Introduction a Introduction

particular name, such as bracelet.
COMMENTARY

In this verse, the Lord explains that the original cause is present in its effect, giving

the example of gold and clay as the causal ingredients of many different products.

We assign various names to such temporary products, although their essential nature

continues to be that of the ingredient, and not of the temporary product, such as a

bracelet or earring.

PURPORT

Under the influence of time, an element as a cause may transforms into many

products or effects, just as gold is transformed when we manufacture gold earrings and

earth is transformed when we make clay pots. These transformations are temporary and

at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, the essential characteristic of the cause

remains unchanged.

TEXT 18

YaduPaadaYaPaUvRSTau>aavaeivku-ĺTae_ParMa( )

AaidrNTaaeYadaYaSYaTaTSaTYaMai>aDaqYaTae ))18))

yad upädäya pürvas tu bhävo vikurute ‘param

ädir anto yadä yasya tat satyam abhidhéyate
A material object, which is composed of an essential ingredient, creates another

material object as a transformation. Thus one created object becomes the cause and basis

of another created object. Any particular object may therefore be called real in that it

possesses the basic nature of another object that constitutes its origin, as well as its final

state.

COMMENTARY

Although cause and effect are both accepted as factual, the Vedas place more stress

on the cause than the effect. Earth and a clay pot must both be considered factual. For

example, a potter becomes the instrumental cause, taking some earth to manufacture

clay pots. Earth, as the cause, is real and the cause is clay pots. The primary cause of both

earth and the clay pots is material nature. Because the cause is present in the effect, they

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UDDHAVA-GÉTÄ

both must be real. This is called tat satyaŕ in the language of the Vedas. The Supreme

Personality of Godhead has declared Himself as the original cause of everything. There is

no opportunity for the impersonalists to give some other interpretation in this regard.

PURPORT

There is no objection to accepting all the objects of our perception as reality, but

their temporary transformable nature must be accounted for. Still, it is never reasonable

to call any materially created object as false. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the

original reality and by finding that material nature is a temporary manifestation, one

should not imagine Him or His actions to be false. Of course, the temporarily manifested

transformations cannot be accepted as the ultimate reality, which is understood from

the Vedas to be the eternal reality of Vaikuëöha.

TEXT 19

Pa[k*-iTaYaRSYaaePaadaNaMaaDaar>Pauĺz>Par> )

SaTaae_i>aVYaĹk->k-al/aeb]řTaita[TaYa&TvhMa( ))19))

prakĺtir yasyopädänam ädhäraů puruńaů paraů

sato ‘bhivyaďjakaů kälo brahma tat tritayaŕ tv aham
Material nature, which is the original ingredient of the creation; the Supreme Lord,

who is the shelter of the material nature; and time, are non-different from Me, the

Absolute Truth.
COMMENTARY

The Supreme Lord is the cause of all causes. Mahä-Vińëu is His plenary portion, and

time represents the Lord’s activity. In this way, time and nature are always subservient

to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates, maintains and annihilates all that

exists through the agency of His potencies and plenary portions. All followers of the

Vedas accept that material nature is the ingredient cause of the cosmic manifestation,

and that the Supreme Lord is the shelter of all energies. The Lord agitates material

nature by glancing over her and then continues to superintend her activities in His form

as time. Thus, material nature always works under the direction of the Supreme Lord.

Although the cosmic creation is certainly a transformation of energy, the Supreme Lord

Himself is unchanging and supreme.

The Philosophy of Säěkhya


PURPORT

599

It should be understood that the instrumental cause invests its potency into the

ingredient cause, under the control of time, and thus they are non-different from the

Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 20

SaGaR>Pa[vTaRTaeTaavTPaaEvaRPaYaeR )

MahaNGauiSQaTYaNTaaeYaavdq+a
sargaů pravartate tävat paurväparyeëa nityaçaů

mahän guëa-visargärthaů sthity-anto yävad ékńaëam
As long as the Supreme Personality of Godhead continues to glance upon material

nature, the universe will continue to exist, manifesting through procreation of the great

and variegated flow of universal creation, for the sake of the conditioned souls.
COMMENTARY

By the interactions of the three modes of material nature, various types of bodies

are created, and by procreation, this process seems to go on perpetually. In order to

maintain the conditioned souls, who have the spirit of material enjoyment, the creation

continues to exist for as long as the Lord glances over it.

