rule



 

Canto 3

Je Anilo

 

 

Chapter 31: Lord Kapila's Instructions on the Wanderings of the Living Entities

(1) The Supreme Lord said: 'Because of its karma the living entity, guided by the Lord, enters through the particle of semen of a man the womb of a woman in order to dwell there for obtaining a body. (2) On the first night the sperm and ovum mix, at the fifth night there is a bubble and in about ten days it is thereafter like a plum, lump of flesh or an egg. (3) Within a month a head appears and within two months limbs like arms and feet form. The nails, [the beginnings of] hair, bones, skin, reproductive organs and the apertures appear within three months. (4) In about four months the seven ingredients separate [body-fluids and other elements], in five months feelings like hunger and thirst occur and in six months the fetus starts to move to the right in the amnion [males to the right, females to the left so one says]. (5) From the nutrition and fluid obtained from the mother the body of the fetus grows as it stays in that impossible hollow where[about] stool and urine form a breeding ground for germs. (6) All the time aching for food, it is, being so tender, affected by infestations ['worms'] and thus has to suffer all over its body a great deal while residing there, moment after moment lapsing into unconsciousness. (7) Because of the excessive bitterness, heat, pungency, saltiness, dryness, the sourness etc. of the food taken by the mother,     it is affected in every limb and thus feels pain. (8) Enclosed by the amnion in that place surrounded by the intestines it lies with a bent neck and back arched with its head in its belly. (9) Like a bird in a cage that has no freedom of movement, it still remembers - when it is lucky - what has happened in all its past hundreds of births. Remembering such a long history, it will sigh, for what peace of mind can it achieve then? (10) From the seventh month on it is endowed with consciousness, but at the same time it is pushed down by the pressure of the womb where it cannot stay, just like the worm stemming from the same belly.

(11) The fearful living entity bound to its seven constituents [nails, skin, fat, flesh, blood, bone, marrow], then, with folded hands and faltering words prays, appealing to the Lord who placed him in that womb. (12)  The human soul says: 'May He protect me who protects the entire universe and who, with assuming His different forms, walks the earth with His lotus feet. Let me take shelter of this refuge that will take my fears away, of Him who decided that I deserved this untrue condition. (13) I, the pure soul covered by the grossness of matter which consists of the elements, the senses and the mind, have fallen into this delusional state [mâyâ] because of my being bound to activities. Let me offer my obeisances so that I may hold on to the completely pure Changeless One of unlimited knowledge who resides in the heart of the repentant one. (14) Separated as I am by the covering of this material body that was formed from the five elements and relies on senses, material preferences [gunas], interests and identification, I offer my obeisances to You, the Supreme Person transcendental to material nature and its living entities, to You, whose glories are not obscured by such a material body. (15) By the deluding quality of Your outer appearance this body, that by the modes of nature and its karma is bound to wander on the path of repeated birth and death, has to suffer considerably with a repeatedly spoilt memory. May this soul arrive at the realization of his true nature, how else would one find Your divine mercy? (16) What else but Your divinity, that as a partial aspect [the Paramâtmâ] dwells in both the animate and the inanimate, would give us the knowledge of the threefold of Time, of past, present and future? In order to be freed from the threefold misery [as caused by oneself, nature and others] we, as individual souls engaged on the path of fruitive activities, have to surrender to that divinity. (17) Endowed with a body within the abdomen of another body, having fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine and strongly scorched by gastric fire, this [individual soul with its] body, desiring to leave that place, is counting its months for when it, miserable as it is, will be released, oh Lord. (18) You granted me, [not even] ten months old, oh Lord, [the light of] Your incomparable, supreme mercy. What else can I do but to pray in return with folded hands out of gratitude for that incomparable and unique grace of You who are the refuge of the fallen souls? (19) This living being can, from its bondage to the seven layers of matter [3.29: 40-45], only understand what is agreeable and disagreeable. But by You endowed with another body of self-control within myself, I am really able to recognize inside of me You, the original person constituting the inner guidance, who resides both within my heart and outside of me. (20) Oh Almighty One, even though I, who has to live with all the miseries outside of this abdomen, rather not depart from here to land in that pitfall, I, [just as everyone else] who enters this world, at once will be captured by Your mâyâ and be entangled in the false identification [of the ego] that is fundamental to the eternal cycle of birth and death. (21) Therefore I will, well-disposed to the soul no longer being agitated, again deliver myself quickly from that darkness, by placing the feet of Lord Vishnu in my heart and thus save me from this fate of having to enter so many wombs.'

