From Papa-Yoni To Devata 75/12/26 Sanand, Bhagavad-gita 16.7

Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


Prabhupada:

pravrttim ca nivrttim ca
jana na vidur asurah
na saucam napi cacaro
na satyam tesu vidyate

Indian man: There's something in between.

Prabhupada: That's all right.

Indian man: It's not connecting.

Prabhupada: Now here is the description of the asuras as stated by Krsna. There are two classes of men, asura and deva. Daiva and asura. Visnu-bhakto bhaved deva asuras tad-viparyayah. The devas, devataloka... (aside) Don't talk.

Indian man: (indistinct)

Prabhupada: No... And whatever it may be, why you are interpreting? You stop. In the upper planetary system, beginning from the sun, there are Suryaloka, Candraloka, Mangala, Bhur, Brhaspati, up to Saturn, there are different lokas. So the upper planetary system, beginning from Surya, they are called devaloka. They are all devotees of the Lord; therefore they are called devata. They are not pure devotees, but they are not disobedient to the orders of the Supreme Lord. Suddha-bhakta means they do not come to the material world. Anyabhilasita-sunyam [BRS 1.1.11], the suddha-bhaktas, nitya, nitya-siddha, they do not come to this material world. They are everlastingly liberated soul, engaged in the service of Narayana. This material creation is exhibition of one-fourth energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The three-fourth creation is in the spiritual world, Vaikunthaloka.

So in this material world they have come... All of us, beginning from Brahma down to the insignificant ant, we have come here for material enjoyment. And in this material world, according to different desires and karma, they are getting different types of bodies. Karmana daiva-netrena jantur deha upapatti [SB 3.31.1]. Karmana, by our work, and by the supervision of the supreme power we are getting different types of body. So there are two kinds of living entities. One kind of living entities, they are trying to go back to home, back to Godhead. They are called devatas. And the asuras, they are not aware of the spiritual world; neither they are endeavoring to go back to home, back to Godhead. So Krsna has described about the devotees in so many ways. Now He is discriminating who are the demons. So for the asuras there is no knowledge what is the aim of life. So they are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam also,

na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum
durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah
andha yathandhair upaniyamanas
te 'pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah
[SB 7.5.31]

These asuras, or the persons who are in ignorance, in material enjoyment, they do not know what is the goal of life. Everyone is in the bodily concept of life, and they are trying to improve the condition of bodily comforts. The more we are interested in the bodily comforts of life the more we are asuras. So these asuras, they are not very cleansed, na saucam. Na saucam napi ca acarah: "They have no good behavior, neither they are very clean." Therefore, according to varnasrama-dharma, the brahmanas are called suci, means pure. But this suci... The opposite word is muci. So there is a Bengali Vaisnava poet. He says that

suci haya muci haya yadi krsna tyaje
muci haya suci haya yadi krsna bhaje

The purport is that if somebody takes to Krsna consciousness, even he is born in the family of muci, then he becomes suci. And if a person born in the brahmana family or ksatriya family but he does not take to Krsna consciousness, then he becomes a muci. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32]. Papa-yoni means muci, less than the sudras. If he takes to Krsna consciousness, te 'pi yanti param gatim, they are also eligible to go back to home, back to Godhead. So even a muci or a papa-yoni born in the low grade family, if he takes to Krsna consciousness, he becomes a devata. This is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam by Sukadeva Gosvami,

kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa
abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah
ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah
sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah

So it doesn't matter where we are born. If we take to Krsna consciousness, then he becomes a suddha, suci, purified, and he is eligible to go back to home, to back to Godhead. So to take the shelter of a pure devotee means he knows what is pravrtti and what is nivrtti. All our Vedic literature is meant for nivrtti. Pravrttir esa bhutanam nivrttis tu maha-phala. These, all living creatures, who are struggling for existence in this material world, that is their pravrtti, to enjoy this material world. But when one becomes inclined to nivrtti, he becomes devata. So this Krsna consciousness movement which was inaugurated by Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is for nivrtti-marga. Nivrtti-marga means "No more material enjoyment. Let me make progress towards Krsna consciousness." Therefore this devotional service or bhakti-yoga, it is called nivrtti-marga. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,

vasudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogah prayojitah
janayaty asu vairagyam
jnanam ca yad ahaitukam
[SB 1.2.7]

Bhakti-yoga... And Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he was a impersonalist, followers of the Sankara philosophy. When he became convinced about the Vaisnava philosophy, he wrote one hundred slokas, prayers to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Amongst that sloka, one of the prominent sloka is

vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga-
siksartham ekah purusah puranah
sri-krsna-caitanya-sarira-dhari
krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye
[Cc. Madya 6.254]