PURPORT

Material nature and time cannot function independently, they are active only as long

as the Supreme Lord continues to glace over them. Time and the cosmic manifestation

are created just to give the conditioned souls, who are averse to the Supreme Lord, a

field of activities.
TEXT 21

ivra )

PaÄTvaYaivXaezaYak-LPaTae>auvNaE>Sah ))21))

viräë mayäsädyamäno loka-kalpa-vikalpakaů

paďcatväya viçeńäya kalpate bhuvanaiů saha
I manifest the universal form, which displays endless variety through repeated creation,

maintenance, and destruction of the planetary systems. Originally containing everything

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UDDHAVA-GÉTÄ

within itself, My universal form manifests the varieties of creation by arranging the

coordinated combination of the five gross elements.
COMMENTARY

The Supreme Lord, in His form as time, pervades the entire universe. After creating

all planets and living entities through the agency of the material nature, He finally

withdraws the entire creation. The word paďcatva in this verse means “death.”

PURPORT

The Supreme Lord, in His form as time, repeatedly creates, maintains, and annihilates

the universe.
TEXT 22-27

AŕePa[l/IYaTaeMaTYaRMaŕ&DaaNaaSaul/IYaTae )

DaaNaa>aUMaaEPa[l/IYaNTae>aUiMaGaRNDaePa[l/IYaTae ))22))

APSauPa[l/IYaTaeGaNDa AaPaęSvGau

l/IYaTaeJYaaeiTaizrSaaeJYaaeTaqćPaePa[l/IYaTae ))23))

ćPa&vaYaaESacSPaXaeRl/IYaTaeSaae_iPacaMbre )

AMbr&XaBdTaNMaa}awiNd]Yaai

YaaeiNavŒk-airke-SaaEMYal/IYaTaeMaNaSaqěre )

XaBdae>aUTaaidMaPYaeiTa>aUTaaidMaRhiTaPa[>au> ))25))

Sal/IYaTaeMahaNSvezuGau )

Tae_VYa˘e-SaMPa[l/IYaNTaeTaTk-ale/l/IYaTae_VYaYae ))26))

k-al/aeMaaYaaMaYaeJaqveJaqv AaTMaiNaMaYYaJae )

AaTMaake-vl/ AaTMaSQaaeivk-LPaaPaaYal/+a ))27))

anne praléyate martyam annaŕ dhänäsu léyate

dhänä bhümau praléyante bhümir gandhe praléyate
apsu praléyate gandha äpaç ca sva-guëe rase

léyate jyotińi raso jyoté rüpe praléyate
rüpaŕ väyau sa ca sparçe léyate so ‘pi cämbare

ambaraŕ çabda-tan-mätra indriyäëi sva-yonińu

The Philosophy of Säěkhya


yonir vaikärike saumya léyate manaséçvare

çabdo bhütädim apyeti bhütädir mahati prabhuů
sa léyate mahän sveńu guëesu guëa-vattamaů

te ‘vyakte sampraléyante tat käle léyate ‘vyaye
kälo mäyä-maye jéve jéva ätmani mayy aje

ätmä kevala ätma-stho vikalpäpäya-lakńaëaů

601

At the time of annihilation, the bodies of the conditioned souls merge into food, food

merges into grain, and grains merge into the earth. The earth merges into its quality of

fragrance, fragrance merges into water, and water merges into its quality of taste. Taste

merges into fire and fire merges into its quality of form, which then merges into the sky.

