A Study of BG 5.15

(written on June 18, 2020)

• Srila Prabhupada emphasizes that the Lord is all-perfect and therefore has no need and therefore does not interfere with the activities of the living entity within the material world

• This excerpt refers to the sad-aishwarya, or the six opulences of the Lord

• Here, Srila Prabhupada also mentions that the Lord is undisturbed by the sinful/pious activities of the material world

  • This is also explained by Indra in SB 10.27.4, “My dear Lord, Your abode is viśuddha-sattva, always undisturbed by the material qualities, and the activities there are in transcendental loving service unto Your feet. The goodness, austerity and penance of the devotees enhance such activities, which are always free from the contamination of passion and ignorance. Material qualities cannot touch You under any circumstances.”

• Srila Prabhupada indicates that the Lord does not put the living entity in the material nature

• The Lord does not create particular situations within the material world for the living entity

• The living entity due desiring certain conditions enters the material world

• By the sanction of the Lord, the living entity is allowed to act on their desires

  • They are not omnipotent in fulfilling all their desires

• However, the Lord is not responsible for the actions and the reactions of the desires of the living entity

• The living entity is responsible because such actions and reactions are caused by the desires of the living entity themselves

• Because the living entity is bewildered by ignorance, they forget their eternal position as the part and parcel of the Lord

• Therefore, they are subject to the temporary happiness and distress of the material world

• The Lord does not create the material world to make the living entities suffer, rather, the material world is created as a rehabilitation center where the living entity is able to understand that value of his relationship with the Lord

• The material world exists so that the falling living entities can use their free will to cultivate pure love for God (instead of being forced to)

• The living entity is sat-chit-ananda, or eternally blissful and knowledgeable

• However, unlike the Lord, the living entity is limited in power, and therefore is prone to be influenced by the modes of material nature

• This is because the living entity is the marginal energy of the Lord

• This means that we have the capacity to fall away from God consciousness and into the material world

• This further portrays the difference between the living entity and the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

  • While the Lord is aloof from the material creation, the conditioned living entity is prone to the effects

• Desire is within reach of the living entity’s free will

• However, if the living entity desires the Lord, then the Lord guides and encourages the living entity to desire in such a manner that they eventually attain Him

• So, the Lord is actually not to be blamed for the suffering that living entities experience in the material world

• Due to being covered by ignorance, the living entity comes to believe that the Lord is the cause of suffering, ad that the Lord should be blamed (further supported by Vedānta-sūtras 2.1.34)