In2-MeC

newly discovered entries of In2-DeepFreeze       First Generation Animations

Sofia, Bulgaria
4 July, 2003

Essay Three

Further Considerations of Material Personality

In Essay One of the Transcendental Psychology series, I wrote 

It is only to be expected that any process of clarification will be more difficult in the beginning. But step by step, as we become more familiar with the issues, the subject matter gets easier to grasp. This is especially true of Vedic psychology, which starts with principles (harder to grasp) and progresses to practical behavior (easier to grasp).
I begin the transition from principles to practical behavior in today's essay.   I must hasten to add that today you'll still be reading about principles. But in previous essays we considered principles that apply equally to everyone. Now we shall look at principles that vary from person to person. These are the ingredients of conditioned individuality. Everyone has a mind; what could be more universal? Everyone's mind moves through the phases of thinking, feeling, and willing. But when  we examine the subjects that each of us thinks about, feels, and actuates, we arrive at individuality. I pointed out in the introductory essay that it's here, the point when the movements of an individual's mind are considered, that psychology becomes complex.
And why so complex? Why does the study of the mind's movements (the study we know by the word psychology) become so mysterious and convoluted? That is because the mind moves according to our desires. Hence, it is our desires--meaning, in our present state, our material attraction--that complicates our mental processes.
In part four of Essay Two I wrote:
Material desires are spread like seeds throughout the karana-deha. For the seeds to sprout and grow, the linga- and sthula-sariras are needed. . . In our own individual embodiment as human beings, desires are released from the karana-deha to take subtle shape in the mind and then to be acted upon in the gross body.
Vasana

The appearance of material desire in the mind is called vasana, as we see from a remark Srila Prabhupada made in a Bhagavad-gita lecture on 29 July 1973 in London:

Similarly, if one desires that: "I shall become a devotee of Lord Krsna," that is natural desire. But when I desire to lord it over the material nature and forget my service to Krsna, that is called vasana. That is material desire, abhilasa. So we have to give up these material desires. Then it is bhakti.
We have a full account of vasana from a verse spoken by Jada Bharata (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 11. 5):
 
sa vasanatma visayoparakto
guna-pravaho vikrtah sodasatma-
bibhrat prthan-namabhi rupa-bhedam
antar-bahistvam ca purais tanot
Because the mind is absorbed in desires [vasanas] for pious and impious activities, it is naturally subjected to the transformations of lust and anger. In this way, it becomes attracted to material sense enjoyment. In other words, the mind is conducted by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. There are eleven senses and five material elements, and out of these sixteen items, the mind is the chief. Therefore the mind brings about birth in different types of bodies among demigods, human beings, animals and birds. When the mind is situated in a higher or lower position, it accepts a higher or lower material body.

This verse outlines a series of psychological phenomena that culminates in the soul taking another birth. Let us take a few moments now to analyze this series.