Sky then merges into its quality of sound. The senses of the living beings merge into their

predominating deities, and these demigods merges into mind. Mind merges into false ego

in goodness, and sound merges into false ego in the mode of ignorance. Finally, false ego

merges into the total material substance, which then merges with the modes of nature.

The modes of nature then merge with the unmanifest nature and the unmanifest merges

into time. Time then merges into the Supersoul, who provides inspiration to all living

beings. Thus, I remain alone after the dissolution of the universe, self-satisfied in the

transcendental position.

COMMENTARY

In this regard, the Vedic evidence can be cited—tasmädvä etasmädätmana äkäçaů

sambhütaů äkäçädväyuů väyoragniů agneräpaů adbhyaů pĺthivé pĺthivyä ońadhayaů

ońadhébhyo’nnam annätpuruńaů “From the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ether was

manifested. From ether, air was manifested. From air, fire was manifested. From fire,

water was manifested. From water, earth was manifested. From earth, medicinal herbs

were manifested. From herbs, grains were manifested, and the living entities subsist on

food grains.”

This is a description of the process of creation, and the process of annihilation is

a reversal of this. It is stated that just before the time of annihilation, there will be no

rainfall for one hundred years, and as a result, there will be no food grains. Because of

no food grains upon which the living entities subsist, all material bodies will perish.

Thus there will be complete famine, and the grains, along with their seeds, will merge

into earth, and earth will merge into smell. In this way, the process of annihilation will

continue. The earth will be dried up by samvartaka and then burnt by fire emanating

from the mouth of Lord Saěkarńaëa. After that, there will only be the subtle qualities of

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UDDHAVA-GÉTÄ

the elements, and nothing else. The senses will merge into their own cause, the taijasa

false ego, the taijasa false ego will merge into the vaikärika false ego, the vaikärika false

ego will merge into the mind, and the mind will merge into the supreme controller.

The mind is the controller of the working senses and knowledge-acquiring senses. The

sky will merge into the sense objects, the sense objects will merge into tämasa false

ego, the three false egos will merge into the mahat-tattva, the mahat-tattva will merge

into material modes of nature, and the three modes of material nature will merge into

the non-manifested material nature, pradhäna. The neutral state of existence of the

three modes of material nature is called dissolution. In this state of neutrality, the

non-manifested material nature will merge into time. Still, it is impossible to perfectly

describe the dissolution of the material nature. It has therefore been stated in the

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.4.19, as follows:

na tasya kälävayavaiů pariëämädayo guëäů

anädy anantam avyaktaŕ nityaŕ käraëam avyayam
The unmanifest material nature is not subjected to the six kinds of

transformation caused by the influence of time. Rather, it has no beginning and

no end. It is the eternal and infallible cause of creation. (Çrémad-Bhägavatam

12.4.19)
Material nature has existed since time immemorial. In the story of Jayanta, when

Antarikńa described the annihilation, there is no mention of the material nature’s

annihilation. Therefore it is said in the Çrémad-Bhägavatam 12.4.22:

layaů präkĺtiko hy eńa puruńävyaktayor yadä

çaktayaů sampraléyante vivaçäů käla-vidrutäů
This is the annihilation called präkĺtika, during which the energies of the

Supreme Lord and His unmanifest material nature, disassembled by the force of

time, are deprived of their potencies and merge into Him.
Material nature, along with her three modes, is dissolved, so that her power of

creation is withdrawn. The living entities actually are not subject to annihilation. They

are eternal and inexhaustible, belonging to the Lord’s superior energy known as taöastha

çakti. There is no question of the living entities losing their real identity and spiritual

form. After annihilation of the universe, the living entities merge into the existence of

the Supersoul. Although they merge, they do not lose their individuality.

