TLC 3 (1968)
Teachings to Sanatan Goswami
In the instructions of Lord Chaitanya to Sanatan Goswami we can under stand the science of God in the matter of His transcendental Form, His opulences, and His devotional service—for everything is being described to Sanatan Goswami by the Lord Himself. At that time Sanatan fell at the feet of the Lord and with great humility asked about his own real identity. He spoke as follows:
"I am born of a lower family, my associations are all abominable, and I am fallen; the most wretched of Mankind. I was suffering in the dark well of material enjoyment, and I never knew the actual goal of my life. I do not know what is beneficial to me. Although in the mundane sphere I am what is known as a great learned man, I am in fact so much of a fool that I even accept that I am learned. You have accepted me as Your servant, and You have delivered me from the entanglement of material life. Now You can tell me what my duty is in this liberated state of life."
In other words, as we see by this plea, liberation is not the final word in perfection. There must be activities in liberation. Sanatan clearly asks: "You have saved me from the entanglement of material existence. Now, after liberation, what is my duty? Kindly explain it to me." Sanatan further inquired, "Who am I? Why are the three-fold miseries always giving me trouble? And, finally, tell me how I will be relieved from this material entanglement? I do not know how to question You about the advancement of spiritual life, but I beg that You kindly, mercifully, let me know everything that I should know."
This is the process of acceptance of a spiritual master by the disciple: One should approach a spiritual master and humbly submit to him, and then inquire from him about one's spiritual progress.
The Lord was pleased by Sanatan's submissive behavior, and He replied as follows: "You have already received benediction from Lord Krishna, and therefore you know everything, and you are free from all the miseries of material existence." The Lord further replied that, because Sanatan was in Krishna Consciousness, naturally, by the grace of Krishna, he was already conversant with everything, but "Because you are a humble devotee, you are asking me to confirm what is already realized by you. This is very nice." These are the characteristics of a true devotee. In the Narada Bhakti Sutra it is said that one who is very serious about developing his Krishna Consciousness, by the grace of the Lord, has his desire for understanding Krishna fulfilled very soon. The Lord said, "You are a suitable person for protecting the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore it is My duty to instruct you in the science of God, and I will explain to you everything step by step."
It is the duty of a disciple approaching a spiritual master to enquire about his constitutional position. In conformity to that spiritual process, Sanatan has already asked, "What am I, and why am I suffering from the three-fold miseries?" The three-fold miseries are called adhyatmic, adhibhautic, and adhidaivic. Adhyatmic means caused by the body and mind: sometimes the living entity suffers bodily, and sometimes he is distressed mentally—both are adhyatmic miseries. We experience these miseries even in the womb of our mother. There are many forms of misery that take advantage of our delicate body and give us pain.
Miseries inflicted by other living entities are called adhibhautic. There are many living entities, such as bugs born of eggs, that cause us miseries while we are sleeping in bed. There are many living entities, like cockroaches, that sometimes give us pain, and there are other living entities born on different kinds of planets, and they also cause us miseries.
So far as adhidaivic miseries are concerned, they originate with the demigods from the higher planets. For instance, sometimes we suffer from serious cold weather, sometimes we suffer from the thunderbolt, sometimes from earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts and other natural disasters. So we are always suffering one or another of these three kinds of miseries.
Sanatan's enquiry was: "What is the position of the living entities? Why are they always undergoing these three kinds of miseries?" Sanatan has admitted his weakness: although he was known by the mass of people as a greatly learned man (and actually he was a highly learned Sanskrit scholar)—and although he accepted the designation of a very learned man given him by the mass of people, yet he did not actually know what his constitutional position was, and why he was subjected to the threefold miseries.
The necessity of approaching a spiritual master is not a fashion, but is for he who is seriously conscious of the material miseries, and who wants to be free of them. It is the duty of such a person to approach the spiritual master. We find similar circumstances in the Bhagavad Gita: When Arjuna was perplexed by so many problems involving whether to fight or not, he accepted Lord Krishna as his Spiritual Master. There also it was a case of the Supreme Spiritual Master instructing Arjuna about the constitutional position of the living entity.