(22) Kapila said: 'Thus desiring from within the womb, the [almost] ten months old living entity extols the Lord at the time of being pushed downwards by the pressure of labor to take birth. (23) Because of that pressure the child, with its head turned downwards, suddenly, with great difficulty and bereft of all memory, comes out breathless. (24) Like a worm falling down to earth it, smeared with blood, moves its limbs and cries loudly now it has lost the wisdom in reaching the opposite [material] position. (25) Being maintained by its folks who do not understand what it wants, it has fallen into circumstances it did not desire and cannot refuse. (26) Lying down in fouled linen [dirty diapers etc.] the child is pestered by germs [suffering rashes on its body] it cannot scratch away from its limbs, for it is not able to sit, stand or move around. (27) Flies, mosquitos, bugs and other creatures bite the baby's tender skin. Just like vermin, it is pestered by other vermin. Deprived of wisdom it then cries. (28) This way undergoing infancy in distress and even in its childhood, out of ignorance, not achieving what it wants, it gets angry and sad. (29) With a developing physical consciousness, the by lusts motivated person in his anger then develops enmity towards other lusty persons and thus loses sight of the interest of his soul. (30) The embodied soul, who out of ignorance holds on to non-permanent matters, that way constantly reasons from the reality of his physical existence composed of the five elements and thus foolishly thinks in terms of 'I' and 'mine'. (31) Engaged in actions in service of his body he, because of his bondage to the dark motives of fruitive labor, is haunted by trouble [consisting of the so-called kles'as] and time and again arrives at yet another birth in the material world. (32) When he, returning on the materialistic path, again [only] is interested in human association for the sake of the pleasure of his genitals and his stomach, the living entity ends up in darkness as before. (33) Because of thus being associated he loses his sense of truth, purity, compassion and gravity, his spiritual intelligence, prosperity, modesty and his good name, as also his mercy, the control over his mind and senses and his fortune. (34) One should not seek association with coarse and immoral fools bereft of self-realization who, like pitiable dogs, dance to the piping of the ladies. (35) Nothing in the world makes a man as  infatuated and dependent as to associate with a man attached to women or with a company of men fond of women. (36) The father of man [Brahmâ], bewildered at the sight of his own daughter, as a stag shamelessly ran after her when he saw her in the form of a deer [compare 3.12: 28]. (37) Except for sage Nârâyana, among all the living entities born from Brahmâ there is not a single man whose intelligence is not distracted by mâyâ in the form of a woman.

