Pearls of Wisdom - 76

Lord Shiva to Mother Parvati: Although the six qualities education, austerity, wealth, beauty, youth and heritage are for the highly elevated, one who is proud of possessing them becomes blind, and thus he loses his good sense and cannot appreciate the glories of great personalities.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 4 Chapter 3 Verse 17

Pearls of Wisdom - 75

Lord Shiva to Mother Parvati: "My dear beautiful wife, it is true that one may go to a friend's house without an invitation. But this is true only if such a friend does not find fault with one and become angry, due to being in bodily conception of life."

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 4 Chapter 3 Verse 16

Pearls of Wisdom - 74

By executing one's occupational duties, acting with detachment and without a sense of proprietorship or false egoism, one is posted in one's constitutional position by dint of complete purification of consciousness, and by thus executing so-called material duties he can enter into the kingdom of God.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 32 Verse 6

Pearls of Wisdom - 73

Those who are intelligent and are of purified consciousness are completely satisfied in Krishna consciousness. Freed from all the modes of material nature, they do not act for sense gratification; rather, since they are situated in their own occupational duties, they act as one is expected to act.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 32 Verse 5

Pearls of Wisdom - 72

Lord Kapila to mother Devahuti,

The person who lives in the center of household life derives material benefits by performing religious rituals, and thereby fulfills his desire for economic development and sense gratification. Again and again he acts the same way.

Such persons are bereft of devotional service due to being too attached to sense gratification, and therefore, although they perform various kinds of sacrifices and take great vows to satisfy devatas and forefathers, they are not interested in Krishna Consciousness, devotional service.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 32 Verses 1-2

Srimad Bhagavatam Analogy - 22

The woman, created by the Lord, is representative of maya, and one who associates with such maya by accepting services must certainly know that this is the way to death, just like a blind well covered with grass.

Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verse 40

Pearls of Wisdom - 71

Lord Kapila to mother Devahuti: Just try to understand the mighty strength of My maya in the shape of a woman, who by the mere movement of her eyebrows can keep even the greatest conquerors of the world under her grip.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verse 38

Pearls of Wisdom - 70

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The soul continues to pray: Therefore, without being agitated any more, I shall deliver myself from the darkness of nescience with the help of my friend, clear consciousness. Simply, by keeping the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu in my mind, I shall be saved from entering into the wombs of many mothers for repeated birth and death.

Lord Kapila continued: The ten-month-old living entity has these desires even while in the womb. But while he thus extols the Lord, the wind that helps parturition propels him forth with his face turned downwards so that he may be born.

The child thus falls, smeared with stool and blood, and plays just like a worm germinated from the stool. He loses his superior knowledge and cries under the spell of maya.

(Concluded)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 22-24

Pearls of Wisdom - 69

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The living entity in another type of body sees only by instinct; he knows only the agreeable and disagreeable sense perception of that particular body. But I have a body in which I can control my senses and can understand my destination; therefore, I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Lord, by whom I have been blessed with this body and by whose grace I can see Him within or without.

Therefore, my Lord, although I am living in a terrible condition, I do not wish to depart from my mother's abdomen to fall again into the blind well of materialistic life. Your external energy, called deva-maya, at once captures the newly born child, and immediately false identification, which is the beginning of the cycle of continual birth and death, begins.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 19-20

Pearls of Wisdom - 68

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

Fallen into a pool of blood, stool and urine within the abdomen of his mother, his own body scorched by the mother's gastric fire, the embodied soul, anxious to get out, counts his months and prays, "O my Lord, when shall I, a wretched soul, be released from this confinement?"

My dear Lord, by Your causeless mercy I am awakened to consciousness, although I am only ten months old. For this causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, the friend of all fallen souls, there is no way to express my gratitude but to pray with folded hands.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 17-18

Pearls of Wisdom - 67

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The human soul further prays: The living entity is put under the influence of material nature and continues a hard struggle for existence on the path of repeated birth and death. This conditional life is due to his forgetfulness of his relationship with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, without the Lord's mercy, how can he again engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord?

No one other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the localized Parmatma, the partial presentation of the Lord, is directing all inanimate and animate objects. He is present in the three phases of time- past, present and future. Therefore, the conditioned soul is engaged in different activities by His direction, and in order to get free from the threefold miseries of this conditional life, we have to surrender unto Him only.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 15-16

Pearls of Wisdom - 66

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The soul prays:

I, the pure soul, appearing now bound by my activities, am lying in the womb of my mother by the arrangement of maya. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him who is also here with me but who is unaffected and changeless. He is unlimited, but he is perceived in the repentant heart.

I am separated from the Supreme Lord because of my being in material body, which is made of five elements, and therefore my qualities and senses are being misused, although I am essentially spiritual. Because the Supreme Lord is transcendental to material nature and the living entities, because He is devoid of such a material body, and because He is always glorious in His spiritual qualities, I offer my obeisances unto Him.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 13-14

Pearls of Wisdom - 65

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The living entity in this frightful condition of life, bound by seven layers of material ingredients, prays with folded hands, appealing to the Lord, who has put him in this condition.

The human soul says; I take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in His various eternal forms and walks on the surface of the world. I take shelter of Him only, because He can give me relief from all fear and from Him I have received this condition of life, which is just befitting my impious activities.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 11-12

Pearls of Wisdom - 64

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

The child thus remains just like a bird in cage, without freedom of movement. At that time, if the child is fortunate, he can remember all the troubles of his past one hundred births, and he grieves wretchedly. What is the possibility of peace of mind in that condition?