  1. The material mind is guna-pravaha, conducted by the three modes of material nature. Each individual's mind is subject to a unique combination of the three modes.
  2. The effect of the modes upon the mind is understood by the mind's constant agitation and restlessness. While consoling his mother as she grieved over the death of Hiranyaksa, Hiranyakasipu nicely summed up this effect in Srimad-Bhagavatam 7. 2. 24. He told her that the soul is always avikalah puman, changeless; but when the mind is agitated by the gunas, the soul is bewildered and sees itself undergoing material transformations. In the verse quoted above, Jada Bharata uses the word vikrtah to indicate the transformations of mind that are induced by guna-pravaha.
  3. Restlessness of mind is the fertile soil by which the seeds of desire embedded within the karana-deha develop into ideas of sense gratification that blossom in the linga-sarira. In the Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary the word vasana is translated as "infusing" (this is one definition among several given). The word infuse means "to put into or introduce as if by pouring. " Hence the vasanas are waves of desire that pour out of the subconsciousness into the restless conscious mind.
  4. The mind is the chief of the sixteen material coverings of consciousness (the others are the five gross elements, the five jnanendriyas, and the five karmendriyas). The desires of the mind are served by the fifteen other coverings.
  5. When the senses engage in satisfying the mind's desires, karma is generated, and the wheel of samsara is turned. Thus the soul takes on  body after body according to the mind's condition under the modes: good,  mediocre, or bad.
Another gloss on vasanas and their effects is found in the purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 6. 15. 24.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura writes as follows in his commentary: arthena vyaghra-sarpadina vinaiva drsyamanah svapnadi-bhange sati na drsyante tad evam daradayo 'vastava-vastu-bhutah svapnadayo 'vastu-bhutas ca sarve manobhavah mano-vasana janyatvan manobhavah. At night one dreams of tigers and snakes, and while dreaming he actually sees them, but as soon as the dream is broken they no longer exist. Similarly, the material world is a creation of our mental concoctions. We have come to this material world to enjoy material resources, and by mental concoction we discover many, many objects of enjoyment because our minds are absorbed in material things. This is why we receive various bodies. According to our mental concoctions we work in various ways, desiring various achievements, and by nature and the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (karmana-daiva-netrena) we get the advantages we desire. Thus we become more and more involved with material concoctions. This is the reason for our suffering in the material world. By one kind of activity we create another, and they are all products of our mental concoctions.
In a Srimad-Bhagavatam class (7. 6. 9) given in Vrndavana on 11 December 1975, Srila Prabhupada explained how a devotee deals with vasana.
Vasana. Therefore we have to become vasana-less. Without any vasana means without any material desires. Vasana cannot. . . it is therefore not actually to make it null and void, but to make it purified. That is the aim of human life. To purify our desires. That purification is possible by Krsna consciousness. Sarva padi vinirmuktan tat paratvena nirmalam. If you simply desire how to serve Krsna then that is really desirelessness.
In Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu Srila Rupa Gosvami has given an in-depth explanation of how sinful desires arise in the mind, what reactions such desires foment, and how devotional service rids us of both the desires and their reactions. His Holiness Dhanurdhara Maharaja nicely summarized and clarified Rupa Gosvami's explanation in his groundbreaking book Waves of Devotion. I adapted his summary for this essay. The word vasana is not used, but the word bija (seed of sinful desires) means the same thing. Bija arises from avidya. Avidya is the primal ignorance that encases the soul as the karana-deha (causal body).

Diagram 1:  How Klesha Appears

Diagram 1
 

Klesha refers to distress, and the causes of distress.  

Distress has three causes: (1) papam sins, (2) bija — material desires, and (3) avidya — ignorance, the root cause.

Srila Rüpa Gosvami explains that devotional service is the best means of obtaining relief from distress, because it is the only process that can counteract all three causes.
 


 


Diagram 2: Two Reactions to Papam (Sins)

Diagram 2 Sinful actions (papam) produce two reactions: (1) prarabdha — manifest, and (2) aprarabdha — unmanifest. Srila Prabhupäda describes, “. . . for some of our sinful activities we are awaiting distress in the future, and for others, which are mature, we are suffering at the present moment (NOD pg 4). ” 



Manifest Sinful Reactions (Prarabdha-Papam)

A disease caught early is curable, but is far more difficult to counteract if allowed to become chronic. Similarly, sinful reactions are more difficult to counteract once they become manifest. Devotional service, however, can remove even manifest sinful reactions and the suffering they bring.

Devahuti explains that by practicing devotional service even someone born in the lowest family of dog-eaters becomes qualified to perform the highest brähmiëical sacrifices.   The behavior of those born into degraded families disqualifies them from performing Vedic sacrifices. Devahuti points out that even  slight engagement in devotional service can counteract the disqualifications incurred by a low birth.

One's birth is a tangible result of karma — a manifest reaction (prarabdha-papam). Thus Devahüti's statement is sastric evidence that devotional service can counteract prarabdha-papam.

Unmanifest Sinful Reactions (Aprarabdha-Papam)

Devotional service is like a blazing fire, able to consume limitless amounts of unmanifest sinful reactions. Srila Prabhupada says, “. . . as the blazing fire can burn any amount of fuel to ashes, so devotional service to the Lord in Krsna consciousness can burn up all the fuel of sinful activities (NOD pg 5). ”

How Unmanifest Reactions Cause Suffering.

Previously, we said that sinful activity causes two types of reaction: manifest and unmanifest. We will further clarify this statement.

Diagram 3: Furtherance of the Two  Reactions to Papam (Sins)

Diagram 3 A sinful action generates two types of unmanifest reactions. One type creates direct physical or emotional suffering. The other type creates indirect suffering by increasing one's sinful proclivities.  

For example, if one engages in illicit sex he receives two types of reactions. One type creates some direct physical or emotional suffering. The other type creates indirect suffering by exacerbating his proclivity for sex; thereby increasing sexual desires, impelling future illicit sex, and entangling him in a karmic cycle of suffering.

When sinful desires increase, sinful activities increase. When sinful activities increase, sinful desires increase — it is a self-perpetuating cycle. The more one tries to satisfy his desires, the stronger they become.