(38) Behold the strength of My mâyâ in the shape of a woman, that even makes the conquerors of the world follow her closely by the mere movement of an eyebrow. (39) He who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga, should never become attached to [young, attractive] women. One says that, to someone who arrived at self-realization in My service, that is the gateway to hell. (40) The woman, a creation of the Lord, is as an overgrown well [one falls into when one is inattentive], she represents the slowly encroaching mâyâ, the illu  sory power of the material world, that one must consider the death of one's self. (41) When he, as the bestower of wealth, progeny and a house, out of attachment to his wife, himself has obtained the female state, she will consider My mâyâ, which assumed the form of a man, as her husband. (42) She [for finding liberation] should consider that mâyâ in the form of her husband, children and house, as the death song of a hunter, brought about by the command of the Lord [*]. (43) Because the person constantly enjoys to engage in profit-minded labor, the individual soul, by the body thus acquired, wanders from one world to the other. (44) That is how a soul acquires a body, composed of the material elements, the senses and the mind, that befits his nature. When that body finds its end it is called death but when it manifests one speaks of birth. (45-46) When one cannot perceive the fixed position of an object, that implies that one's sense perception has died, and when one considers one's body as being oneself it implies that one has taken birth [in a material sense]. He who perceives cannot at the same time regard both the object and the perceiving witness himself, just as the eyes cannot see all the different parts of a single object in one view. (47) One should not be horrified about death, not be afraid of poverty, nor be concerned about any material gain; when one understands the true nature of the living being, one should steadfast and free from attachment move around on this planet. (48) When one relegates one's body to this world composed of mâyâ, one should, endowed with the right vision, on the basis of reason move around there in detachment, being connected in the science of the [three forms of] yoga.'
     

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   Third revised edition, loaded February 25, 2024.

 

 

 

Previous Aadhar edition and Vedabase links:

Text 1

The Supreme Lord said: 'Because of its karma the living entity, guided by the Lord, enters through the particle of semen of a man the womb of a woman in order to dwell there for obtaining a body.
The Supreme Lord said: 'Of one's karma and under divine guidance does the living entity through the particle of semen of a man enter the womb of a woman to dwell there for obtaining a body. (Vedabase)

 

Text 2

On the first night the sperm and ovum mix, at the fifth night there is a bubble and in about ten days it is thereafter like a plum, lump of flesh or an egg.

 On the first night the sperm and ovum mix, at the fifth night there is a bubble and in about ten days it is thereafter like a plum, lump of flesh or an egg. (Vedabase)

  

Text 3

Within a month a head appears and within two months [six weeks to be precise] limbs like arms and feet form. The nails, [the beginnings of] hair, bones, skin, reproductive organs and the apertures appear within three months.

Within a month a head appears and after two months limbs like arms and feet do form; nails, [the beginnings of] hair, bones, skin, reproductive organs and the apertures have their appearance within three months. (Vedabase)

 

Text 4

In about four months the seven ingredients separate [body-fluids and other elements], in five months feelings like hunger and thirst occur and in six months the fetus starts to move to the right in the amnion [males to the right, females to the left so one says].

In about four months do the seven ingredients separate [body-fluids and other elements], in five months do feelings like hunger and thirst take place and in six months does the fetus at the right start to move around in the amnion [males at the right, females at the left it is said]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 5

From the nutrition and fluid obtained from the mother the body of the fetus grows as it stays in that impossible hollow where[about] stool and urine form a breeding ground for germs.

From the nutrition taken from the mother, the body of the fetus grows staying in that impossible hollow, whereabout stool and urine form a breedingplace for germs. (Vedabase)

 

Text 6

All the time aching for food, it is, being so tender, affected by infestations ['worms'] and thus has to suffer all over its body a great deal while residing there, moment after moment lapsing into unconsciousness.

All the time aching for food, it is, being so tender, affected by infestations and so suffers with all its body a great deal residing there, moment after moment falling into unconsciousness. (Vedabase)

 

Text 7

Because of the excessive bitterness, heat, pungency, saltiness, dryness, the sourness etc. of the food taken by the mother, it is affected in every limb and thus feels pain.

Because of the excessive bitterness, heat, pungency, saltiness, dryness, the sour etc. of the food taken by the mother, it is in every limb affected feeling pain. (Vedabase)

   

Text 8

Enclosed by the amnion in that place surrounded by the intestines it lies with a bent neck and back arched with its head in its belly.

Enclosed by the amnion in that place surrounded by the intestines it lies with its head in its belly arched with a bent neck and back. (Vedabase)

 

Text 9

Like a bird in a cage that has no freedom of movement, it still remembers - when it is lucky - what has happened in all its past hundreds of births. Remembering such a long history, it will sigh, for what peace of mind can it achieve then?