The Philosophy of Säěkhya


PURPORT

603

After the temporary material manifestations are merged into their respective

causes, those conditioned souls who have qualified for their liberated state of existence

achieve an inclination toward the Lord’s service. The segmented manifestation of time

then places the liberated souls on the platform of eternal service within the realm of

undivided time. Until the conditioned souls achieve shelter at the lotus feet of the

Supreme Lord, they continue to remain under the control of the material nature. The

influence of segmented time creates various kinds of inauspiciousness for the living

entities. The conditioned souls struggle for existence under the control of the three

modes of material nature. Being conditioned by the modes of nature, they swing like a

pendulum, alternating between a state of material enjoyment and one of renunciation.

As long as there is no resolute determination to engage in the devotional service of the

Supreme Lord, such an incompatible state of being will continue to exist.

TEXT 28

WvMaNvq+aMaaa]Ma> )

MaNaSaaeôidiTaďeTaVYaaeMNaqvakRdYaeTaMa> ))28))

evam anvékńamäëasya kathaŕ vaikalpiko bhramaů

manaso hĺdi tińöheta vyomnévärkodaye tamaů
When the sun rises, darkness is dispelled. Similarly, when factual understanding of

the universal dissolution is realized, the illusory conceptions of duality cannot remain in

the mind of the serious transcendentalist. Even if such illusion enters his mind, it will

not remain.
COMMENTARY

Due to illusion, one considers the material body to be the self. But, by carefully

analyzing the difference between matter and spirit by studying the Säěkhya philosophy,

such illusion will vanquish, and one will come to realize that he is a pure spirit soul.

PURPORT

Just as the rising of the sun dispels darkness, an understanding of Lord Kĺńëa’s

teachings to Uddhava dissipates one’s ignorance. One who realizes the truth of these

instructions will be relieved of the bodily conception of life. Even if some residual

material attachment sometimes crops up, it will not remain due to the strength of one’s

spiritual realization.

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UDDHAVA-GÉTÄ

TEXT 29

WzSaa&:YaiviDa>Pa[ae˘->Sa&XaYaGa]iNQa>aedNa> )

Pa[iTal/aeMaaNaul/aeMaa>Yaa&Paravrd*XaMaYaa ))29))

eńa säěkhya-vidhiů proktaů saŕçaya-granthi-bhedanaů

pratilomänulomäbhyäŕ parävara-dĺça mayä

Thus I, the original seer of everything material and spiritual, have imparted to you

this knowledge of Säěkhya, which destroys the illusion of doubt by a scientific analysis of

creation and annihilation.
PURPORT

The material mind accepts and rejects many different understandings of reality,

generating innumerable false arguments about the actual process of perfection. But,

those who have taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord can see everything in

their right perspective. By directly and indirectly discussing these topics of the Supreme

Lord and His energy, the conditioned souls can be liberated from material bondage and

attain eternal service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Thus end the translation of the eighteenth chapter of the Uddhava-géta entitled “The

Philosophy of Säěkhya” with the commentaries of Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura

and chapter summary and purports by Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura.

CHAPTER 19
THE THREE MODES OF NATURE AND BEYOND

CHAPTER SUMMARY
In this chapter, the effects of the influence of the three modes of material nature—

goodness, passion, and ignorance—are described. Such knowledge ultimately culminates

in an understanding of the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord.

Godly qualities, such as tolerance and self control are manifestations of the mode

of goodness. Material desires, feverish endeavor, and false pride are indications of the

predominance of the mode of passion. Foolishness, uncontrolled anger, and insatiable

greed are characteristics of the mode of ignorance. Every conditioned soul is influenced

by a mixture of these thee modes, and according to one’s situation under the modes of

nature, the false ego of “I” and “mine” take on various aspects in terms of one’s behavior,

personality, concept of religion, and engagements in sense gratification.

A person primarily influenced by the mode of goodness certainly worships the

Supreme Personality of Godhead as a matter of duty, without consideration of personal

profit. One who worships the Supreme Lord in the hopes of some kind of material

improvement is primarily influenced by the mode of passion. Crime and violence are

exhibited by those who have sunk deeply into the influence of the mode of ignorance.

Although these modes of nature direct the thoughts and activities of all the conditioned

souls, they have no effect upon theSupremeLord,whoremainsfixedinHistranscendental

position.