To break this cycle of bondage one must tolerate sinful desires and not endeavor to fulfil them. Not being reinforced by unmanifest reactions, they will gradually dissipate and leave the heart forever. 1

Evolution of Unmanifest Sin

The cycle of unmanifest reaction goes through four stages, as explained in Padma Purana:

  1. Aprarabdha (unmanifest reaction) — In this stage the reaction is completely unmanifest and has no perceptible effect.
  2. Kutam (sinful proclivity) — In this stage the reaction evolves into a psychological disposition towards sin.
  3. Bija (sinful desire) — In this stage the sinful proclivity evolves into a specific desire to commit a particular sinful action.
  4. Prarabdha (manifest sinful reaction) — In this stage the sinful desire causes one to commit a sinful action and suffer the concomitant reaction.

The following illustration may help clarify the subtle distinctions between these four stages:

Diagram 4: The Four Stages of Bondage

Diagram 4 As a result of some sinful act, a man is destined to become a thief  and suffer punishment. However, this reaction is not immediately felt — it is stored for a future birth (this is the stage of aprarabdha). In his next life, the reaction begins to manifest as an almost unnoticed proclivity towards dishonesty and cheating (this is the stage of kuta). This proclivity gradually intensifies and eventually manifests an explicit desire to steal (this is the stage of bija). Finally, this desire causes the man to commit theft and undergo the consequential suffering (this is the stage of prarabdha).

Devotional service eradicates all four stages of sinful reaction in chronological order — first aprarabdha, next kuta, then bija, and finally prarabdha. (See NOD page 6. )




Bija
— Desire

Srila Rupa Gosvami described the first cause of suffering (papam) in all its subheadings. Now he describes the second cause of suffering: bija — sinful desire.

He quotes the Visnuduttas (SB 6. 2. 17), who explain that many processes can neutralize the reactions of sinful activities, but only devotional service can uproot sinful desire — which is the cause of sinful activity.

Srila Prabhupada elaborates by citing Ajamila. In spite of his strict performance of brahminical duties, sinful desires remained in Ajämila's heart and caused him to succumb to sinful life. Later, the simple devotional service of chanting "Narayana" uprooted all his calamities, although he was in the midst of sinful activities. (See NOD page 6. )

Vedic rituals like charity and austerity can neutralize sinful reactions, but they cannot neutralize sinful desire. Srila Prabhupäda gives two illustrations: (1)  a person may be cured of venereal disease by some painful medical treatment, but because sex desire remains in his heart he again implicates himself in suffering; (2) an elephant may carefully bathe in a lake, but upon returning to the land immediately covers himself again with dirt. (See NOD page 7. )

Devotional service can uproot even sinful desire, and is therefore the best method for attaining relief from suffering.

Diagram 5: The Appearance of Desire From Ignorance and Its Reactions

Diagram 5 The root cause of suffering is avidya — ignorance of one's true identity as Krsna's eternal servant. In ignorance, one acts as an enjoyer and suffers the concomitant reactions.   Srila Prabhupäda says, “As long as one is ignorant about his identity, he is sure to act wrongly and thereby become entangled in material contamination (NOD pg 8). ” 

Uprooting ignorance is the best way to uproot suffering. Only devotional service can uproot all ignorance. Srila Rüpa Gosvami authenticates this by quoting Padma Purana and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Fourth Canto).

Srila Prabhupada's summarizes the quotation from Padma Purana, “Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness is the highest enlightenment, and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious snakes of desire (NOD pg 8). ” In this quotation, Srila Prabhupada expresses the Sanskrit word avidyam as "desire. " One usually translates avidyam as ignorance. Accordingly, Srila Prabhupäda clarifies, “Similarly, the blazing fire of Krsna consciousness is so strong that the snakes of ignorance are immediately killed (NOD pg 8). ”

Devotional service eradicates sinful reactions, nullifies sinful desires, counteracts material proclivities, and — most importantly — uproots ignorance. Therefore it is the only efficient and effective way to achieve permanent relief from all suffering. In Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 25. 8 we find the phrase anadi-kala-karma-vasana-grathitam avidyamayam hrdaya-granthim. Anadi-kala means "from time immemorial," karma-vasana means "the desire for fruitive activities", and grathitam means "tied tightly. " Avidyamayam means "consisting of the illusory energy. " Hrdaya-granthim means "the knot within the heart. " There are many verses in Srimad-Bhagavatam about the severing of the hard knot within the heart as the final stroke of liberation for the soul; among them 1. 2. 21 and 11. 20. 30 are oft-cited. In Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 25. 8 it is made clear that this hard knot is the beginningless susceptibility of conditioned consciousness to the influx of vasana. This verse further makes clear that hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, and constant remembrance of Him, is the only process by which consciousness can be purified so that vasana can no longer penetrate.