Like a bird in a cage with no freedom of movement, when it is lucky, remembers it [the soul] still what has happened in all its hundreds of births, of which, remembering such a long time, it may sigh, for what peace of mind can it then achieve? (Vedabase)

 

Text 10

From the seventh month on it is endowed with consciousness, but at the same time it is pushed down by the pressure of the womb where it cannot stay, just like the worm stemming from the same belly.

From the seventh month on being endowed with consciousness it is pushed down though by the pressure of the womb not being able to keep that place, just like the worm coming from the same belly. (Vedabase)

  

Text 11

The fearful living entity bound to its seven constituents [nails, skin, fat, flesh, blood, bone, marrow], then, with folded hands and faltering words prays, appealing to the Lord who placed him in that womb.

The frightened living entity bound to its seven constituents [nails, skin, fat, flesh, blood, bone, marrow], then faltering, with folded hands and words of prayer appeals to the Lord who placed him in the womb. (Vedabase)

  

Text 12

The human soul says: 'May He protect me who protects the entire universe and who, with assuming His different forms, walks the earth with His lotus feet. Let me take shelter of this refuge that will take my fears away, of Him who decided that I deserved this untrue condition.

The human soul says: 'May He protect me who protects the whole universe in accepting different forms, walking the earth with His lotus feet - let me take refuge in that shelter that will take my fears away; unto Him who deemed this untrue condition was what I deserved.  (Vedabase)

  

Text 13

I, the pure soul covered by the grossness of matter which consists of the elements, the senses and the mind, have fallen into this delusional state [mâyâ] because of my being bound to activities. Let me offer my obeisances so that I may hold on to the completely pure Changeless One of unlimited knowledge who resides in the heart of the repentant one.

I, the pure soul, covered by the gross consisting of the elements, the senses and the mind, in its being bound to its activities, has fallen into this state of delusion [mâyâ]. Let me offer my obeisances so that I may keep to the completely pure and changeless One of unlimited knowledge who resides in the heart of the repentant. (Vedabase)

 

Text 14

Separated as I am by the covering of this material body that was formed from the five elements and relies on senses, material preferences [gunas], interests and identification, I offer my obeisances to You, the Supreme Person transcendental to material nature and its living entities, to You, whose glories are not obscured by such a material body.

I, unfit for it, separated by the covering of this material body made of the five elements with its senses, material preferences, sense-objects and ego, am offering my obeisances unto You, the Supreme Person transcendental to material nature and its living entities, whose glories are not obscured by a material body. (Vedabase)

 

Text 15

By the deluding quality of Your outer appearance this body, that by the modes nature and its karma is bound to wander on the path of repeated birth and death, has to suffer considerably with a repeatedly spoilt memory. May this soul arrive at the realization of his true nature, how else would one find Your divine mercy?

By the deluding quality of Your outer appearance is this body through the modes and the karma bound to wander on its path in repeated birth and death, suffering considerably with a spoilt memory; may again this entity realize Your true nature. How else would divine mercy be found? (Vedabase)

  

Text 16

What else but Your divinity, that as a partial aspect [the Paramâtmâ] dwells in both the animate and the inanimate, would give us the knowledge of the threefold of Time, of past, present and future? In order to be freed from the threefold misery [as caused by oneself, nature and others] we, as individual souls engaged on the path of fruitive activities, have to surrender to that divinity.

Who else but the divinity of You, that as a partial representation dwells in as well the animate as the inanimate, would give the knowledge of past, present and future? Unto You, whom the living souls are pursuing on the path of fruitive activities to be freed from the threefold miseries [caused by oneself, nature and others], we must surrender. (Vedabase)

  

Text 17

Endowed with a body within the abdomen of another body, having fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine and strongly scorched by gastric fire, this [individual soul with its] body, desiring to leave that place, is counting its months for when it, miserable as it is, will be released, oh Lord.