He said that "This Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the same Krsna. He has come to teach vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga [Cc. Madya 6.254]." Bhakti-yoga means vairagya-vidya, no more this material enjoyment -- that is vairagya. Jnanam ca yad ahaitukam. The result of jnana is vairagya. Vairagya-vidya. Bhakti-yoga is vairagya-vidya means that bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. Bhakti means one is making progress towards Krsna consciousness, and automatically he becomes detestful to the material world. Srila Rupa Gosvami has given the example: just like hungry man. If he is given food, he takes it, but as he takes it, he becomes satisfied. And when he is fully satisfied, he does not require any more food. There is another sloka given by Yamunacarya. He says,

yad-avadhi mama cetah krsna-padaravinde
nava-nava-rasa-dhamany udyatam rantum asit
tad-avadhi bata nari-sangame smaryamane
bhavati mukha-vikarah susthu nisthivanam ca

He says that "Since I have been engaged in the service of the Lord," yad-avadhi mama cetah krsna-padaravinde, "since I have begun my life to serve Krsna, since that time, whenever I think of sex life I spite (spit) on it." So therefore, when we stop our desires for material enjoyment... Anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam [BRS 1.1.11]. Karma means to desire to be elevated in the higher planetary system, Svargaloka. [break] ...jnana. The jnanis, they are trying to elevate themselves to the impersonal Brahman. So these are not pure devotional service. [break] Anyabhilasita-sunyam [Madhya 19.167], no desire for material conception of life. So jnana is also another desire, negative desire, to become free from this material world. That is desire. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said,

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami sakali asanta
krsna-bhakta niskama ataeva santa

He said that bhukti-kami, the material persons who are desiring improvement in this world, in this life, and going to the heavenly planet next life... That is called bhukti. And mukti... Desiring liberation, that is called mukti, and... Or become one with the Supreme Brahman, that is mukti. And siddhi, yogis, they are trying to achieve some success in asta-siddhi, anima, laghima. So everyone is desiring. So therefore Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, krsna-bhakta niskama: "A devotee of Krsna is not desirous of anything, either bhukti, mukti, or siddhi." The purport is, so long you desire something, you'll never get peace of mind. And a bhakta does not desire anything. He is satisfied with any position, whatever is offered to him by Krsna.

narayana-parah sarve
na kutascana bibhyati
svargapavarga-narakesv
api tulyartha-darsinah

Anyone who is narayana-parayana, he does not fear whether he is going to hell or heaven. Because wherever he goes he is with Narayana, he is safe. It doesn't matter whether it is hell or heaven. That is offered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His prayer,

na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagadisa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

The idea is that a bhakta does not require any material happiness or distress. He does not require any monistic proposition to merge into the existence of the Supreme. And neither he desires any jugglery of asta-siddhi yoga. So in order to become devata, not to become asura... Asuras are always against Krsna. There are many examples like Ravana, and Hiranyakasipu, Kamsa. There are many. So we should remember that devata means who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of Krsna. So there are many symptoms of the asuras. They are all described in the Sixteenth Chapter. It requires a long time to discuss. It is not possible to discuss all the symptoms. But one of the most important symptom of the asura is here described, asatyam apratistham te jagad ahur anisvaram [Bg. 16.8]. Their main proposal is that there is no creator God.

The modern scientists, philosophers, Western people, they don't accept that God is the creator of everything. And their theory of creation is the chemical composition. One gentleman has written one book, "Chemical Evolution." They think that chemical combination is the cause of life. So the asuras' theory of creation is aparaspara-sambhutam kim anyat kama-haitukam. It is a chance theory, but we don't accept. We are preaching against them, writing books against them. We are challenging this atheistic theory of creation. So this asuric... The Krsna consciousness movement is against the asuras. Every time, always, Krsna also comes down to kill the asuras. Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam [Bg. 4.8]. [break] Asuras cannot flourish by their atheistic theory. Unless one comes to Krsna consciousness, he has to be put into the different types of asuric yoni to suffer in this material world. And if we continue this Godless civilization, Krsna says here,

tan aham dvisatah kruran
samsaresu naradhaman
ksipamy ajasram asubhan
asurisv eva yonisu

He keeps them always put into this asuric yoni, everlastingly forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and suffer in this material world. So so long we remain in the asuric tendency, then we cannot understand Krsna. That is also described by Krsna in the Seventh Chapter,

na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah
[Bg. 7.15]

So we should generally conclude that anyone who does not take to Krsna consciousness, they fall in the groups of duskrtinah, mudhah, naradhamah, mayayapahrta-jnanah. So in the beginning we discussed napy acarah, sadacara. So even one is short of sadacara, Krsna says, api cet su-duracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak, sadhur eva sa mantavyah [Bg. 9.30]. Even one is not fully in sadacara but if he has taken Krsna consciousness fully, he is a sadhu. So to take to this Krsna consciousness is made very easy during this Kali-yuga.

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
[Adi 17.21]

Kalau, in this age, if you take to Krsna consciousness, simply chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna mantra, then you become devata. This is our program. So our only request is to you, that in whatever position you are -- it doesn't require to be changed -- simply take to Krsna consciousness. Chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra, and gradually you'll become devata. That is the recommendation of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhih. Remain in your place but be Krsna conscious. It is not difficult at all. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 16.7 -- Sanand, December 26, 1975