Canto 2 Chapter 5 Flashcards
- What makes Närada wonder about the existence of someone more powerful than Lord Brahmä? (5-7)
Nārada compared the position of Brahmā to the self-sufficiency of the spider, who creates its own field of activities without any other’s help by employment of its own energetic creation of saliva.
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Närada compared the position of Brahmä to the self-sufficiency of the spider, who creates
its own field of activities without any other’s help by employment of its own energetic
creation of saliva. (5)
- Närada Muni took for granted that none of them (8, 400, 00 species of life) has any source
of generation besides his father, Brahmäjé. Therefore he wanted to know all about them
from Lord Brahmä. (6)
- We think of your (Brahmä) great austerities in perfect discipline, although your good self
is so powerful in the matter of creation. (7)
- Explain the analogy of “the frog in the well” logic (10)
“The frog in the well” logic illustrates that a frog residing in the atmosphere and boundary of a well cannot imagine the length and breadth of the gigantic ocean. Such a frog, when informed of the gigantic length and breadth of the ocean, first of all does not believe that there is such an ocean, and if someone assures him that factually there is such a thing, the frog then begins to measure it by imagination by means of pumping its belly as far as possible, with the result that the tiny abdomen of the frog bursts and the poor frog dies without any experience of the actual ocean. Similarly, the material scientists also want to challenge the inconceivable potency of the Lord by measuring Him with their froglike brains and their scientific achievements, but at the end they simply die unsuccessfully, like the frog.
- What is the meaning of sva-rociñä, and what is its role in the creation as described in
this verse? (11)
Is the Lord effulgence of the transcendental body
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is ultimately the creator of the brahmajyoti, mentioned in this verse as sva-rociṣā, or the effulgence of the transcendental body of the Lord. This brahmajyoti is all-pervading, and all creation is made possible by its power; therefore the Vedic hymns declare that everything that exists is being sustained by the brahmajyoti (sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma). Therefore the potent seed of all creation is the brahmajyoti, and the same brahmajyoti, unlimited and unfathomed, is established by the Lord. Therefore the Lord (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) is ultimately the supreme cause of all creation (ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ).
- Compare the description of the deluding energy given in verse 13 with that in SB 1.7.4-5.
Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it
by linking it in devotional service [bhaktiyoga] without any tinge of materialism, and
thus he saw the Absolute Personality of
Godhead along with His external energy,
which was under full control. (The external
energy is compared to darkness because it
keeps the living entities in the darkness of
ignorance.)
Due to this external energy, the living entity,
although transcendental to the three modes
of material nature, thinks of himself as a
material product and thus undergoes the
reactions of material miseries.
2.5.13
The illusory energy of the Lord cannot take
precedence, being ashamed of her position,
but those who are bewildered by her always
talk nonsense, being absorbed in thoughts
of “It is I” and “It is mine.”
- At what point is käla (eternal time) manifested. What is its role? (22)
After the incarnation of the first puruṣa [Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu], the mahat-tattva, or the principles of material creation, take place, and then time is manifested.
Kāla, or time, is the synonym of nature and is the transformed manifestation of the principles of material creation. As such, kāla may be taken as the first cause of all creation, and by transformation of nature different activities of the material world become visible.
- What is tan-mäträ? (25)
It is the sound created, then the sky. Sound is a subtle form of the sky.
- Describe the transformations from the modes of ignorance, goodness and passion (25-
31)
Tamas is the full display of material creation under the spell of the darkness of ignorance.
From the mode of goodness the mind is generated and becomes manifest, as also the ten demigods controlling the bodily movements.
From transformation of the mode of passion, the sense organs like the ear, skin, nose, eyes, tongue, mouth, hands, genitals, legs, and the outlet for evacuating, together with intelligence and living energy, are all generated.
- Name the fourteen planetary systems (39-41, SB 2.1.26-28)
Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala and Pātāla
Bhūr, Bhuvar, Svar, Mahar, Janas, Tapas and Satya,
