child within the womb of the mother. The difficulty with us is that as soon as the material body is decided, we have to squeeze ourselves in the womb. Whichever body we accept, we have to squeee ourselves. Otherwise we are not born. And more so in the human existence, it is a very obnoxious situation. So the living entity prays continuously within the womb of the mother - "O Lord how many sins I have committed, due to which I have got this position." The description of the movements within the womb is very beautifully described in this chapter. If we really study these prayers and the actual movements of living entity within the womb, then we helplessly decide that come what may, I will not squeeze myself again into another womb. We are already born and by Krishna's arrangement we have forgotten the pains of birth. But we can see so many children, bearly they are alive when they are born. This was our condition also. But somehow or other, by the grace of our mother, we are able to see the light of these things. Otherwise it is not possible. So in that condition, while suffering the living entity is praying that because I have been encaged in the material body made of 5 great elements, I am lying here in the pool of blood, pus and what not. Because You are transcendental, I am addressing You as to why I am here and when I will get liberated from this position.
The 5 material elements as we know, if we start from higher element to lower elements , we start from sky or ether. From ether there is vaayu-air. After air there is fire, then jal - water and prthvi, earth. bhumir aapo analo vaayu kham mano buddhir eva ca. These are 5 gross elements and we have 3 subtle elements - mind, intelligence and false-ego. We don't see the mind. We have never seen intelligence and we are never conscious of false-ego. But this false-ego dominates our whole life. Because the false-ego is beginning of subtle body, slowly subtle body is developed as per the condition of the mind. As soon as the mind is conditioned, the mind gives you ether, air, fire, water and earth according to its own will and the body is born. So mind is really the main thing. Thats why whatever goes on in the body, particularly in the heart and intelligence is revealed in our face. Mind is controller of the face also. Our face reflects our mind. The living entity prays here - "Somehow or the other I am encaged in this body and I know that You are transcendental. You don't have birth, growth or death. Please bestow mercy upon me and somehow or the other relieve me from this impediment." These things are narrated by Lord Kapila to His mother Devahuti. Kapil muni is Mahajan - great personality and we have seen that we have to take help of such great personalities - who are great because of their knowledge and activities. So such people have to be followed. They are 12 in number.
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam
Yamaraj is speaking this. He says that Svayambhu (Brahma), Narada, Shambu (Shiva), Kumaras (4 Kumaras), Kapil muni (we are studying His instructions are far excellent, because He is mahajan) And then Manu - the name Manu suggests the birth of Manu because Manu was born from the mind of Brahmaji and mind in Sanskrit is known as 'mana' and that's why he is known as Manu and he has given the Manu samhitha which gives the main principles to be followed by mankind. I heard that someone had done the research and found that in China also people follows rules similar to the ones in Manu samhitha. Everywhere Vedic culture is the root. So Manu is there. Then we have Prahlad, Janaka, Bhismadev, Bali, Vaiyasaki (Sukadeva Goswami) and vayam means myself - that is Yamaraj. So out of these 12 Mahajans - Kapil Muni is giving us the above instructions and that too this verse 3.31.14 is the prayer of the unborn child in the womb of the mother. It has practical value for our existence. We are all born and in future also living entities will be born. So we have to take these practical lessons."
Krishna willing we will hear more nectar from Maharaj on this verse in the subsequent offerings.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Sudarshana devi dasi
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