Embodied within the abdomen of another body, fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine and strongly scorched by gastric fire, is this body from that place desiring to get out, counting its months of when it, as a person of only a miserable intelligence, will be released, o Lord. (Vedabase)

 

Text 18

You granted me, [not even] ten months old, oh Lord, [the light of] Your incomparable, supreme mercy. What else can I do but to pray in return with folded hands out of gratitude for that incomparable and unique grace of You who are the refuge of the fallen souls?

As one being only ten months old I was by You, o Lord so full of mercy, awakened. What else can I do but to pray with folded hands in return to thank in gratitude for that incomparable mercy of indeed You alone who are the refuge of the fallen ones? (Vedabase)


Text 19

This living being can, from its bondage to the seven layers of matter [3.29: 40-45], only understand what is agreeable and disagreeable. But by You endowed with another body of self-control within myself, I am really able to recognize inside of me You, the original person constituting the inner guidance, who resides both within my heart and outside of me.

This living entity can only see from its bondage to the seven layers of matter [23.29: 40-45] what is agreeable and disagreeable, but being endowed with another body of selfcontrol within myself, I indeed am able to recognize You, the oldest of the personal of me, the internal guidance, seen as residing within the heart as well as outside. (Vedabase)

 

Text 20

Oh Almighty One, even though I, who has to live with all the miseries outside of this abdomen, rather not depart from here to land in that pitfall, I, [just as everyone else] who enters this world, at once will be captured by Your mâyâ and be entangled in the false identification [of the ego] that is fundamental to the eternal cycle of birth and death.

Although I my self, Almighty One, having to live with many miseries outside of this abdomen, do not wish to depart for that pitfall, I will have to live according the false identification of this continual cycle of birth and death wherein one who goes there is captured by Your mâyâ. (Vedabase)

 

Text 21

Therefore I will, well-disposed to the soul no longer being agitated, again deliver myself quickly from that darkness, by placing the feet of Lord Vishnu in my heart and thus save me from this fate of having to enter so many wombs.'

Therefore will I, not agitated any longer, deliver myself quickly from the darkness, with myself as a friend, indeed for another time, by putting my mind on the feet of protection and thus save me from this plight of having to enter so many wombs.' (Vedabase)


 

Text 22

Kapila said: 'Thus desiring from within the womb, the [almost] ten months old living entity extols the Lord at the time of being pushed downwards by the pressure of labor to take birth.

Kapila said: 'Thus desiring from within the womb, does the ten months old living entity extol the Lord at the time of being pushed downwards by the pressure of labor to take birth.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 23

Because of that pressure the child, with its head turned downwards, suddenly, with great difficulty and bereft of all memory, comes out breathless.

Because of that pressure its head is turned downwards and, suddenly with great difficulty suffering, it comes out breathless bereft of all memory. (Vedabase)

 

Text 24

Like a worm falling down to earth it, smeared with blood, moves its limbs and cries loudly now it has lost the wisdom in reaching the opposite [material] position.

Like a worm coming down on the earth, smeared with blood, it moves its limbs and cries loudly, having lost the wisdom in reaching the opposite state. (Vedabase)

 

Text 25

Being maintained by its folks who do not understand what it wants, it has fallen into circumstances it did not desire and cannot refuse.

By others not understood in what he wants has he, being maintained by his folks and unable to refuse, fallen into circumstances he didn't wish for. (Vedabase)

 

Text 26

Lying down in fouled linen [dirty diapers etc.] the child is pestered by germs [suffering rashes on its body] it cannot scratch away from its limbs, for it is not able to sit, stand or move around.

Laying down in fouled linen [dirty diapers etc.] is the child pestered by germs [suffering rashes on its body] it cannot scratch away from its limbs, not being able to sit, stand or move around. (Vedabase)

 

Text 27

Flies, mosquitos, bugs and other creatures bite the baby's tender skin. Just like vermin, it is pestered by other vermin. Deprived of wisdom it then cries.

