BHAKTHI SHASTRI -04 OBA 2

Submitted by: Dhanya Surjithlal

OCTOBER 22, 2023
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Hare Krishna!

Jai Srila Prabhupad!!

2.1 Describe in your own word’s practical ways and the benefits therein of applying the Ishavasya principle in:

 Society in general
 ISKCON
 Your personal life

Give reference to Sri Isopanishad mantra 1-3 and purport in your response.

INTRODUCTION:

As per Ishavasya principle the Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely
perfect, all emanations from Him, such as material world, human form are perfectly equipped as complete whole.
Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even
though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance. The Complete Whole, or
the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. The realization of the Personality of
Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features – sat, cit and ānanda, bliss. When one realizes the
Supreme Person, he realizes these aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. The completeness of
human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the Complete Whole. All services in this world
whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary will remain incomplete until they are
dovetailed with the Complete Whole. When everything is dovetailed with the Complete Whole, the attached parts
and parcels also become complete in themselves.

Absolute Truth is not always perceived as sachidana as it depends the realization of the people. Srila Prabhupad
gives the analogy of Julab Jamun which has fragrance, existence / visibility, touch and taste. Njani only realizes the
“Sat” feature of Supreme Truth and hence there is no complete knowledge and they cannot enjoy it completely.
In case of yogis they realize the existence of Paramathma “Sat and Chit” feature and does not have the complete
realization of Supreme truth. It is only the devotee who has the complete knowledge of the supreme Truth which
is “Sat , chit and ananda” and can have complete realization of supreme Truth.

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Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should
therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not
accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong. The Lord’s proprietorship over everything within the
universe is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4–5), where parā and aparā prakṛti are
discussed. The elements of nature – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego – all belong to the
Lord’s inferior, material energy (aparā prakṛti), whereas the living being, the organic energy, is His superior energy
(parā prakṛti). Both of these prakṛtis, or energies, are emanations from the Lord, and ultimately He is the controller
of everything that exists. There is nothing in the universe that does not belong to either the parā or the aparā
prakṛti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being. Because the Supreme Being, the Absolute
Personality of Godhead, is the complete person, He has complete and perfect intelligence to adjust everything by
means of His different potencies. The Supreme Being is often compared to a fire, and everything organic and
inorganic is compared to the heat and light of that fire. Just as fire distributes energy in the form of heat and light,
the Lord displays His energy in different ways. He thus remains the ultimate controller, sustainer and dictator of
everything. He is the possessor of all potencies, the knower of everything and the benefactor of everyone. He is
full of inconceivable opulence, power, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation.

One may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously goes on working in that way, for that sort of work
will not bind him to the law of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.

Human life is distinguished from animal life due to its heavy responsibilities. Those who are cognizant of these
responsibilities and who work in that spirit are called suras (godly persons), and those who are neglectful of these
responsibilities or who have no information of them are called asuras (demons). Throughout the universe there
are only these two types of human being. In the Ṛg Veda it is stated that the suras always aim at the lotus feet of
the Supreme Lord Vishnu and act accordingly. Their ways are as illuminated as the path of the sun.

The ‘ishavasya’ principle is a way of life that emphasizes recognizing the Lord’s proprietorship over
everything and leading our life accordingly. Here are some ways to practice this principle which can be applied in
various aspects of life such as society, ISKCON, and personal life.

SOCIETY IN GENERAL:

Reduce Lust, Anger and Greed: In today’s world, due to excessive greed and lust within the human society, the
principle of how much is too much is barely known and practically no one applies them in real life. Most of them
are subjected to Lust and when it’s not satisfied to the degree expected then anger gets manifested. It is very
common to see a strong person taking advantage of weaker one. By applying this principle we can reduce lust

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anger and greed and accept only the quota provided to us and not to encroach which does not belong to us as
mentioned in Mantra 1.

Reduces Bondage: Various ism’s in the society namely socialism, nationalism, and communism do not understand
or know who the real proprietor of this world. As a result, there’s so much confusion, chaos, unrest in this world
due to misguided theory of proprietorship, which leads to bondage. These “isms” are certainly very attractive
forms of karma-bandhana (karmic bondage), but the Vedic instruction of Śrī Isopanishad is that if one actually
wants to live for any of the above “isms,” he should make them God-centered. So once we apply the Ishavasya
principle we should be detached from the karma Bandhanas and relive ourselves from the clutches of repeated
birth and death. In mantra 2 it explains how human life offers liberation through akarma.

Peace and Harmony: From the recent conflict between Russia & Ukraine, so many have been killed and resources
have been wasted just to fulfil one’s ego. This is one of the example of “Asura” who wanted to enjoy the life air
for sense gratification. Such asuras, devoid of self-realization and knowledge of īśāvāsya, the Lord’s universal
proprietorship, are certain to enter into the darkest regions as mentioned in Mantra 3. So we have to be always
be cognizant of our responsibilities and aim for the lotus feet of the supreme lord. So when God becomes the
center of our life and activities then there is harmony, peace, purpose of civilization else it’s a soul killing society
which Srila Prabhupad mentions in his purport of Mantra 3

Build a healthy nation: In today’s world intoxication has been a serious concern for the young generation. The
concept of sense gratification is the motto behind the youth. So once proper knowledge of Ishavasya principle is
imparted to them then we can have a Krishna conscious community and ultimately a nation with a purpose in life.

ISKCON:

Brotherhood and Unity: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is an example of a
community that is based on the principles of Bhakti-yoga or devotional service as the goal of life . Since Isckon is
wide spread across the world we have seen the helping hands by the local ISCKON devotees in supporting the
crisis affected people for example providing food and shelter to the Ukraine war affected peoples etc.