About this state of purified mind, Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4. 29. 69:

In Brahma-samhita 5. 54, it is said karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti bhajam. When a person is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness, his stockpile of material desires is minimized. Indeed, the desires no longer fructify in the form of gross bodies. Instead, the stockpile of desires becomes visible on the mental platform by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

No living entity is free from the cycle of birth and death unless he takes to Krsna consciousness; therefore in this verse it is clearly stated (sattvaika-nisthe) that when one is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness, in one stroke he is freed of past and future mental desires. Then, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, everything becomes simultaneously manifest within the mind. In this regard, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura cites the example of mother Yasoda's seeing the whole cosmic manifestation within the mouth of Lord Krsna. By the grace of Lord Krsna, Mother Yasoda saw all the universes and planets within the mouth of Krsna. Similarly, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, a Krsna conscious person can see all his dormant desires at one time and finish all his future transmigrations. This facility is especially given to the devotee to make his path clear for returning home, back to Godhead.

In this purport Srila Prabhupada explains that a pure devotee is released from the reaction of stockpiled material desires through dreams.

Why we see things not experienced in this life is explained herein. That which we see is the future expression of a gross body or is already stocked in our mental stockpile. Because a Krsna conscious person does not have to accept a future gross body, his recorded desires are fulfilled in a dream. We therefore sometimes find things in a dream never experienced in our present life.

Kalisantarana Upanisad 7 declares:

iti sodasa kalasya jivasyavarana vinasam
tatha prakasate parabrahma megha paye
ravi rasmi mandali veti

In this way the Mahamantra of sixteen names is the destroyer of the covering of the jivatma which is composed of sixteen parts. It is then only that Parambrahma Lord Sri Krsna shines before the jiva like the rays of the sun after the cloudy covering of the sky is removed.

In the first part of the Hare Krsna Mahamantra, the holy names (Hare and Krsna) are uttered eight times. In the second part, the holy names(Hare and Rama) are uttered eight times. Thus there are sixteen names in the Mahamantra. The sixteen layers that cover the soul have already been explained; the vasana-infected mind is the chief of these sixteen. Chanting the sixteen holy names rids consciousness of all these coverings. When consciousness is pure, it is illuminated by the rays of Lord Krsna's personal form.

But even after chanting for a long time we may find ourselves still troubled by vasana. The reason is offenses (aparadha). The following verse from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Antya 8. 26 shows that even after a devotee has accepted initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, indeed even after he has entered the sannyasa order, he again falls victim to vasana if he commits Vaisnava-aparadha.

ei ye sri-madhavendra sri-pada upeksa karila
sei aparadhe inhara vasana, janmila

Ramacandra Puri was thus denounced by Madhavendra Puri. Due to his offense, gradually material desire appeared within him.

Samskaras (Impressions)

It is very important in dealing with our individual psychology that we understand samskaras, which means "mental impressions. " Almost every time this word appears in Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, letters and conversations, "Vedic reformatory performance" is meant. For example, the Vedic marriage ceremony is called vivaha-samskara. Samskara in this usage also has its psychological sense, but it is reformatory. The ceremony impresses the minds of the couple getting married that the vow they are taking is one of the most important in their whole lives; they must preserve this solemn vow in years to come, in both good times and bad, etc. It is sometimes said that when the newly married couple circles the sacrificial fire seven times together, this creates an impression in their minds that will last for seven lifetimes.

Sinful events and associations also deeply impress our minds for years and even lifetimes together. Such sinful samskaras are closely associated with vasana (sinful desires) and kuta (sinful inclination). Srila Prabhupada indicated this sense of samskara in a conversation of 11 September, 1972, in Arlington, Texas.

