Samsara-the cycle of repeated birth and death in the material world; The baddha-jiva (conditioned soul), captivated by the modes of material nature, is moved as if on a wheel through 8,400,000 kinds of births, lifetime after lifetime. At the lower range of the cycle are births within aquatic, vegetative and animal forms. At the middle range are births within human forms. At the upper range are births within superhuman forms, such as the demigods. But as high as the soul may reach, even up to the position of Brahma, there is no freedom from samsara. Impelled by prakrti, kala and karma, the jiva will surely be forced into another womb, until the day that soul surrenders to the origin of the force that turns the wheel of samsarathe isvara, Krsna. The materialistic theory of evolution put forward by Anaximander and Darwin imperfectly recapitulates the Vedic description of the cycle of birth and death. It is true that we were once microbes, fish, reptiles, mammals and apes. But who are we? We are spirit souls. Materialists have no knowledge of the soul. They are unable to explain how and why dead matter assumes the forms of the gradient species. The Vedas explain that the gradient species mark the evolution and devolution of the soul's material desires. See Evolution, Karma, Life after death, Reincarnation. Sahkaracarya-an incarnation of Lord Siva who appeared in South India at the end of the 7th century A.D. to re-establish the authority of the Vedic scriptures. He was a philosopher and lived about three hundred years before Ramanuja. He did this at a time when India was under the sway of Buddhism, whose tenets deny the authority of the Vedas. He took sannyasa at a very tender age and wrote commentaries establishing an impersonal philosophy similar to Buddhism, substituting Brahman (Spirit) for the void. He traveled all over India defeating the great scholars of the day and converting them to his doctrine of Mayavada, the advaita (non-dualism) interpretation of the Upanisads and Vedanta. He left the world at the age of 33; The incarnation of Siva who appeared about 1400 years ago in South India to propagate Advaita Vedanta. He taught that Brahman is impersonal, there is no individuality apart from Brahman (all souls are really one soul), the cosmic manifestation does not emanate from Brahman, and the cosmic manifestation is without reality, like a hallucination. Though his philosophy is a distortion of the Vedic teachings, his mission was very important. He turned the Indian people away from Buddhism, back to the Vedas. See Advaita, Brahmajyoti, Brahman, Buddhism, Four Vaisnava Sampradayas and Siddhantas, Mayavada philosophy, Six systems, Vedanta. Sannyasa-the renounced order, and fourth stage of Vedic spiritual life in the Vedic system of varnasrama-dharma, which is free from family relationships and in which all activities are completely dedicated to Krsna. It is the order of ascetics who travel and constantly preach the message of Godhead for the benefit of all. The sannyasi has no other purpose in life but to serve and please the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he acts as the guru for the other divisions of society; The order of renunciation accepted by males in the Vedic culture. The fourth spiritual devision of life, according to the social system of four asramas, sannyasa is meant for ending material existence. It is usually accepted at age fifty, after a man has fulfilled his household responsibilities. The original Vedic sannyasis carried the tridanḍa, three bamboo rods wrapped together around a fourth, symbolizing that the body, minds and words are dedicated to the Supreme. The fourth stood for the soul. Mayavadi sannyasis in the line of Sahkaracarya carry only one danḍa; the Buddhists carry none. All bona fide sannyasis wear orange or saffron robes and keep their heads shaven; all must follow standard principles: no meat-eating, sexual activity, gambling or intoxication, and all are meant to travel and preach as their only duty in life. See Brahmacari, Grhastha, Vanaprastha. Sastra-the revealed scriptures, obeyed by all those who follow the Vedic teachings. Sas means "to regulate and direct" and tra means "an instrument"; Vedic literature; The Vedic scriptures; one of the three authorities for a Vaisnava. In his purport to Cc., Adi-lila 17.157, Srila Prabhupada writes: The word sastra is derived from the dhatu, or verbal root, sas. Sas-dhatu pertains to controlling or ruling. A government's ruling through force or weapons is called sastra. Thus whenever there is ruling, either by weapons or by injunctions, the sas-dhatu is the basic principle. Between sastra (ruling through weapons) and sastra (ruling through the injunctions of the scriptures), the better is sastra. Our Vedic scriptures are not ordinary law books of human common sense; they are the statements of factually liberated persons unaffected by the imperfectness of the senses. Sastra must be correct always, not sometimes correct and sometimes incorrect. In the Vedic scriptures, the cow is described as a mother. Therefore she is a mother for all time; it is not, as some rascals say, that in the Vedic age she was a