14.29
mati--deha, mati--bhaksya, dekhaha vicari’
avicare deha dosa, ki balite pari
SYNONYMS
mati-dirt; deha-this body; mati-dirt; bhaksya-eatable; dekhaha-just try to see; vicari’-by consideration; avicare-without considering; deha-you put; dosa-fault upon Me; ki-what; balite-to say; pari-I am able “This body is a transformation of dirt, and the eatables are also a transformation of dirt.
Please reflect upon this.
You are blaming Me without consideration.
What can I say?”
PURPORT
This is an explanation of the Mayavada philosophy, which takes everything to be one.
The necessities of the body, namely, eating, sleeping, mating and defending, are all unnecessary in spiritual life.
When one is elevated to the spiritual platform there are no more bodily necessities, and in activities pertaining to the bodily necessities there are no spiritual considerations.
In other words, the more we eat, sleep, have sex and try to defend ourselves, the more we engage in material activities.
Unfortunately, Mayavadi philosophers consider devotional activities to be bodily activities.
They cannot understand the simple explanation in Bhagavad-gita (14.26):
mam ca yo ’vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate “Anyone who engages in spiritual devotional service without motivation, rendering such service for the satisfaction of the Lord, is elevated immediately to the spiritual platform, and all his activities are spiritual.” Brahma-bhuyaya refers to Brahman (spiritual) activities.
Although Mayavadi philosophers are very eager to merge into the Brahman effulgence, they have no Brahman activities.
To a certain extent they recommend Brahman activities, which for them means engagement in studying the Vedanta and Sankhya philosophies, but their interpretations are but dry speculation.
Lacking the varieties of spiritual activity, they cannot stay for long on that platform of simply studying Vedanta or Sankhya philosophy.
Life is meant for varieties of enjoyment.
The living entity is by nature full of an enjoying spirit, as stated in the Vedanta-sutra (1.1.12): ananda-mayo ’bhyasat.
In devotional service the activities are variegated and full of enjoyment.
As stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.2), all devotional activities are easy to perform (su-sukham kartum) and they are eternal and spiritual (avyayam).
Since Mayavadi philosophers cannot understand this, they take it for granted that a devotee’s activities (sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam, etc.) are all material and are therefore maya.
They also consider Krsna’s advent in this universe and His activities to be maya.
Therefore, because they consider everything maya, they are known as Mayavadis.
Actually, any activities performed favorably for the satisfaction of the Lord, under the direction of the spiritual master, are spiritual.
But for a person to disregard the order of the spiritual master and act by concoction, accepting his nonsensical activities to be spiritual, is maya.
One must achieve the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the mercy of the spiritual master.
Therefore one must first please the spiritual master, and if he is pleased, then we should understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is also pleased.
But if the spiritual master is displeased by our actions, they are not spiritual.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms this: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi.
Activities that please the spiritual master must be considered spiritual, and they should be accepted as satisfying to the Lord.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as the supreme spiritual master, instructed His mother about the Mayavada philosophy.
By saying that the body is dirt and eatables are also dirt, He implied that everything is maya.
This is Mayavada philosophy.
The philosophy of the Mayavadis is defective because it maintains that everything is maya but the nonsense they speak.
While saying that everything is maya, the Mayavadi philosopher loses the opportunity of devotional service, and therefore his life is doomed.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore advised, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa (Cc.Madhya 6.169).
If one accepts the Mayavada philosophy, his advancement is doomed forever.