svapne yathÄ paĹyati deham ÄŤdášĹaáš
manorathenÄbhiniviᚣáša-cetanaḼ
dášášŁáša-ĹrutÄbhyÄáš manasÄnucintayan
prapadyate tat kim api hy apasmáštiḼ
svapne - in a dream; yathÄ - as; paĹyati - one sees; deham - the kind of body; ÄŤdášĹam - similarly; manorathena - by mental speculation; abhiniviᚣáša - is fully absorbed; cetanaḼ - he whose consciousness; dášášŁáša - by whatever has been experienced by seeing with the eyes; ĹrutÄbhyÄm - and by hearing a description of something else; manasÄ - by the mind; anucintayan - thinking, feeling and willing; prapadyate - surrenders; tat - to that situation; kim api - what to speak of; hi - indeed; apasmáštiḼ - experiencing forgetfulness of the present body.
Transmigration of the soul is very clearly explained in this verse. One sometimes forgets his present body and thinks of his childhood body, a body of the past, and of how one was playing, jumping, talking and so on. When the material body is no longer workable, it becomes dust: âFor dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.â But when the body again mixes with the five material elements â earth, water, fire, air and ether â the mind continues to work. The mind is the subtle substance in which the body is created, as we actually experience in our dreams and also when we are awake in contemplation. One must understand that the process of mental speculation develops a new type of body that does not actually exist. If one can understand the nature of the mind (manorathena) and its thinking, feeling and willing, one can very easily understand how from the mind different types of bodies develop.
The KášášŁáša consciousness movement, therefore, offers a process of transcendental activities wherein the mind is fully absorbed in affairs pertaining to KášášŁáša. The presence of the soul is perceived by consciousness, and one must purify his consciousness from material to spiritual, or, in other words, to KášášŁáša consciousness. That which is spiritual is eternal, and that which is material is temporary. Without KášášŁáša consciousness, oneâs consciousness is always absorbed in temporary things. For everyone, therefore, KášášŁáša recommends in Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ (9.34), man-manÄ bhava mad-bhakto mad-yÄjÄŤ mÄáš namaskuru. One should always be absorbed in thought of KášášŁáša, one should become His devotee, one should always engage in His service and worship Him as the supreme great, and one should always offer Him obeisances. In the material world one is always a servant of a greater person, and in the spiritual world our constitutional position is to serve the Supreme, the greatest, paraáš brahma. This is the instruction of ĹrÄŤ Caitanya MahÄprabhu. JÄŤvera âsvarĹŤpaâ haya-kášášŁášera ânitya-dÄsaâ (Cc. Madhya 20.108).
To act in KášášŁáša consciousness is the perfection of life and the highest perfection of yoga. As Lord KášášŁáša says in Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ (6.47):
yoginÄm api sarveᚣÄáš
mad-gatenÄntarÄtmanÄ
ĹraddhÄvÄn bhajate yo mÄáš
sa me yuktatamo mataḼ
âOf all yogÄŤs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.â
The condition of the mind, which flickers between saáš kalpa and vikalpa, accepting something and rejecting it, is very important in transferring the soul to another material body at the time of death.
yaáš yaáš vÄpi smaran bhÄvaáš
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taáš tam evaiti kaunteya
sadÄ tad-bhÄva-bhÄvitaḼ
âWhatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.â (Bg. 8.6) Therefore one must train the mind in the system of bhakti-yoga, as did MahÄrÄja Ambarčᚣa, who kept himself always in KášášŁáša consciousness. Sa vai manaḼ kášášŁáša-padÄravindayoḼ. One must fix the mind at the lotus feet of KášášŁáša twenty-four hours a day. If the mind is fixed upon KášášŁášaâs lotus feet, the activities of the other senses will be engaged in KášášŁášaâs service. HášášŁÄŤkeáša hášášŁÄŤkeĹa-sevanaáš bhaktir ucyate: to serve HášášŁÄŤkeĹa, the master of the senses, with purified senses is called bhakti. Those who constantly engage in devotional service are situated in a transcendental state, above the material modes of nature. As KášášŁáša says in Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ (14.26):
mÄáš ca yo âvyabhicÄreáša
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guášÄn samatÄŤtyaitÄn
brahma-bhĹŤyÄya kalpate
âOne who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.â One must learn the secret of success from the Vedic literatures, especially when the cream of Vedic knowledge is presented by Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ as it is.
Because the mind is ultimately controlled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, KášášŁáša, the word apasmáštiḼ is significant. Forgetfulness of oneâs own identity is called apasmáštiḼ. This apasmáštiḼ can be controlled by the Supreme Lord, for the Lord says, mattaḼ smáštir jĂąÄnam apohanaáš ca: âFrom Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.â Instead of allowing one to forget oneâs real position, KášášŁáša can revive oneâs original identity at the time of oneâs death, even though the mind may be flickering. Although the mind may work imperfectly at the time of death, KášášŁáša gives a devotee shelter at His lotus feet. Therefore when a devotee gives up his body, the mind does not take him to another material body (tyaktvÄ dehaáš punar janma naiti mÄm eti); rather, KášášŁáša takes the devotee to that place where He is engaged in His pastimes (mÄm eti), as we have already discussed in previous verses. Oneâs consciousness, therefore, must always be absorbed in KášášŁáša, and then oneâs life will be successful. Otherwise the mind will carry the soul to another material body. The soul will be placed in the semen of a father and discharged into the womb of a mother. The semen and ovum create a particular type of body according to the form of the father and mother, and when the body is mature, the soul emerges in that body and begins a new life. This is the process of transmigration of the soul from one body to another (tathÄ dehÄntara-prÄptiḼ). Unfortunately, those who are less intelligent think that when the body disappears, everything is finished. The entire world is being misled by such fools and rascals. But as stated in Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ (2.20), na hanyate hanyamÄne ĹarÄŤre. The soul does not die when the body is destroyed. Rather, the soul takes on another body.