Hare Krsna,
Vidura asked the following questions to Maitreya in a pleasing manner.
His first three questions are about the “Isvara.” Vidura asked (I am paraphrasing):
- How is the Lord who is spiritual, and transcendental be connected with material gunas? How can the Lord who is unchangeable perform actions that indicate change?
- Children play being impelled by desire. But the Lord is self-satisfied (without desires) and detached? Then why does He create, maintain, and dissolve the universe by His maya-sakti?
Vidura’s next three questions are about the “Jiva.”
- How does the pure soul become engaged in nescience?
- Why does the living entity suffer in spite of the Lord’s presence in his heart?
- My mind is illusioned, and I request you to clear it up?
Vidura’s inquiries about the jiva really resonated with me. It indicates the principle of “athato brahma jijnasa.” As a suffering and conditioned soul, I have asked these questions to myself a number of times. The questions may not have been worded the way Vidura did, but the underlying essence is the same. Questions such as ‘Why am I suffering?’, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’, ‘Why am I being punished for crimes/sins I may not have committed?’, ‘If God exists, how can he allow His living entities to suffer so miserably?’, ‘God says He is our father; then how can He see and do anything when His children suffer?” and so on.
Vidura is a great devotee of the Lord and an expert philosopher. He knows the difference between the spirit soul and the body. Thus his questions pertain more to the spirit soul (unlike my questions that pertain mostly to bodily consciousness). He is asking if the soul is pure, then how can it be covered by ignorance and nescience? If the Lord exists in everyone’s heart as Paramatma, why does the living entity still suffer?
Vidura’s inquiries show his compassionate nature. He is truly concerned about the suffering of the whole humanity. These inquires wouldn’t arise in someone who does not feel pain and distress by the suffering of the conditioned soul. It takes someone with a massive loving and kind heart to inquire such.
In his purports, Srila Prabhupada gives a clue to the reasons the spirit souls are covered in nescience. He comments:
“The conclusion is that the living entity is influenced by the avidyā potency, as confirmed in both the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam…The jīva potency, or the kṣetrajña-śakti of the Lord, has the tendency to be overpowered by the external potency, avidyā-karma-saṁjñā, and in this way he is placed in the awkward circumstances of material existence. The living entity cannot be forgetful of his real identity unless influenced by the avidyā potency. Because the living entity is prone to the influence of the avidyā potency, he can never equal the supreme potent.” (SB 3.7.5 P)
“From another point of view, it is understood that the jīva living entity is qualitatively one with the Lord, and thus his knowledge in the pure state of life cannot be covered by nescience, especially in the presence of the Supreme Lord. How then does the living entity become subjected to ignorance and covered by the influence of māyā? The Lord is the father and protector of every living entity, and He is known as the bhūta-bhṛt, or the maintainer of the living entities. Why then should the living entity be subjected to so many sufferings and misfortunes? It should not be so, but actually we see that it happens everywhere. This question is therefore put forward by Vidura for solution.” (SB 3.7.6 P)
I am eager to hear Maitreya Rsi’s answers and how he dispels all misconceptions about isvara and jivas. I also look forward to hearing his recommended solution to get out of nescience.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 