Well, samskara you can change in a second. Samskara may be powerful. (indistinct) Krsna assures you, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami. He will give you protection. Samskara means you did some sinful activities and you are suffering. But He gives you protection. Sarva-papebhyo. Then what is the meaning of samskara? You can change your samskara immediately by surrendering to Krsna. Why you are so much concerned with samskara? He says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam. . . , aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksa. . . The samskara as effects of sinful activities, that is troublesome. So He gives you protection. Ma sucah, "Don't worry. " Why don't you take this? You don't want to change your samskara, and who can help you? That is a different thing. You don't want to change. Otherwise Krsna is ready to give you all help. How their samskara is changed? From the very beginning of their life they are addicted to these principles: illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling. How they have changed? They don't touch it. How it has become possible?
The guest Srila Prabhupada addressed here replied that he believed Prabhupada's disciples had been great yogis in their past lives. By saying this he was suggesting that they had powerful samskaras embedded in their minds that brought them to Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet; conversely, one who had no such samskaras would not be able to take shelter of the pure devotee. But Srila Prabhupada asked this guest why he was also not such a yogi. He replied that he didn't know. Srila Prabhupada said, "Because you don't surrender. That is the fact. If you surrender, you become also a great yogi. " Even after one takes to devotional service, he or she may be haunted by long-lasting impressions of sinful life-events and sinful associations. Many years ago a Godbrother confided to me his own difficulty with such samskaras. The some names of great personalities in the Srimad- Bhagavatam reminded him of dirty words that he used to hear and chant in his karmi life. He felt himself condemned. These names should remind him of Krsna's pure devotees; instead they reminded him of profanity. This is a good example of what a samskara does to the mind. "While in the subtle body," Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4. 29. 78, "we create many plans to enjoy sense gratification. These plans are recorded in the spool of one's mind as bija, the root of fruitive activities. " Even everyday events are permanently recorded. When you were a small child, there was a day when you ate an orange for the first time. That experience impressed your mind, and that impression is always there beneath your conscious awareness. That experience--of the distinctive color, shape, smell, texture and taste of an orange--can at any time be replayed in your consciousness. A friend tells you he is going to the fruit shop and will bring you back an orange. The full experience of "orange-enjoyment" floods your mind. This is samskara. The mind is laden with samskaras from all our previous births, whether as a demigod, a demon, an animal, bird, insect, plant or fish. But only certain samskaras that are appropriate to this life have conscious and subconscious influence upon us now. The more an original experience provoked emotions, the stronger the influence of the lingering samskara. Samskaras are under the control of Paramatma (mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca). Those samkaras that He allows to influence this life constitute our prarabdha-karma (the result of our past activities which is in force right now).
A Look at Basic Conditioned Personality Types
 
Srila Prabhupada had this to say about prarabdha-karma:
If you infect some disease, you have to suffer. You cannot escape. You infect today somehow or other. Not today, not tomorrow, but some day it will come out. . . Then you suffer, prarabdha. This is called prarabdha-karma, infection. You are under the complete subjugation of nature. Prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah. These gunaih. The prakrti is forcing you to work because you have infected a kind of guna. [Lecture in Calcutta, 27 September 1974]

This explanation brillantly brings in the notion of disease. We perform a sinful act (this means any deed that registers as karma, good or bad), but the reaction is not immediate. The doing of the sinful act is the entry point of a karmic infection contracted from the soul's association with the modes of nature. Like the physical symptoms of an infectious disease (fever, sore throat, etc. ), the prarabdha reaction manifests after some time of incubation.