mother but she is not in this age. If sastra is an authority, the cow is a mother always; she was a mother in the Vedic age, and she is a mother in this age also. If one acts according to the injunctions of sastra, he is freed from the reactions of sinful activity. For example, the propensities for eating flesh, drinking wine and enjoying sex life are all natural to the conditioned soul. The path of such enjoyment is called pravrtti-marga. The sastra says, pravrttir esam bhūtanam nivrttis tu maha-phala: one should not be carried away by the propensities of defective conditioned life; one should be guided by the principles of the sastras. A child's propensity is to play all day long, but it is the injunction of the sastras that the parents should take care to educate him. The sastras are there just to guide the activities of human society. But because people do not refer to the instructions of sastras, which are free from defects and imperfections, they are therefore misguided by so-called educated teachers and leaders who are full of the deficiencies of conditioned life. Scepticism-A state of doubting that may range from a tentative doubt in the process of reaching certainty to complete, total disbelief in everything. Usually, scepticism refers to a philosophy of disbelief, of which there are many. In India, the philosophies of Carvaka Muni, the Buddhists and the Jains are founded upon disbelief in the Vedas. Mayavadis claim to accept the Vedas, but they sceptically reject the Vedic philosophy of Vaisnavism. As Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a famous Mayavadi scholar, wrote about the teachings of acarya Ramanuja: Ramanuja's beautiful stories of the other world, which he narrates with the confidence of one who had personally assisted at the origination of the world, carry no conviction. These are the words of a man confined to a miniscule spectrum of awareness by his pratyaksa and anumana. Yet he thinks he can pass judgement on that which is beyond his senses and mind. There are many forms of Western scepticism as well, which go back to the ancient Greeks. See Buddhism, Materialism, Mayavadi philosophy, Six systems, Voidism. Six systems-There are six systems of philosophy associated with the Vedic scriptures. These together are known as the saḍ-darsana. The saḍ-darsana (six views) are: 1) Nyaya (logic), 2) Vaisesika (atomic theory), 3) Sahkhya (analysis of matter and spirit), 4) Yoga (the discipline of self-realization), 5) Karma-mimamsa (the science of fruitive work) and 6) Vedanta (the science of God realization). The saḍ-darsana are termed astika philosophies (from asti, or it is so), because they all acknowledge the Veda as authoritative, as opposed to the nastika philosophies of the Carvakas, Buddhists and Jains (nasti, it is not so), who reject the Vedas. Beginning with Nyaya, each of the saḍ-darsana in their turn presents a more developed and comprehensive explanation of the aspects of Vedic knowledge. Nyaya sets up the rules of philosophical debate and identifies the basic subjects under discussion: the physical world, the soul, God and liberation. Vaisesika engages the method of Nyaya or logic in a deeper analysis of the predicament of material existence by showing that the visible material forms to which we are all so attached ultimately break down into invisible atoms. Sahkhya develops this analytical process further to help the soul become aloof to matter. Through Yoga, the soul awakens its innate spiritual vision to see itself beyond the body. Karma-mimamsa directs the soul to the goals of Vedic ritualism. Vedanta ultimately focuses on the supreme spiritual goal taught in the Upanisads. As can be seen in Srimad-Bhagavatam, the basis of these darsanas was an original, unified spiritual science (bhagavad-tattva-vijnana) taught in very olden times by the twelve Mahajanas: Brahma, Narada, Siva, Kumaras, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bhisma, Bali, Sukadeva and Yamaraja. But due to the influence of maya, scholars who followed the teachings of later sages like Gautama, Kanada, Nirisvara Kapila, Patanjali and Jaimini, became divided and contentious. The Vedic philosophy was misunderstood, and opposing schools came into being to serve sectarian ends. For instance, Karma-mimamsa (which by 500 BC had become the foremost philosophy of the brahmana class) was misused by bloodthirsty priests to justify their mass slaughter of animals in Vedic sacrifices. But the unexpected rise of a novel non-Vedic religion challenged the power of Karma-mimamsa. This new religion was Buddhism. By 250 BC, the influence of Karma-mimamsa and other darsanas had weakened considerably. When King Asoka instituted the Buddha's doctrine as the state philosophy of his empire, many brahmanas abandoned Vedic scholarship to learn and teach nastika concepts of ahimsa (nonviolence) and sūnyata (voidism). Buddhism in its turn was eclipsed by the teachings of the Vedantist Sahkaracarya, who revived the Vedic culture all over India in the seventh century after Christ. But Sahkaracarya's special formulation of Vedanta was itself influenced by Buddhism and is not truly representative of the original