Holy Talks of the Supreme Lord

by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja

Answer: The derivative meaning of maya is 'what is measurable.' Bhagavan is the Lord of maya; He cannot be measured. Where there is attem t to measure !od" there is maya and not !od. '#a' means 'not' and 'ya' means 'what'" i.e." 'what is not !od'" is maya. The maya as said in the $hrimad Bhagavatam is not li%e the $atan in the &hristian theology" a se arate entity from !od" altogether another entity. According to the Bhagavata school" maya is in Bhagavan '!od( in the condemned state in order to award condign unishment on the atomic sentience 'i.e. )ivas( controllable by maya. *n the !ita !od has said: +,arth" water" fire" air" s%y" the mind" intelligence and egoism - these constitute #y se arate inferior otencies" whereas other than this is #y su erior otency constituting the )ivas by which is su orted the universe.+ This inferior otency is the maya otency. This inferior otency has been stu efying the )ivas that are a athetic towards !od since before the beginning of time and causing misunderstanding in them" sometimes assuming the form of 'twenty-four items of entity' of .a ila 'the originator of the $an%hya $ystem(" sometimes as the 'atom' of .anada 'of the /aiseshi%a $ystem(" sometimes also as 0aimini's rinci le of 'elevation' 'in the 1urva #imamsa $ystem(" sometimes again as the 'si2teen ob)ects' of !autama 'in the 3yaya system(" sometimes as 'su erhuman ower and absolute oneness with !od' of 1atan)ali 'of the 4oga $ystem(" and sometimes as the retence of search after Brahman 'of the $han%ar $chool(. 5uestion: Why does such an event ha en6 Answer: Because the )ivas have free will of their own. 5uestion: How can this be reconciled with the teaching of the !ita which says: +!od stays in the heart of all the creatures and ma%es them whirl round" in a machine" as it were" by the agency of maya+6 Answer: This instruction in the !ita rather su orts the above statement. *t is $hri /ishnu Who is !od" the &ontroller of all beings. !od gives the )ivas their fruit according to the %arma they erform. Their nature acts under the direction of !od according to their revious %arma. 0iva is the doer and !od is the !iver. !od's authority is seen in the giving of the fruits and governance of the cause and effect. $o !od is the !iver of the fruit and the )ivas the en)oyers thereof. 5uestion: Why is there the inde endence of the )ivas6 Answer: 0ivas are the atomic arts of !od" the vibhu-chit '1lenary $entience(. The ro erty of the sea" vi7. water" is resent in an atomic degree in a dro " too. /ibhu 'or 8ver Lord( !od is totally inde endent; there is inde endence in anu-chit-)iva 'i.e." atomic sentience( too" ro ortionally. 5uestion: *s the ro er use or abuse of the inde endence of )ivas instigated by !od 6 Answer: *f it had been !od-instigated" then that would have amounted to the service of !od and not caused the )iva's forgetfulness of Him. 5uestion: Then how can the conclusion be arrived at" vi7." +everything de ends u on !od's Will+6 * am utting these 9uestions not for the sa%e of discussion" * am as%ing them because you are a great scholar and a great devotee at the same time. *n the Hindi !ita of $hri Tila%a * read an abhanga ' anegyric to !od( by Tu%a-:ama" the sense of which runs thus: +8 !od" if my %arma brings me liberation then what should * have to do with 4ou6+ Answer: The $hrimad Bhagavatam has given a re ly to this. +He is an heir to liberation" 8 !od" who" feeling 4our !race in everything and enduring the troubles caused by his own %arma" bows down to 4ou with mind" s eech and body" i.e. wholeheartedly+. He who has ac9uired fitness for being freed from the world understands that if the