Food for life: Food for life program was initiated by ISKCON to provide free nutritious meals for those in need.
This program was founded by Srila Prabhupad in response to the hunger and poverty being faced by people.
Ishavasya mantram 1 which teaches us to see the world as a manifestation of God and the lord being the
proprietor and to use everything in His service. This is an example to show how ISKCON is implementing the
Ishavasya principle to the society in general.

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Spreading SPP Mission: Iskcon is spreading the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupad and giving Krishna
Consciousness to the people across the world. It helps the community / nation to transform the society to a better
living free from meat eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex. Through preaching they are educating the
society the importance of being in Krishna Consciousness, how to live a life as prescribed in shastras, Supreme
truth being the proprietor and utilize resource as per our prescribed quota, how karma bandhana causes death
etc.

PERSONAL LIFE APPLICATION:

Humility and Gratitude: Once we have a complete understanding that Krishna is the Proprietor and the Supreme
controller of everything, we realize that not even a blade of grass cannot move without his permission. Such
realization will enable us to be more humble, have gratitude and belongingness towards all the other living
entities. For example we can control the anger and will not fell envious towards other as we realize that it’s the
mercy of Krishna to the deserved people.

Devotional Service: The completeness of human life can be realized only when one engages in the service of the
Supreme Lord. All services in this world whether social, political, communal, international or even interplanetary
will remain incomplete until they are dovetailed with the Complete Whole. Our purpose of our life can be achieved
only by rendering service to the lord. In Mantra 2 it’s clearly explained that without God everything is vain. So by
understanding this principle we should cultivate unalloyed, unmotivated devotion to the Lord by chanting His
name, reading scriptures, attending gatherings, offer seva in any ISCKON temples, spreading Krishna
consciousness by book distribution, Preaching, Prasadam distribution etc.

Simple Living and High thinking: Through this Ishavasa principle we understand that we are complete and eternal
part of the lord. So by this realization we need to avoid unnecessary material possessions and focus on the
devotional service to the lord and ultimately reach our supreme destination.

Self-control: By understanding that we are part and parcel of the Lord and is eternal we should practice self-
control by following 4 regulative principles and develop compassion towards other living entities.

Live Life according to Ishavasya principle: The root of sin is deliberate disobedience to the laws of nature through
disregarding the proprietorship of the Lord. Disobeying the laws of nature or the order of the Lord brings ruin to
a human being. Conversely, one who is sober, who knows the laws of nature, and who is not influenced by
unnecessary attachment or aversion is sure to be recognized by the Lord and thus become eligible to go back to
Godhead, back to the eternal home. We should always follow this principle to reach our final destination. The

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perfection of life is not to avid karmic entanglement less or more, it is to acknowledge and love the lord. Taking
prasadam, following regulative principles help us to always live in agreement with the lord.

2.2 The world has been worst hit by COVID pandemic causing a lot of damage. Many innocent people lost their
lives, including women, children and elderly ones. Write in about 600 words your point of view about the said
tragedy supporting the Ishavasya principle that the ‘world is complete’.

INTRODUCTION:

As per the Ishavasya principle The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is
completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete
wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete
Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

The Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the complete Personality of Godhead. Realization of
impersonal Brahman or of Paramātmā, the Supersoul, is incomplete realization of the Absolute Complete. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha. Realization of impersonal Brahman is realization of
His sat feature, or His aspect of eternity, and Paramātmā realization is realization of His sat and cit features, His
aspects of eternity and knowledge. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the
transcendental features – sat, cit and ānanda, bliss. When one realizes the Supreme Person, he realizes these
aspects of the Absolute Truth in their completeness. Vigraha means “form.” Thus the Complete Whole is not
formless. If He were formless, or if He were less than His creation in any other way, He could not be complete.
The Complete Whole must contain everything both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He cannot be
complete.

The Complete Whole, the Personality of Godhead, has immense potencies, all of which are as complete as He is.
Thus this phenomenal world is also complete in itself. The twenty-four elements of which this material universe
is a temporary manifestation are arranged to produce everything necessary for the maintenance and subsistence
of this universe. No other unit in the universe need make an extraneous effort to try to maintain the universe. The
universe functions on its own time scale, which is fixed by the energy of the Complete Whole, and when that
schedule is completed, this temporary manifestation will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the
Complete Whole.

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Ishavasya principle is a Vedic philosophy that emphasizes the idea that everything in the world is complete
and perfect in itself. It suggests that we should not try to acquire more than what we need and should be content
with what we have. This principle is based on the belief that everything in the universe is interconnected and
interdependent, and that we should strive to live in harmony with nature and other living beings.

To the context of the Corona virus the application of Ishavasya principle that the World is complete comes to the
true sense in the below points:

As per the Ishovasya Invocation since the Personality of God head is complete, anything which emanates from
him such as Material world, human form, all living entities are complete. Since the Corona virus is considered to
be manmade virus and all the material required to create this was taken from the material world but was used for
the sense gratification hence the Corona Virus is considered to be Incomplete. Anything which is used in the
service of the Supreme Personality is considered to be complete otherwise its incomplete. Millions of people have
lost their life due to Corona Virus, there was a motive behind a certain group of people to implement this strategy
for their own benefit.

All facilities are given to the living beings to enable them to realize the Complete Whole. All forms of
incompleteness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the Supreme Personality of God head. The lord
says that there will not be any success or desired result without me. We should always be in alignment with the
scriptures and follows the principle described for living. Out of sense gratification one who does not follow the
instruction of Lord is considered to be transferred to the hellish planet. The Corona virus was created not for the
betterment of the society but for the destruction of the human lives and it was not used for the service of the lord
and hence it’s incomplete. Material world, living entities are all considered as complete when they do service to
the lord and understand the purpose of the life then it becomes complete.

Your Humble Servant,

Dhanya Surjithlal