Verses 15.7–15.8🔗

Jīva bhūtaḥ—conditioned living entity, ‘conditioning’ is the new word that Kṛṣṇa uses here. Recent research tells us that human beings walk on two legs due to conditioning. A group of scientists recently found a seventeen-year-old boy in a forest. Wolves had raised him. The scientists tried to teach him how to walk on two legs and speak a few words. They were unable to do this and he died within a year. Man walking on two legs is due to conditioning. Everything we consider as human nature is nothing but conditioning. mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ I manaḥ ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi prakṛti sthāni karṣati II 15.7 Here Kṛṣṇa says, ‘conditioned world, jīva-loke’. Everything is conditioning.

Right and wrong, honor and dishonor, are all conditioning, all are patterns. We think of honor or dishonor because we are taught that way. We are conditioned. If a group of people give us a certificate and clap their hands, we take it as an honor. That is the way we are taught. But Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1101 never judge yourself by others’ applause. This idea of honor drives many people mad. Never accept the judgment of the crowd. Consciousness Carries the Mind Here Kṛṣṇa gives these meditation hymns to re-program your causal layer for completion of your saṁskāras and creation of space. After crossing the three layers and going beyond the causal layer, you enter a space where you are free from conditioning.

This is the space of completion and creation! May you be free from all conditioning! Kṛṣṇa says: ‘They are attracted by the six senses that include the mind—manaḥ ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi prakṛti sthāni karṣati (15.7).’ There are five physical senses and the sixth sense is the mind, ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi. However, according to me, the mind is the only sense and the so-called five physical senses are slaves to it. The mind jumps around. If the mind can be handled, all the other five can be handled. A small story: Queen Madalasa gave birth to seven children. Each child became enlightened by the age of seven and moved out of the kingdom. Their father, the king, was puzzled.

How did seven children in a row become enlightened? He probed into the issue and found that Madalasa had taught them one phrase, Tat Tvam Asi (You are That). Just by internalizing ‘Tat Tvam Asi’, their mental setup changed.Theywerecompletewiththerootthoughtpatterns, saṁskāras in the causal layer. They became enlightened. Enlightenment is the removal of root thought patterns, saṁskāras and the dissolution of conditioning. We return to our pure original state. This is why enlightenment is referred to as samādhi. The Saṃskṛit word samādhi means ‘returning to the original state’. The spirit in the body-mind living in this material world, moves from one body to another carrying these root thought patterns just as the wind carries fragrance.

Saṁskāras in one body quit that body and take shelter in another. This continuous vicious cycle of movement of saṁskāras is what Kṛṣṇa refers to as saṁsāra, the life-and-death cycle. Kṛṣṇa says ‘taking these, gṛhītvā etāni saṁyati (15.8)’. What does He mean by ‘these, etāni’? In the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa talked about the six senses, including the mind. He refers to them here. When the spirit leaves one body and moves to another body, it carries the six senses, ṣaṣthānīndriyāṇi, the five physical senses and the mind, in the same way as the wind carries fragrances, vāyur gandhān ivaśayāt (15.8). Just as the wind carries fragrances, consciousness carries saṁskāras, causal level imprints, from body to body.

Kṛṣṇa answers a frequently asked question about sin. People ask whether sins come with them from one birth to another. Sins never follow. Only imprints travel. For example, if a man commits one hundred murders, the quantity will not follow, but the basic mentality of violence accompanies and tortures him. Only the mental setup is carried. The concept of karma is often used to justify actions, by saying, ‘It is our karma,’ ‘It is our fate,’ ‘It is our destiny, what can be done?,’ ‘Whatever had to happen has happened.’ This is pure fabrication and justification of our negative deeds. We have the freedom to act: the free will to decide and act.

Ironically, only an enlightened Master has no freedom. Enlightened Masters are driven by Parāśakti’s will; they are guided by Her, that universal power, into doing what they must do. Understand: I cannot take a single step on my own. My limbs move in accordance with Her wishes. The ordinary human being, jīva bhūta is in control of his destiny. All that nature provides are paths in our lives and we choose the path we travel by. We decide the path. What drives us into taking one fork or another is vāsana, the ‘smell’ that the spirit carries. It is the subtle imprint of our past actions, saṁskāras and karmas. It is not definitive or predestined.

Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1103 We have the choice to redefine that vāsana, that smell, into either a stink or a wonderful fragrance. It is in our hands only. Whether we wish to travel in the same merry-go-round or decide to break out and walk free is our decision. Rāmakṛṣṇa beautifully says that the soul travels from one body to another like we move from one room to another. When He left His physical body, His wife Sārada Devi was about to remove her jewelry. (Traditional Hindu families do not allow a widow to wear jewels, especially the sacred thread signifying marital status, and bracelets.) Just as she was about to remove the sacred thread, Rāmakṛṣṇa appeared and told her not to remove it.

He said, ‘Where have I gone? Just to another room. Don’t remove your jewelry.’ From that time till her end, Sārada Devi followed His words. This may seem easier today. But in those days, in an orthodox Hindu family in a small village, it was not so. She was highly courageous. Someone who completes with all social conditioning, who sheds all root patterns in his causal layer, moves from body to body as easily as moving from one room to another. We create big buildings. We accumulate a good bank balance. We have friends. Just as we start enjoying life, suddenly death appears before us. We fear death only because it takes everything away from us.

If we are unattached, if our causal layer is not filled with saṁskāras, if we are not gripped by social conditioning, we will not fear death. We know it is like moving from one room to another. As Kṛṣṇa says in Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ, ‘It is like changing one dress for another.’ The saṁskāras of this life are the result of prārabdha karma, the mindset and bio-memory, along with the spirit from the vāsanas, the imprints of the past birth that are carried into this birth. It is always a mix of pain and pleasure. You Are Your Samskaras