Māyā

The conditioned soul thinks that all the things related to the false conceptions of “I” and “mine” are his exclusive treasures. Calling them his own, his mind is firmly convinced of this gross delusion. Due to such vanity, I also fell into this material world. Floundering in the ocean of mundane existence like a drowning man, I suffer the pangs of rising and sinking in that ocean.

What kind of world is this? It’s like a magician’s illusion. Again and again claiming, “It’s mine!”, I wasted my days.

Again and again you gaze at your beauty in the mirror. Where will you keep your favorite clothes and ornaments when the dogs and jackals eat your body?

Even after obtaining dīkṣā in a sampradāya, and after entering the path of arcana (Deity worship), we do not attain prema. Even after studying and teaching different śāstras, pure dedication to Kṛṣṇa does not appear in us. Even after following many vratas we do not get pure bhakti. Even after taking birth in a gosvāmī family, we fail to obtain simple bhakti to Gaura. Even after accepting bhek (the dress of a renunciant) from renounced Vaiṣṇavas, we simply continue to worship our material family. Kali is the only reason for all of our disturbances, and in this way he deceives us.

The enemy within the heart of the bound jīva has so much power, so much courage, that if he so desires, he can drag the jīva away from the feet of Bhagavān and make him do whatever he wants.

All your former lovers will hate you. Alcohol will no longer give you any happiness. The bones you chew on and enjoy will now cause you untold misery, as you will become toothless. Wearing ornaments will not make you look more attractive, and your body will look like a monkey’s. Where have your grand mirror and decorations gone? Think about this and become detached.

Sometimes the soul is born as a man and marries a woman, and sometimes he is born as a woman and marries a man and establishes for himself a large cycle of worldly concerns. When he enters that cycle he honours his superiors and takes care of his dependents. He fears the ruler, and he hates his enemies. He fears disgrace and criticism when he is born as a woman in a respectable family. He remains far from his true identity when he establishes these false relationships in this world. What a horrible condition the soul endures in such a self-imposed life! Considering the various established rules of this world as his master, he has completely forgotten his eternal master, Kṛṣṇa.

Fearing this plague is the mentality of a non-Vaiṣṇava. Look brothers! What can this plague do to you? What real harm can the plague do by ending this useless life? If you desire some benefit, learn a lesson from the plague. If you are caught by the plague, then your life is over. Imagine where your wealth and happiness will go! Therefore, without wasting your time uselessly, constantly and sincerely chant hari-nāma with devotion. Then billions of plagues cannot do anything to you.

Lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and envy lie in wait on the road for each jīva. They bind them with the ropes of their wicked deeds and the virtue of such travellers is destroyed. They strangle them and take their life airs.

Those whom you think are your dearest friends will become like strangers. Your family members will shun you. They will stop you at the door like a gatekeeper and their children will poke fun at you.

Just as animals, who are ignorant of transcendental bliss, consider sensory pleasures to be best, similarly, the experience of sensory delights by two-legged animals is like a fleeting day-dream, and they foolishly consider those who experience transcendental joy to be insane.

Although giving medicine to sick persons is an act of compassion, such compassion cannot do anything apart from give some material benefit. There is no possibility of attaining transcendental results from mundane physical activities because results depend upon karma.

Just as a childless father cannot feel paternal affection, an unmarried woman cannot experience affection for a husband, and a person who has benefited from another’s help may not express gratitude due to ignorance, similarly, self-illuminated bhagavat-prema cannot be properly activated in foolish persons who pursue trivial things. Atheists, by discussing predominantly mundane topics, cannot relish pure īśvara-prema.

Ordinary mundane news and useless songs or music cause distraction to the sense of hearing. However, if the ear listens to hari-kathā, then withdrawal (pratyāhāra) from distraction is complete, and at the same time and with the same effort, bhāgavatānuśīlana (cultivating devotion to Bhagavān) is also accomplished. There is no doubt about this.

An analogy is given comparing the jīva with the sun – its effulgence is his servitude to Bhagavān and its setting is his averseness to Bhagavān. All those jīvas who misuse their God-given independence and accept the sunset of oppositon to Bhagavān, thereby ruin their own progress.

Due to the influence of stupidity, some abstain from loving the Lord and play with gross ignorance, and some who are obsessed with mundane activities become atheists. Although the sun is visible to everyone, those who are blind to the day, such as owls, and those who do not believe in their own eyes, cannot understand what the light of the sun is. The sun cannot be blamed for the defects of the owl, or for a man who distrusts his own vision.

Those who neglect the analysis of Reality due to extreme attachment should be understood to be either completely liberated or completely bound. This is the secret of the Tattva Sūtras.

Material happiness is illusory, just like a mirage. As long as such happiness is not achieved, the more one feels as if there is absolute happiness in it. But after attaining such happiness, one is attacked by fearful despair.