Whatever is experience in this world—the time, place, circumstances, results

of karma, objects, activities, performers of activities, one’s faith, development of

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UDDHAVA-GÉTÄ

consciousness, the destination after death, and so on—are permeated by the three

modes of material nature. However, everything in relation to the Supreme Personality of

Godhead—everything employed in His service, places of His pastimes, activities offered

for His satisfaction, the performer of devotional service, time spent in His devotional

service, and so on—is transcendental to the three modes of material nature.

The energy of the Lord is manifested in an unlimited variety of conditions of life

for the living entities who are rotating within the cycle of birth and death. All such

conditions of life are manifestations of the three modes of material nature, and they are

the results of the conditioned souls’ fruitive activities. One can free himself from the

influence of the three modes of material nature by engaging in the devotional service

of the Supreme Lord. Human life is the opportunity for cultivating knowledge of the

Absolute Truth and any sane man will surely avail himself of this rarely obtained facility.

By a careful cultivation of the mode of goodness, one can overcome the influence of the

lower modes of passion and ignorance. Thereafter, one can advance even further by

rising above the mode of goodness to the transcendental platform of devotional service.

When one is fixed in the devotional service of the Lord, his ultimate destination is the

association of the Supreme Lord in the spiritual sky, which is attained when, by His

grace, the gross and subtle coverings are dissolved at the time of death.

TEXT 1

é[q>aGavaNauvac

GauaveTa( )

TaNMaePauĺzvYaeRdMauPaDaarYaXa&SaTa> ))1))

çré-bhagavän uväca

guëänäm asammiçräëäŕ pumän yena yathä bhavet

tan me puruńa-varyedam upadhäraya çaŕsataů
The Supreme Lord said: O foremost of men, please listen attentively as I describe how

the conditioned soul is awarded his particular nature due to the association of the three

modes of material nature.
COMMENTARY

This chapter describes the different natures produced by the three material modes

of nature, and how these modes manifest varieties within this world. Also described is

the liberated soul and the Supreme Lord, who are transcendental to the three modes of

material nature.

The Three Modes of Nature and Beyond

607

Unless one rises above the influence of the three modes of material nature, one

cannot give up the bodily concept of life. The analytical study of matter and spirit that

is elaborated in the Säěkhya philosophy helps one rise above the influence of the modes

of nature. Here, the Lord gives a more elaborate description of the characteristics of the

three modes of material nature. He says: “O foremost among men, the three modes of

material nature are sometimes seen in their pure condition and sometimes when they

are mixed.” The Supreme Lord will explain in this chapter how a person develops a

particular personality according to the different manifestations of the material modes.

PURPORT

By cultivating spiritual advancement, the living entities can achieve two kinds of

knowledge—that which is received in disciplic succession and that which only gradually

removes ignorance. In this manifest world, we find three things in our daily experience—

the speaker, the topic, and the listener. This is the nature of the world governed by the

three material modes. When the transcendental spiritual objective dominates the mind

of the speaker, his talks will not contain any abomination born of the three modes of

material nature. Indeed, his purpose of talking is to expose the abomination that is

born of the material modes. If the conditioned souls of this world simply hear topics of

Vaikuëöha, they will gain relief from their anarthas, which have become temporarily

manifested as a result of their material concept of life. All activities performed in this

world under the control of the three modes of material nature are temporary, devoid

of true knowledge, and full of misery. There is no possibility for materially conditioned

people to obtain the eternal nature, which is full of knowledge and bliss, by hearing the

talks of imperfect philosophers.

In this chapter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the speaker. Because He is

fully transcendental to the material modes of nature and because He is the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, He can establish the proper procedure for hearing and chanting.

Because non-devotees do not hear the topics of Lord Hari from the Lord Himself, due

to being averse to His devotional service, they remain covered by the Lord’s illusory

potency. Being bereft of oral reception in disciplic succession, they remain ignorant of

the science of the self and the science of God.