Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 27: Understanding Material Nature |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.27.10
nivṛtta-buddhy-avasthāno
dūrī-bhūtānya-darśanaḥ
upalabhyātmanātmānaḿ
cakṣuṣevārkam ātma-dṛk
SYNONYMS
nivṛtta — transcended; buddhi-avasthānaḥ — the stages of material consciousness; dūrī-bhūta — far off; anya — other; darśanaḥ — conceptions of life; upalabhya — having realized; ātmanā — by his purified intellect; ātmānam — his own self; cakṣuṣā — with his eyes; iva — as; arkam — the sun; ātma-dṛk — the self-realized.
TRANSLATION
One should be situated in the transcendental position, beyond the stages of material consciousness, and should be aloof from all other conceptions of life. Thus realizing freedom from false ego, one should see his own self just as he sees the sun in the sky.
PURPORT
Consciousness acts in three stages under the material conception of life. When we are awake, consciousness acts in a particular way, when we are asleep it acts in a different way, and when we are in deep sleep, consciousness acts in still another way. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious, one has to become transcendental to these three stages of consciousness. Our present consciousness should be freed from all perceptions of life other than consciousness of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called dūrī-bhūtānya-darśanaḥ, which means that when one attains perfect Kṛṣṇa consciousness he does not see anything but Kṛṣṇa. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that the perfect devotee may see many movable and immovable objects, but in everything he sees that the energy of Kṛṣṇa is acting. As soon as he remembers the energy of Kṛṣṇa, he immediately remembers Kṛṣṇa in His personal form. Therefore in all his observations he sees Kṛṣṇa only. In the Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38) it is stated that when one's eyes are smeared with love of Kṛṣṇa (premāñjana-cchurita), he always sees Kṛṣṇa, outside and inside. This is confirmed here; one should be freed from all other vision, and in that way he is freed from the false egoistic identification and sees himself as the eternal servitor of the Lord. Cakṣuṣevārkam: as we can see the sun without a doubt, one who is fully developed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness sees Kṛṣṇa and His energy. By this vision one becomes ātma-dṛk, or self-realized. When the false ego of identifying the body with the self is removed, actual vision of life is perceivable. The senses, therefore, also become purified. Real service of the Lord begins when the senses are purified. One does not have to stop the activities of the senses, but the false ego of identifying with the body has to be removed. Then the senses automatically become purified, and with purified senses one can actually discharge devotional service.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness