Daily Class

Material existence is full of anxiety, and therefore it is fearful. One who gets out of this material existence automatically becomes free from all anxieties and fear. One who follows the path of devotional service enunciated by Lord Kapila is very easily liberated.

Devotional service is so perfect that simply by following the rules and regulations and executing them under the direction of the spiritual master, one is liberated, as it is said herein, from the clutches of māyā, even in this body.

Devahūti, the mother of Kapila, instead of prolonging her prayers, summarized that Lord Kapila was none other than Viṣṇu and that since she was a woman it was not possible for her to worship Him properly simply by prayer. It was her intention that the Lord be satisfied.

The holy name has to be chanted to please the Supreme Lord, and not for any sense gratification or professional purpose. If this pure mentality is there, then even though a person is born in any family he is so glorious that not only has he purified himself, but he is quite competent to deliver others.

The Lord says that He takes charge of one who surrenders unto Him, and He makes him immune to all reactions to sinful activities. If by chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead one becomes so swiftly cleared of all reactions to sinful activities, then what is to be said of those persons who see Him face to face?

By His different energies He bestows different kinds of bodies upon the living entities, who are conditioned by their propensity to lord it over material nature, but in course of time these living entities become so degraded that they need enlightenment. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that whenever there are discrepancies in the discharge of the real purpose of this material existence, the Lord appears as an incarnation.

Since all the great sages and devotees apply all energy and all activities in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, there must be some transcendental pleasure in the toes of His lotus feet. The Lord licks His toe to taste the nectar for which the devotees always aspire. Sometimes the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself wonders how much transcendental pleasure is within Himself, and in order to taste His own potency, He sometimes takes the position of tasting Himself. Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but He appears as a devotee to taste the sweetness of the transcendental mellow in Himself which is tasted by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the greatest of all devotees.

The Supreme Lord can check others’ plans. As it is said, “Man proposes and God disposes.” But when the Supreme Personality of Godhead proposes, that desire is under no one else’s control. He is absolute. We are ultimately dependent on Him to fulfill our desires, but we cannot say that God’s desires are also dependent. That is His inconceivable power. That which may be inconceivable for ordinary living entities is easily done by Him. And in spite of His being unlimited, He has subjected Himself to being known from the authoritative scriptures like the Vedic literatures. As it is said, śabda-mūlatvāt: He can be known through the śabda-brahma, or Vedic literature.

Devahūti wanted to impress upon the Lord that when Brahmā wants to see Him, he has to meditate upon Him. “You are the seed of all creation,” she said. “Although Brahmā was directly born from You, he still has to perform many years of meditation, and even then he cannot see You directly, face to face. Your body is lying within the vast water at the bottom of the universe, and thus You are known as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.”

People who are suffering in this material world because they are conditioned by the material energy can easily get freedom from the clutches of matter by understanding the Sāṅkhya philosophy enunciated by Lord Kapila. By this system of philosophy, one can immediately become free, even though one is situated in this material world.