Q. 196. HOW CAN ONE BE FIXED IN PERFECT KNOWLEDGE AND PERFECT CONSCIOUSNESS ?
A. BY SRILA PRABHUPADA.
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas
tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham
nābhinandati na dveṣṭi
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
SYNONYMS
yaḥ — one who; sarvatra — everywhere; anabhisnehaḥ — without affection; tat — that; tat — that; prāpya — achieving; śubha — good; aśubham — evil; na — never; abhinandati — praises; na — never; dveṣṭi — envies; tasya — his; prajñā — perfect knowledge; pratiṣṭhitā — fixed.
TRANSLATION
In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge. (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
PURPORT
There is always some upheaval in the material world which may be good or evil. One who is not agitated by such material upheavals, who is unaffected by good and evil, is to be understood to be fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As long as one is in the material world there is always the possibility of good and evil because this world is full of duality. But one who is fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not affected by good and evil, because he is simply concerned with Kṛṣṇa, who is all-good absolute. Such consciousness in Kṛṣṇa situates one in a perfect transcendental position called, technically, samādhi.
viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaḿ raso 'py asya
paraḿ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
SYNONYMS
viṣayāḥ — objects for sense enjoyment; vinivartante — are practiced to be refrained from; nirāhārasya — by negative restrictions; dehinaḥ — for the embodied;rasa-varjam — giving up the taste; rasaḥ — sense of enjoyment; api — although there is; asya — his; param — far superior things; dṛṣṭvā — by experiencing;nivartate — he ceases from.
TRANSLATION
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is).
PURPORT
Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of restriction from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting a diseased person from certain types of eatables. The patient, however, neither likes such restrictions nor loses his taste for eatables. Similarly, sense restriction by some spiritual process like aṣṭāńga-yoga, in the matter of yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā,dhyāna, etc., is recommended for less intelligent persons who have no better knowledge.
But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the course of his advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no longer has a taste for dead, material things. Therefore, restrictions are there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life, but such restrictions are only good until one actually has a taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one is actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he automatically loses his taste for pale things.
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