2016-11-11 SB-10-87-20 - Srila Gaur Kishore Das Babaji Maharaj Disappearance Day (download mp3) by Damodar Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty www.iskcondesiretree.com SB 10.87.20sva-krta-puresv amisv abahir-antara-samvaranam tava purusam vadanty akhila-sakti-dhrto ’msa-krtamiti nr-gatim vivicya kavayo nigamavapanam bhavata upasate ’nghrim abhavam bhuvi visvasitah Translation: The individual living entity, while inhabiting the material bodies he has created for himself by his karma, actually remains uncovered by either gross or subtle matter. This is so because, as the Vedas describe, he is part and parcel of You, the possessor of all potencies. Having determined this to be the status of the living entity, learned sages become imbued with faith and worship Your lotus feet, to which all Vedic sacrifices in this world are offered, and which are the source of liberation. Purport: Not only does the Supreme Lord remain totally uncontaminated when He resides within the material bodies of the conditioned souls, but even the infinitesimal jiva souls are never directly touched by the coverings of ignorance and lust they acquire while passing through repeated cycles of birth and death. Thus the Taittiriya Upanisad (3.10.5) proclaims, sa yas cayam puruse yas casav aditye sa ekah: “The soul of the embodied living being is one with Him who stands within the sun.” Similarly, the Chandogya Upanisad (6.8.7) teaches, tat tvam asi: “You are nondifferent from that Supreme Truth.” In this prayer, the personified Vedas refer to the finite enjoyer of material bodies (the jiva soul) as an expansion of the transcendental reservoir of all potencies, the Supreme Lord. The term amsa-krtam, “made as His portion,” must be properly understood, however, in this context. The jiva is not created at any time, nor is he the same kind of expansion of the Lord as the omnipotent visnu-tattva expansions. The Supreme Soul is the proper object of all worship, and the subordinate jiva soul is meant to be His worshiper. The Supreme Lord enacts His pastimes by showing Himself in innumerable aspects of His personality, whereas the jiva is forced to change bodies whenever his accumulated karmic reactions so dictate. According to Sri Narada Pañcaratra: yat tata-stham tu cid-rupam sva-samvedyad vinirgatamrañjitam guna-ragena sa jiva iti kathyate “The marginal potency, who is spiritual by nature, who emanates from the self-cognizant samvit energy, and who becomes tainted by his attachment to the modes of material nature, is called the jiva.” Although the jiva soul is also an expansion of Lord Krsna, he is distinguished from Krsna’s independent Visnu expansions by his constitutional position on the margin between spirit and matter. As the Mahavaraha Purana explains, svamsas catha vibhinnamsa iti dvidha sa isyateamsino yat tu samarthyam yat-svarupam yatha sthitih tad eva nanu-matro ’pi bhedam svamsamsinoh kvacitvibhinnamso ’lpa-saktih syat kiñcit samarthya-matra-yuk “The Supreme Lord is known in two ways: in terms of His plenary expansions and His separated expansions. Between the plenary expansions and Their source of expansion there is never any essential difference in terms of either Their capabilities, forms or situations. The separated expansions, on the other hand, possess only minute potency, being endowed only to a small extent with the Lord’s powers.” The conditioned soul in this world appears as if covered by matter, internally as well as externally. Externally, gross matter surrounds him in the forms of his body and environment, while internally desire and aversion impinge upon his consciousness. But from the transcendental perspective of realized sages, both kinds of material covering are insubstantial. By logically eliminating all material identities, which are misconceptions based on the soul’s gross and subtle coverings, a thoughtful person can determine that the soul is nothing material. Rather, he is a pure spark of divine spirit, a servant of the Supreme Godhead. Unde