In the Bhagavad Gita we are informed that the constitutional nature of the individual entity is spirit soul: he is not matter. Therefore, as spirit soul, he is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. We also learn that it is the duty of the spirit soul to surrender; for only then can he be happy. The last instruction of the Bhagavad Gita is that the spirit soul is to surrender completely unto the Supreme Soul, Krishna, and in that way realize happiness.
Here, also, Lord Chaitanya, in answering the questions of Sanatan, repeats the same truth; but without giving him information about the spirit soul which is already described in the Gita. He begins from the point where Krishna ended His instruction. It is accepted by great devotees that Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself. And from the point where He ended His instruction in the Gita, He now begins His instruction again, to Sanatan. The Lord said to Sanatan:
"Your constitutional position is that you are pure living soul. This material body is not the identity of your real self, neither is your mind your real identity, nor your intelligence, nor is false ego the real identity of the self. Your identity is that you are the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Your position is that you are transcendental. The superior energy of Krishna is spiritual in constitution, and the inferior external energy is material. You are between the material energy and the spiritual energy, and therefore your position is marginal. In other words, you belong to the marginal potency of Krishna. You are simultaneously one with, and different from, Krishna. Because you are spirit, therefore you are not different from Krishna. But because you are only a minute particle of Krishna, you are therefore different from Him."
This simultaneous oneness and difference always exists in the relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Lord. From the marginal position of the living entities, this "simultaneously one and different" concept is understood. The living entity is just like a molecular part of the sunshine, whereas Krishna is compared to the blazing, shining sun. Lord Chaitanya compared the living entities to the blazing sparks from the fire, and the Supreme Lord to the blazing fire of the sun. The Lord cites in this connection a verse from Vishnu Purana, in which it is stated that everything that is manifested within this cosmic world is but an energy of the Supreme Lord. For example, as the fire emanating from one place exhibits its illumination and heat all around, so the Lord, although situated in one place in the spiritual world, manifests His different energies everywhere. And the whole world of cosmic representation is but different manifestations of His energy.
The energy of the Supreme Lord is transcendental and spiritual, and the living entities are part and parcel of that energy. But there is another energy called material energy, which is covered by the cloud of ignorance, and thereby divided into the three modes, or gunas, of material Nature. Lord Chaitanya quoted from, Vishnu Purana that all inconceivable energies reside in the Supreme Personality of the Lord, and the whole cosmic manifestation acts due to the same inconceivable energy of the Supreme Lord.
The Lord says that the living entities are also known as Kshetrajna, or "Knower of the field of activities." In the Thirteenth Chapter of the Gita, the body is described as the field of activities, and the living entity as Kshetrajna, the knower of that field. Although the living entity is constitutionally conversant with spiritual energy, or has the potency to understand, he is covered by the material energy, and he consequently believes this body to be himself. This is called false ego. In material existence, deluded by this false ego, the bewildered living entity changes his different bodies and suffers various kinds of miseries. The knowledge of his true position is present to different extents in different varieties of living entities.
In other words, it is to be understood that the living entity is part and parcel of the spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord. The material energy is inferior energy, and therefore man has the potency to become uncovered from this material energy and utilize the spiritual energy. It is stated in the Bhagavad Gita that the superior energy is covered by the inferior energy. Due to this covering, the living entity is subjected to the miseries of the material world, and, in proportion to the different degrees of obscureness, he suffers material miseries. Those who are a little enlightened suffer less, but, on the whole, everyone is subjected to material miseries, due to being covered by the material energy.
The Lord also quoted from the Gita, Seventh Chapter, in which it is stated that earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and ego all combine together to form the inferior energy of the Supreme Lord. But the Superior Energy is the real identity of the living being. Because of that energy the whole material world functions. The cosmic manifestation, made of material elements, has no power to act unless it is moved by the superior energy, the living entity. So, actually, the conditional life of the living entity is forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Lord in the superior energy. When that relationship is forgotten, conditional life is the result. Only when man revives his real identity, that of eternal servitor to the Lord, does he become liberated.