Thus endowed with the the development of consciousness from the seventh month after his conception, the child is tossed downward by the airs that press the embryo during the weeks preceding the delivery. Like the worms born of the same filthy abdominal cavity he cannot remain in one place.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 9-10

Pearls of Wisdom - 63

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

Deriving its nutrition from the food and drink taken by the mother, the fetus grows and remains in that abominable residence of stool and urine, which is the breeding place of all kinds of worms.

Bitten again and again all over the body by hungry worms in the abdomen itself, the child suffers terrible agony because of his tenderness. He thus becomes unconscious moment after moment because of the terrible condition.

Owing to mother's eating bitter, pungent foodstuff, or food which is too salty or too sour, the body of the child incessantly suffers pains which are almost intolerable.

Placed within the amnion and covered outside by the intestines, the child remains lying on one side of the abdomen, his head turned towards his belly and his back arched like a bow.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 5-8

Pearls of Wisdom - 62

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):
(Continued...)

In the course of the month, a head is formed, and at the end of two months hands, feet and other limbs take shape. By the end of three months, the nails, fingers, toes, body hairs, bones and skin appear, as do the organ of generation and other apertures in the body, namely the eyes, nostrils, ears, mouth and anus.

Within four months from date of conception, the seven essential elements of the body, namely bile, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and semen come into existence. At the end of five months, hunger and thirst make themselves felt, and at the end of six months, the foetus, enclosed by the amnion, begins to move on the right side of the abdomen.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 3-4

Pearls of Wisdom - 61

Process of birth (Explained by Lord Kapila):

The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.

On the first night, the sperm and ovum mix, and on the fifth night the mixture ferments into a bubble. On the tenth night it develops into a form like a plum, and after that, it gradually turns into a lump of flesh or an egg, as the case may be.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 31 Verses 1-2

Pearls of Wisdom - 60

Continual process of birth and death (Explained by Lord Kapila):

(Continued...)

Thus he remains at home just like a pet dog and eats whatever is so negligently given to him. Afflicted with many illnesses, he eats only very small morsels of food, and he becomes an invalid, who cannot work any more.

In that diseased condition, one's eyes bulge due to the pressure of air from within, and his glands become congested with mucus. He has difficulty breathing, and upon exhaling and inhaling he produces sounds like "ghura-ghura," a rattling within his throat.

In this way, he comes under the clutches of death and lies down, surrounded by lamenting friends and relatives, and although he wants to speak with them, he no longer can because he is under the clutch of time.

Thus the man, who engaged with uncontrolled senses in maintaining a family, dies in great grief, seeing his relatives crying.

(Concluded)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 30 Verses 15-18

Pearls of Wisdom - 59

Continual process of birth and death (Explained by Lord Kapila):

(Continued...)

When he suffers reverses in his occupation, he tries again and again to improve himself, but when he is baffled in all attempts and is ruined, he accepts money from others.

Thus the unfortunate man, unsuccessful in maintaining his family members, is bereft of all beauty. He always thinks of his failure, grieving very deeply.

Seeing him unable to support them, his wife and others do not treat him with the same respect as before. The foolish family man does not become averse to family life although he is maintained by those whom he once maintained. Deformed by the influence of old age, he prepares himself to meet ultimate death.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 30 Verses 11-14

Pearls of Wisdom - 58

Continual process of birth and death (Explained by Lord Kapila):

The attached householder remains in his family life, which is full of diplomacy and politics. Always spreading miseries and controlled by acts of sense gratification, he acts just to counteract the reactions of his miseries, and if he can successfully counteract such miseries, he thinks that he is happy.

Sometimes he earns money by committing some violence, and though he employs it in the service of his family, he only eats a little portion of the food thus purchased, and he goes to hell for whom he earned the money in such an irregular way.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3 Chapter 30 Verses 9 & 10

Pearls of Wisdom - 57

Continual process of birth and death (Explained by Lord Kapila):

A person in material consciousness cannot understand how he is being carried by the powerful time factor. Whatever such a materialist produces with great pain and labor, for the purpose of achieving so-called happiness, is destroyed by the supreme Lord as the time factor, and thus he laments.

He foolishly takes his body and bodily relations to be permanent, and whatever species he appears in, he becomes satisfied with that condition and thus is unwilling to give up his body, even when in hell. Such satisfaction with one's standard of life is due to a deep-rooted attraction for the body. Although burning with anxiety, such a fool performs mischievious acts to maintain his family, while keeping within his heart a hope that is never to be fulfilled.

(To be continued...)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3

Srimad Bhagavatam Analogy - 21

Just as a mass of clouds cannot understand the powerful influence of the wind that carries it, so a person in material consciousness cannot understand how is being carried by the powerful time factor.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3

Pearls of Wisdom - 56

Sankhya System Process (As explained by Lord Kapila): (Continued..)

By following this process of meditation, the yogi gradually develops pure attachment to the Supreme Lord. The hair on his body stand erect, due to excessive joy, and he is constantly bathed in the stream of tears that are brought about by his intense love foe the Lord. The body of such a liberated yogi, who is absorbed in samadhi, is taken care of by the Supreme Lord Himself. Thus, the yogi no longer understands how the body is moving, or if he does, he considers its activities to be like the activities of a body in dream.

(Concluded)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 3