Vedanta-darsana. After Sahkaracarya, Vedanta was refined by the schools of great teachers (acaryas) like Ramanuja and Madhva. Having shed the baggage of Sahkaracarya's crypto-Buddhism, Vedanta philosophers brought Vedic studies back to their original form as seen in Srimad-Bhagavatam. See Advaita, Analysis, Dvaita, Four Vaisnava Sampradayas and Siddhantas, Mayavada philosophy, Veda, Vedanta. Solipsism-From the Latin solus, (alone), and ipse, (self). A Western doctrine stating that the self is all that exists or can be known. There are two forms of solipsism: epistemological and metaphysical. The first form holds that since there is nothing to be known beyond the content of one's own consciousness, one's own consciousness is the underlying justification for, and cause of, the existence and nonexistence of knowledge of anything. The second form holds that there is no reality other than one's own self. All things are creations of one's consciousness at the moment one is conscious of them. In other words, there is no existence apart from my own awareness. Like Mayavada philosophy, solipsism arrives at a philosophical dead end. The questions that remain unanswered are: If my consciousness is the only reality, why can't I change the universe at will, simply by thought? And if only I myself truly exist, why am I dependent for my life, learning and happiness upon a world full of living entities that refuse to acknowledge this truth? See Mayavada philosophy. Soul-the eternal living entity, who is the marginal energy, eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Lord; Known in Sanskrit as jiva, jiva-atma or atma, the soul is the eternal individual self, who is a tiny particle of Lord Krsna's spiritual potency located in the heart of the material body. The symptom of the soul is consciousness, and the power of the soul is tatastha-sakti, the power of choice. Thus the soul is responsible for his liberation or bondage, though he has no power to either liberate himself or enjoy matter. The result of his choice, whether auspicious or inauspicious, is arranged by the Supersoul. As the air is always different from the smells it carries, so the soul is always different from the material designations it assumes due to the influence of the modes of nature. How a yogi perceives the soul's direct relationship with the Supreme Soul is described in SB 11.14.45: He sees the individual souls united with the Supreme Soul, just as one sees the sun's rays completely united with the sun. The sun is jyotisi, the source of light. Similarly, Krsna, the Supreme Soul, is the source of the light of consciousness of all living entities. Sunlight is composed of photons, which are tiny units of light. Similarly, each individual soul (jiva-atma) is a tiny unit of consciousness. See Consciousness, Ecstasy, Modes of nature, Supersoul. Sphotavada-Also known as Sabda-tattva, Sphotavada is the philosophy of a metaphysical school of Sanskrit grammarians that goes back to one Sphotayana, whose followers include Bhartrhari and Jayanta Bhatta. The famous Karma-mimamsa philosopher Madana Misra also accepted the Sphotavada doctrine, though other teachers of Mimamsa opposed it. Accordingly, there is a continuum of vibration (ekam eva yad amnatam), which is partless (akhanḍa) and unbroken (akrama), which becomes manifest in sounds (dhvani) or syllables (varna). The sounds and syllables are not important. They are used as aids to achieve meditation upon the underlying continuum, where the indivisible unit of meaning (sphota) is realized through sabda-pūrva-yoga. When the sphota is realized, liberation is achieved in the monistic absolute. Clearly, this is a form of Mayavada philosophy. Interestingly, Sahkaracarya rejected the sphotavada of the grammarians. Yet he accepted the basis of the Sphotavada philosophy, which is the sabda-yoga of Patanjali. In his Prabodhasudhakara 13.144, Sahkaracarya wrote, When one's essential nature is contemplated upon for a moment or half a moment, then the subtle sound called anahata is heard in the right ear. In 148 he explained further: If the mind is completely absorbed for a long time in that Light comprised within the subtle sound, it is surely not slated for the bondage of worldly existence again. Many modern forms of mysticism and meditation can be traced to this doctrine: Transcendental Meditation, Radha-Soami Satsang, Kirpal Singh Satsang, and so on. The subtle sound sought in these systems is the egoistic sound at the root of material existence. Beyond this, however, is the pure name (suddha-nama), which cannot be extracted from the akasa by sabda-yoga, but which must be received from the pure devotee of Krsna. What these sabda-yogis really seek is explained by Krsna Himself: "I am the sound in ether. ... Of vibrations I am the syllable om. ... Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. ... Of poetry I am the Gayatri mantra." (Bg. 7.8, 10.33, 10.35) Hence, they seek Krsna but He is to be known only by pure devotion (bhakti-yoga). See Mayavada philosophy. Spiritual world-Referred to as Vaikuntha, Goloka, the supreme abode (param-dhama), and the spiritual sky (param-vyoma), it is the transcendental, eternal, three-quarters display of Lord Krsna's personal splendor. The names, form, qualities, activities and relationships of the spiritual world are ever-fresh and ever-free of the defects of birth, death, disease, and old age. Here the Lord displays His divine pastimes (lila) which overflood the spiritual world with the sweetest nectar, the very life and soul of the liberated devotees who dwell there. As a tree on the bank of a river is reflected upside-down in the water, so the material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. What is highest in the spiritual world is lowest here. The highest lila is Krsna's conjugal affairs with the gopis. That is reflected here as sex life, the most entangling activity for the embodied soul. See Krsna. Srimad-Bhagavatam-the foremost of the eighteen Puranas, the complete science of God that establishes the supreme position of Lord Krsna. It was glorified by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as the amalam puranam, "the purest Purana." It was written by Srila Vyasadeva as his commentary on the Vedanta-sūtra, and it deals exclusively with topics concerning the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Lord Krsna) and His devotees. Srila Prabhupada has given Bhaktivedanta purports in English and wonderfully presented it to the modern world, specifically to give a deep understanding of Lord Krsna; Also known as the Bhagavata Purana, this is a work of eighteen thousand verses compiled by sage Vyasa as his natural commentary on the Vedanta-sūtra. It takes up where the Bhagavad-gita leaves off. In Bg. 4.9, Lord Krsna says that by knowing His transcendental appearance and activities in this world, one becomes free of the cycle of repeated birth and death. Srimad-Bhagavatam recounts with great relish the details of the Lord's appearance and activities, beginning with His purusa incarnations and their lila of cosmic manifestation, and culminating with Krsna's own appearance in Vrndavana 5000 years ago, and His most sweet rasa-lila with the His cowherd girlfriends, the gopis headed by Radharani. See Bhagavad-gita, Caitanya-caritamrta, Vedanta-sūtra. Substance-From the Latin substare, be under, be firm, support. Substance (vastu in Sanskrit) is the underlying support of all phenomena. It is the eternal Brahman, the cause, of which the world is the effect. The Vedic view of the substance of the world is different from the Christian view, called creatio ex nihilo. According to this theory put forward by Augustine (175-242), God created the world out of nothing. Augustine's reasoning was based on the Biblical statement that in the beginning there was only God. Creatio ex nihilo was an attempt to break out of the paradoxical question, If in the beginning there was only God, and God is eternal, why is the world ever-changing? It was assumed that a doctrine of the material world's direct emanation from God's own substance could be true only if the material world had the same nature as God. But since it does not, and since God was alone in the beginning, He must have created the world from nothing. There is a paradox upon which creatio ex nihilo stumbles: ex nihilo, nihil fit, From nothing, nothing comes. According to the Vedic view, the substance of creation is tattva, true, just as God is true. The tattva of matter (prakrti) is eternal, but it assumes temporary forms as God wills. Like a shadow, the material creation resembles the original form of the substance. But it does not have the potency of the original. Yet it has no other source than the substance. Its source is not nothing. See Absolute, Brahman. Subtle body-Called lihga-sarira in Sanskrit, and also known as the astral body, the subtle body is the result of the conditioning of consciousness by the three modes of material nature. It includes the false ego, intellect and mind and is composed of cetana, consciousness under material influence. As long as the living entity remains within the cycle of samsara, the subtle body is retained. But the steady practice of bhakti-yoga dissolves the subtle body, thus freeing consciousness from matter. See Consciousness, Ecstasy, False ego, Gross body, Intellect, Mind, Modes of nature, Samsara, Soul, Supersoul. Supersoul-Paramatma-the Supersoul, the localized aspect Visnu expansion of the Supreme Lord residing in the heart of each embodied living entity and pervading all of material nature; Known as Paramatma in Sanskrit, He is the third of Lord Krsna's three purusa incarnations: 1) Maha-Visnu, from whom unlimited universes emanate; 2) Garbhodakasayi Visnu, who enters each universe and is the source of birth of Brahma; and 3) Ksirodakasayi Visnu, who expands into the heart of every living entity and every atom within the universe. The Supersoul dwells within the hearts of all living beings next to the soul. His spiritual form is four-armed and the size of a thumb. From him come the living entity's knowledge, rememberance and forgetfulness. The Supersoul is the witness and permitter of karma. What He witnesses is punished or rewarded by prakrti (see Bg. 13.23). See Brahman, Intellect, Īsvara, Karma, Life after death, Krsna, Modes of nature, Soul.