Flies, mosquitos, bugs and other creatures bite the baby its tender skin and being just like vermin pestered by other vermin, it, deprived of wisdom, cries. (Vedabase)

 

Text 28

This way undergoing infancy in distress and even in its childhood, out of ignorance, not achieving what it wants, it gets angry and sad.

This way undergoing infancy in distress and even in its childhood out of its ignorance not achieving what it wants, is its anger kindled and is it overtaken by sorrow. (Vedabase)

 

Text 29

With a developing physical consciousness, the by lusts motivated person in his anger then develops enmity towards other lusty persons and thus loses sight of the interest of his soul.

With the false of the developing body, it, because of that anger, develops at the cost of the soul enmity as a lusty person being destructive towards other lusty people. (Vedabase)


Text 30

The embodied soul, who out of ignorance holds on to non-permanent matters, that way constantly reasons from the reality of his physical existence composed of the five elements and thus foolishly thinks in terms of 'I' and 'mine'.

Living constantly in the body made of the five elements it accepts the ignorant of the nonpermanent of 'I' and 'mine' and is thus of a foolish resolve. (Vedabase)


Text 31

Engaged in actions in service of his body he, because of his bondage to the dark motives of fruitive labor, is haunted by trouble [consisting of the so-called kles'as] and time and again arrives at yet another birth in the material world.

Engaged in actions in the service of the body, is the soul, bound thereto, going repeatedly for another life in the material condition and thus pursuing the physical, because of that bondage to the dark motives of fruitive action, is a hindrance formed [the so-called kles'as].  (Vedabase)

.

Text 32

When he, returning on the materialistic path, again [only] is interested in human association for the sake of the pleasure of his genitals and his stomach, the living entity ends up in darkness as before.

If, with the unrighteous on his path, he associates endeavoring for the pleasure of his genitals and stomach, does the living entity enter the darkness as before. (Vedabase)


Text 33

Because of thus being associated he loses his sense of truth, purity, compassion and gravity, his spiritual intelligence, prosperity, modesty and his good name, as also his mercy, the control over his mind and senses and his fortune.

Thus associated he loses his sense of truth, purity, compassion and gravity; his spiritual intelligence, prosperity, modesty and his good name; his mercy, control of mind and senses and his fortune. (Vedabase)

 

Text 34

One should not seek association with coarse and immoral fools bereft of self-realization who, like pitiable dogs, dance to the piping of the ladies.

With coarse fools bereft of selfrealization one is of bad association and one should not try to make it with the pitiable women and their dancing dogs. (Vedabase)

 

Text 35

Nothing in the world makes a man as infatuated and dependent as to associate with a man attached to women or with a company of men fond of women.

No association of a man gives an infatuation and bondage to other things like that of a man attached to women or a fellowship of men attached to women. (Vedabase)

 

Text 36

The father of man [Brahmâ], bewildered at the sight of his own daughter, as a stag shamelessly ran after her when he saw her in the form of a deer [compare 3.12: 28].

The father of man [Brahmâ] bewildered at the sight of his own daughter as a stag ran shamelessly to her when he saw her in the form of a deer [compare 3.12: 28]. (Vedabase)

 

Text 37

Except for sage Nârâyana, among all the living entities born from Brahmâ there is not a single man whose intelligence is not distracted by mâyâ in the form of a woman.

Except for the wise Nârâyana, there is among all the living entities born from Brahmâ indeed no male whose intelligence is not distracted by mâyâ in the form of a woman. (Vedabase)

 

Text 38

Behold the strength of My mâyâ in the shape of a woman, that even makes the conquerors of the world follow her closely by the mere movement of an eyebrow.

Behold the strength of My mâyâ in the shape of a woman that even makes the conquerors of the world follow her to her heels by the mere movement of an eyebrow. (Vedabase)

 

Text 39

He who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga, should never become attached to [young, attractive] women. One says that, to someone who arrived at self-realization in My service, that is the gateway to hell.

