BHAGAVAD-GITA 7:4

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 7:4

 

bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh

kham mano buddhir eva ca

ahankara itiyam me

bhinna prakrtir astadha

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

bhumih--earth; apah--water; analah--fire; vayuh--air; kham--ether;

manah--mind; buddhih--intelligence; eva--certainly; ca--and;

ahankarah--false ego; iti--thus; iyam--all these; me--My;

bhinna--separated; prakrtih--energies; astadha--eightfold.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego--all

together these eight constitute My separated material energies.

 

PURPORT

 

The science of God analyzes the constitutional position of God and His

diverse energies. Material nature is called prakrti, or the energy of

the Lord in His different purusa incarnations (expansions) as

described in the Satvata-tantra:

 

visnos tu trini rupani

purusakhyany atho viduh

ekam tu mahatah srastr

dvitiyam tv anda-samsthitam

trtiyam sarva-bhuta-stham

tani jnatva vimucyate

 

"For material creation, Lord Krsna's plenary expansion assumes three Visnus.

The first one, Maha-Visnu, creates the total material energy, known as

the mahat-tattva. The second, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, enters into all

the universes to create diversities in each of them. The third,

Ksirodakasayi Visnu, is diffused as the all-pervading Supersoul in all

the universes and is known as Paramatma. He is present even within the

atoms. Anyone who knows these three Visnus can be liberated from

material entanglement."

 

This material world is a temporary manifestation of one of the

energies of the Lord. All the activities of the material world are

directed by these three Visnu expansions of Lord Krsna. These purusas

are called incarnations. Generally one who does not know the science

of God (Krsna) assumes that this material world is for the enjoyment

of the living entities and that the living entities are the

purusas--the causes, controllers and enjoyers of the material energy.

According to Bhagavad-gita this atheistic conclusion is false. In the

verse under discussion it is stated that Krsna is the original cause

of the material manifestation. Srimad-Bhagavatam also confirms this.

The ingredients of the material manifestation are separated energies

of the Lord. Even the brahmajyoti, which is the ultimate goal of the

impersonalists, is a spiritual energy manifested in the spiritual sky.

There are no spiritual diversities in the brahmajyoti as there are in

the Vaikunthalokas, and the impersonalist accepts this brahmajyoti as

the ultimate eternal goal. The Paramatma manifestation is also a

temporary all-pervasive aspect of the Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The

Paramatma manifestation is not eternal in the spiritual world.

Therefore the factual Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of

Godhead Krsna. He is the complete energetic person, and He possesses

different separated and internal energies.

 

In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as

above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely

earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic

creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects

are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch,

form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and

nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and

false ego, are neglected by the materialists. Philosophers who deal

with mental activities are also not perfect in knowledge because they

do not know the ultimate source, Krsna. The false ego--"I am," and "It

is mine, which constitute the basic principle of material

existence--includes ten sense organs for material activities.

Intelligence refers to the total material creation, called the

mahat-tattva. Therefore from the eight separated energies of the Lord

are manifest the twenty-four elements of the material world, which are

the subject matter of Sankhya atheistic philosophy; they are

originally offshoots from Krsna's energies and are separated from Him,

but atheistic Sankhya philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge do

not know Krsna as the cause of all causes. The subject matter for

discussion in the Sankhya philosophy is only the manifestation of the

external energy of Krsna, as it is described in the Bhagavad-gita.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.