blame is laid at the door of !od" then on account of the want of the tendency towards doing service to !od" liberation is never available. 8nly a erson who is fortunate to have the tendency for the chit-service aroused in him can easily become the ossessor of the osition of liberation" and he can be more attracted towards !od" considering all the troubles and difficulties as His !race. 5uestion: Then are the sins that we commit due to !od's !race6 Answer: 3o" they are not. The redilection for sins has been given to test us" in the same manner as money" addy" a co y of the $hrimad Bhagavatam" etc. are laced before an infant at the time of the first-rice ceremony to see what it ta%es according to its innate tendency. Before the thread ceremony" too" the Acharya tests the tendency of the boy to be initiated. !od's cruelty is what the human intellect a rehends when it is a athetic towards !od. *f one ta%es it to be a unishment" it is to be understood that such a one is wanting in a serving tem er and in attraction for !od. !od is the shelter for all. He sends many obstacles and inconveniences to those who wish for shelter under Him" in order to test their ardour and steadiness. ;or e2am le" when the /aidya rescribes bitter and astringent medicines and distasteful diets" or the doctor o ens the abscess with his lancet" if the atient is dis leased with them on the ground that they are cruel and not his well-wishers" his decision is wrong as he has ta%en his real friends to be enemies. +The divine otency" maya" has %e t tem ting ob)ects as e2hibits for alluring me )ust as the fishing hoo% or the net" or the rat-tra or the chain is set to delude fish" rats" ele hants" etc. The ob)ect is that * may thereby get more and more entangled in the worldly meshes. #isled by these deluding tra s" sometimes * become a wanton erformer of misdeeds" sometimes a hilanthro ist doing good deeds" sometimes again * consider oneness with non-distinct Brahman as the good for me" feeling a high regard for the doctrine of Buddha" $han%aracharya or .a ila.+ #aya <evi has laced in order alluring things according to the diverse tem eraments of the ersons who are deluded by the tenets of %arma or )nana due to their having desires for things other than the Truth. 0iva will attain his true wellbeing when he engages himself in the accounts relating to !od; there is no other way thereto. !od does not set u obstructions against anyone" and He is not the destroyer of chetana-dharma or sentience in him. *t would have been an act of cruelty on His art if He had laced obstacles against this sentience; He is only informing the sentient entities of what is the ro er use of their sentience and what are its abuses. $hri &haitanya #aha rabhu has as%ed us not to act u on the instruction of the sage 0aimini about worldly elevations" nor u on those of $hri <attatreya" $han%ara" etc." about the culture of non-distinct Brahman" for that is not the ro er use of our sentience or inde endence. 0ust wor% for doing service to !od" and never do a thing which is not meant for it. He has said all this for the true well-being of )ivas who have got material erce tions for generating" rather uncovering" their sentience. 3o one is engaged in a iece of wor% being ro elled by a desire for distress. The bereaved mother is hitting her chest hard with her hands and hurting her head against a iece of stone only to destroy her grief. A atient is belching out by disturbing his throat with his fingers" only to obtain a s eedy relief. The .armis being desirous of the fruit of their %arma are ma%ing different erformances only to get such s eedy remedies. Their inner motive is to secure instantaneous relief. Being du ed by matters leasant for the time being" they are running towards the mirage of maya. According to them" the method for the s eedy end of worldly troubles is: +* shall be the overlord of the world" become *ndra of the heaven" or en)oy and distribute the various worldly en)oyments. This is only a athy towards !od. The culture of non-distinct Brahman is only another hase in our attem ts to secure a s eedy remedy. The fact is that we want some fees 'i.e." the return of some good for our e2ertions( in some sha e or another. We run for en)oyments when we thin% ourselves dissociated ;rom !od. Then we thin% that it is necessary to ma%e the ro er use of our canine teeth" to revel in the functions eculiar to youth" to bring round other eo le to civic order or social civili7ation and so forth. Those attem ts are only the results of our forgetfulness about !od. These redilections are only meant for en)oyment" as !od has said : +All acts are erformed by the gunas of nature or maya and being misled by egotism the soul thin%s himself as the doer.+ The )ivatma is an entity beyond the gunas; he is above the #ayasha%ti" for he serves !od. But the ower of maya is far above. The a titude or inclination of a )iva a athetic towards !od is to be bound down by maya" to swallow the bait" and bathed in sweat from head to foot due to hard labour and wasting the invaluable life" to gather fuel for the en)oyment of the wives" sons" daughters" grandsons" great-grandsons" many of whom we shall not have any chance

even to see" and leave it behind for their sa%e. * lant a alm-tree" the fruit of which will be en)oyed by others whom * shall never meet with and who will one day s9uander away all my hoarded wealth and ro erty. All my efforts are to this end= There is a shlo%a to the effect : +.rishna" * have obeyed the wrong commands of %ama 'desires(" etc." numberless and of any ty e" but yet they are not %ind to me" nor feel ashamed" and there is no cessation of these. 3ow * have got true intelligence" and having re)ected them * have ta%en shelter in 4ou with the rayer that * may be em loyed in 4our service.+ Those who are given to %arma admit !od indirectly; those of the )nana-marga wish for being one with !od; but we do not cherish any such wrong desire. 8ur ho e is to become the carriers of foot-wear for servants of Hari unli%e those who ado t )nana. We do not claim to ossess learning nor intelligence; we mind only the truth received from the lotus-feet of $hri !urudeva in the ca acity of his servants; we do not lay down any new ro osition. We say only what we have got to say in favour of the realisation of that one Truth. (This is an excerpt from a conversation with a member of the Indian nationalist movement, Syamasundar Chakravarty. This edition is taken from The Guardian of evotion ! the Calcutta edition of "#$$. % more complete version of the interview ! with different editin& ! can be found in Sri Chaitanya's Teachin&s, published by Sri Gaudiya (ath.)