One who aspires to reach the culmination of yoga should never live together with a woman; they say that to the selfrealization obtained by rendering service to Me, cohabiting with women is the gateway to hell for such a one. (Vedabase)

 

Text 40

The woman, a creation of the Lord, is as an overgrown well [one falls into when one is inattentive], she represents the slowly encroaching mâyâ, the illusory power of the material world, that one must consider the death of one's self.

The woman created by God represents mâyâ slowly encroaching, which must be regarded, like a dead well covered by grass, as death for the soul. (Vedabase)


    Text 41

When he, as the bestower of wealth, progeny and a house, out of attachment to his wife, himself has obtained the female state, she will consider My mâyâ, which assumed the form of a man, as her husband. 

She, who from being attached to women became a woman, thinks, due to the illusion of My mâyâ, that coming to the form of a man will bring her wealth, progeny and a house. (Vedabase)

  

Text 42

She [for finding liberation] should consider that mâyâ in the form of her husband, children and house, as the death song of a hunter, brought about by the command of the Lord [*].

She herself should [similarly] consider the mâyâ of it, consisting of her husband, children and house, as the death brought about by His authority that is alike the singing of the hunter [* compare the verse in the Bhakti-rasâmrita-sindhu 1.2: 255 that allows association of the sexes in a devotional setting]. (Vedabase)


Text 43

Because the person constantly enjoys to engage in profit-minded labor, the individual soul, by the body thus acquired, wanders from one world to the other.

On account of the body possessed by the living entity, it so wanders from one world to another, incessantly taking pleasure in its material activities. (Vedabase)


Text 44

That is how a soul acquires a body, composed of the material elements, the senses and the mind, that befits his nature. When that body finds its end it is called death but when it manifests one speaks of birth.

So verily it attains to a body suitable, made of the material elements, the senses and the mind; when that comes to an end it is called death but when it manifests it is called birth.  (Vedabase)

 

Text 45-46

When one cannot perceive the fixed position of an object, that implies that one's sense perception has died, and when one considers one's body as being oneself it implies that one has taken birth [in a material sense]. He who perceives cannot at the same time regard both the object and the perceiving witness himself, just as the eyes cannot see all the different parts of a single object in one view. 

As the perception of the fixed place of an object becomes impossible from a rigid view, so too does one take birth from the misconception of considering the body to be oneself. Of both the sight and the seeing is the seer then indeed not able to perceive, the same as with the eyes that are not capable of seeing all the different parts of an object at a time. (Vedabase)


Text 47

One should not be horrified about death, not be afraid of poverty, nor be concerned about any material gain; when one understands the true nature of the living being, one should steadfast and free from attachment move around on this planet.

On account of death one should not be terrified, be miserly or eager for material gain; realizing the true nature of the living being one should on this planet move steadfast and free from attachment. (Vedabase)


Text 48

When one relegates one's body to this world composed of mâyâ, one should, endowed with the right vision, on the basis of reason move around there in detachment, being connected in the science of the [three forms of] yoga.'

Relegating the body to this world composed of mâyâ should one, by reason endowed with the right vision, move about connected in the science of [the three forms of] yoga.' (Vedabase)

 

 *: Compare this passage to the verse in the Bhakti-rasâmrita-sindhu 1.2: 255 by Rûpa Gosvâmî, that allows association of the sexes in a devotional setting: 'Man and woman should live together as householders relating to Krishna, only for the purpose of discharging duties in the service of Krishna. Engage the children, engage the wife and engage the husband, all in Krishna conscious duties, and then all these bodily or material attachments will disappear. Since the mediating medium is Krishna, the consciousness is pure, and there is no possibility of degradation at any time.'


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The picture is a collage by Anand Aadhar of a vintage image of Vishnu
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embryo study drawing by Leonardo daVinci.
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Filognostic Association of The Order of Time


  

 

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