Under His Control

“Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.24)

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अव्यक्तं व्यक्तिम् आपन्नं
मन्यन्ते माम् अबुद्धयः
परं भावम् अजानन्तो
ममाव्ययम् अनुत्तमम्

avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ
manyante mām abuddhayaḥ
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mamāvyayam anuttamam

“Just hear me out on this one for a second. I am intentionally taking the side of the dreaded Mayavadi. You know, the category of transcendentalists repeatedly and regularly criticized by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The group of philosophers directly challenged by His Divine Grace Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The ones even touched upon in Bhagavad-gita, in certain places, but with perhaps a kinder and gentler tone.

“From what I understand, Mayavada translates to the conclusion of illusion. Everything is maya. Only Brahman is real. The Sanskrit words ‘neti, neti’ are like shining a black light across the entire creation, in surveillance mode. See that object over there? It is neti, or ‘not this.’ See that lifetime of achievements over there? Also neti, or ‘not that.’ Matter is maya. Matter is not Brahman. Rather, Brahman is the one stabilizing factor. It is the presence of Brahman which allows for the identification of maya. Illusion covers the individuals who are Brahman. The goal is to thus realize Brahman.

“The Mayavadis are not too particular in how that realization takes place. Worship the deity with the head of an elephant. Sing songs about important people. Formally worship your spiritual guide. If you really want to advance, though, you should live with two key principles: jnana and vairagya. Always pursue knowledge and stay completely renounced from the world. That is your only hope for ultimately merging into the Brahman light.

“If you bring up Shri Krishna or any of His avataras, like Vishnu, Rama, Narasimha, and the like, the Mayavadis will say that the same dichotomy applies. Krishna is like an elevated version of the Brahman energy, sent here to lift others up into the light. They still think He is subject to maya, though. They still make a distinction between body and spirit.

“My argument is that does not their world view make sense? Krishna does have a janma. He appears at a certain time. He is no longer in this world. He left for a better place. Krishna is extraordinary, for sure. He is not like the rest of us. At the same time, He was in this place of maya. We should respect Krishna, but why should we worship Him as the highest concept? If I appear and disappear from this world, though struggling, why is Krishna any different? Do you see what I am saying?”

This viewpoint misses the entire purpose of the avatara. It is specifically above dichotomies, including birth and death, victory and defeat. Since we are in the conditioned state, we can only think in terms of duality. Therefore, the teachings flow in a way that we can understand, though the distinction remains.

That distinction is in the factor of control. We are helpless to the forces of the universe. We have no memory of our time in the womb. We have to believe the experience based on faith in the word of people we trust. They are prone to committing mistakes, to cheating, to being illusioned, and to not recording every sense perception correctly. This means that there is a chance we were not in the womb. But the issue remains that we have no memory. We were compelled to move according to the laws of nature. We had no choice in the matter.

The same applies moving forward. Time works in conjunction with the factor of fruitive activity. Kāla delivers the results to karma. Those results are in the manipulation of the energy known as prakriti. Because of illusion we identify with that prakriti. Certainly, we should rise to the platform of identifying prakriti as separate, in taking our identity from the Brahman energy. We are Brahman, after all. We were always Brahman. We will always be Brahman.

श्री-भगवान् उवाच
अक्षरं ब्रह्म परमं
स्वभावो ऽध्यात्मम् उच्यते
भूत-भावोद्भव-करो
विसर्गः कर्म-संज्ञितः

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ
svabhāvo ‘dhyātmam ucyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo
visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ

“The Supreme Lord said, The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called the self. Action pertaining to the development of these material bodies is called karma, or fruitive activities.” (Bhagavad-gita, 8.3)

Nature compels us to act a certain way, but it is different with Krishna. There is only so much He can do or say to prove this to us. Even direct visual evidence can be insufficient. Someone like Duryodhana directly saw a version of the virat-rupa, which is the universal form. He saw this vision after a planned attack on Krishna. Witnessing this vision did not remove the gross ignorance in Duryodhana.

Krishna appears in this world, but His birth is different. He shows the four-armed form of Vishnu to His birth-parents. He shows this in the middle of the night, while the parents are in jail. The serpent bed known as Ananta spontaneously appears while Vasudeva is transporting baby Krishna across the Yamuna River in the dead of night, while rain is falling. Krishna, as a baby, survives terrible attacks from the worst characters. They intend to kill Him, but Krishna survives. He simultaneously defeats the wicked characters, in a manner surprising to all.

A young Krishna lifts the mighty Govardhana Hill and uses it as an umbrella. Krishna marries over sixteen thousand princesses and lives with each one simultaneously. These are not ordinary feats. They resemble the siddhis of yoga, in the sense of mysticism, but even that concept is limiting. A siddhi has to be acquired. It has to either be granted as a benediction or achieved through dedication to the craft. No one ever had to invest that ability in Krishna. He always had it. He will continue to have it.

The avataras show that there is an exception. There must be an exception, if we think about it. If Krishna is subject to maya, then it means maya is the superior force. If Brahman is just a formless, attributeless energy, it cannot spontaneously divide on its own and manifest in the form of dichotomy. Saguna does not suddenly show itself, taking birth from nirguna. Impersonal is the negation of personal. Impersonal is a feature of the personal. Impersonal cannot do anything on its own.

In Closing:

Just as a feature known,
Through avatara shown.

That personal the source of all,
Some as Krishna to call.

Who at birth with arms four,
Ananta protection from rain to pour.

One after another asura defeated,
Full control in Him seated.