Ayurveda is the Vedic medical science. Being Vedic, it views the physical body itself as a disease of the soul. The body comes into being out of the tri-guna, the three modes of nature. In Ayurveda, the only healthy condition is the pure mode of goodness, which is the position of liberation. Thus Srila Prabhupada's comparing the body to an infection is most apt. One of the studies within Ayurveda is body typology. Using it as our reference, we shall now look the basic "models" of the human body that are produced by the modes of material nature. Ayurvedic typology also accounts for basic psychological types. Srimad-Bhagavatam 3. 26. 32 teaches that the panca-mahabhutas (five gross elements) come into being from sound, which vibrates when egoism in ignorance is agitated by the sex energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Ayurveda teaches that against the background of primordial ignorance, the three modes of nature are stimulated by the sex energy vibrating between purusa and prakrti. The evoluton of the mahabhutas--from ether to air to fire to water to earth--is the effect of the progress of these modes from goodness to ignorance. From sattva-guna, ether appears. As sattva transforms into rajo-guna, air appears. Fire appears from rajo-guna. As rajo- guna transforms into tamo-guna, water appears. Earth appears from tamo-guna. In Ayurveda, the human constitution is defined by three dosas. Each is a combinations of two of the five elements. From ether and air come vata-dosa; fire and water combine to form pitta-dosa; water and earth together give rise to kapha-dosa. Vata is dry, cold, light, mobile, subtle, hard, rough, changeable  and clear. It is identified with prana, the bodily life-force. As  such, vata governs all movement and is the support of the other two  dosas. The subtle body functions in ether; since vata is partially  ethereal, mental functions are associated with it. In terms of Western physiology, the brain and nervous system exhibit a good deal of equivalence to vata. Pitta is hot, light, fluid, subtle, unpleasant-smelling, soft and  clear. It generates heat, governs the body temperature, and directs chemical reactions. The Western concept of metabolism--the physical and  chemical processes in the body that generate energy and maintain life--resembles pitta. Kapha is cold, wet, heavy, slow, dull, static, smooth, dense and  cloudy. It maintains substance, weight and coherence in the body. The Western equilavents are the skeletal structure and the tissues that contribute to the mass of the body. All three dosas are concentrated together in the most critical life-support systems of the body, especially the heart. The usual translation of kapha, pitta and vata is "mucus, bile and air. " That terminology is simply medical. My interest in the dosas is their affect on conditioned personality. Thus I am presenting the dosas as features of the three modes of material nature. It is clear from the above that for there to be life in the body, all three dosas must be functional. But as they are usually not balanced, an individual will be typed according to the dosa that is more prominent. Since my essays are about psychology, I will not discuss the physical characteristics of the vata, pitta and kapha types, except to say that there is a remarkable correspondence to the three somatotypes conceived by the American psychologist William Shelton. The vata type like Shelton's ectomorph (thin and nervous), the pitta type is like the mesomorph (average build, physically active), and the kapha type is like the endomorph (heavyset and phlegmatic). Ayurveda derives seven physiologies from the basic three. The seven are the sum of two groups of three types, plus a unique type. There are human beings who unequivocally represent one dosa. That is one group of three--pure kapha type, pure pitta type, and pure vata type. Then there are human beings who exhibit the nature of two dosas. They form the second group of three: vata-pitta, vata-kapha and kapha-pitta. The unique type is the rare person whose dosas are perfectly balanced. These are seven types of bodies. Since a person's behavior is influenced by his or her physical qualities, there must also be psychological overtones to the seven body types. Behavior reflects not only the nature of our physical activities but also the nature of our mentalities. The state of the dosas means the state of our health, and everyone knows the the mood of the mind is affected by health. Even what a person dreams about at night is linked to his or her dosas. Going beyond body typology, Ayurveda takes into account different psychological types. There are three types of mentality, each representing a mode of nature. And each is subdivided. The subdivisions are personality types modeled on superior beings, i. e. demigods, demons and other superhuman species. Caraka-samhita, the root Ayurvedic text, gives seven sattvic mentalities: the brahmana type, the rsi type, the Indra type, the Yama type, the Kuvera type, the Varuna type, and the Gandharva type. There are six rajasic types and three tamasic types. Thus in total there are seven body types and sixteen types of mind. Another sophisticated system of Vedic personality typology is seen in jyotisa (astrology). In view of the principle of vyasti-samasti, it is logical that indications in the greater universe will inform us about our own minds. C. G. Jung wrote:
In cases of difficult psychological diagnosis I usually get a horoscope in order to have a further point of view from an entirely different angle. I must say that I have often found that the astrological data elucidates certain points which I otherwise would have been unable to understand. From such experiences I formed the opinion that astrology is of particular interest to the psychologist, since it contains a sort of psychological experience which we call "projected"--this means that we find the psychological facts as it were in the constellations. I admit that this is a very curious fact which throws a particular light on the structure of the human mind.
Both Vedic (sidereal) and Western (tropical) astrology arrive at an understanding of a person's nature by way of three basic factors: birth sign, house and planet. Birth sign and house are calculated from the twelve divisions of the Zodiac, which is the pathway along which the sun, moon and planets move through the heavens. The divisions are themselves the houses. In Vedic astrology, the position of the moon in the Zodiac at the time of birth determines the sign. Also at the moment of birth, the sun, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are positioned in different houses. Various indications are calculated from the positions of the sun and the planets that take into consideration the powers of these heavenly bodies and the relationships between them. Like in Ayurveda, the complexities of typology-calculation in astrology  come down to the interaction of the three modes of material nature. The  twelve houses are divided into four elemental categories: earth, water, fire  and air. Earth stands for tamo-guna, water stands for  tamo-rajo-guna, fire stands for rajo-guna and air stands for rajo-sattva-guna.   Taurus (Visabha), Virgo (Kanya) and Capricorn (Makara) are earth signs. Cancer (Karka), Scorpio (Vrscika), and Pisces (Matsya) are water signs. Aries (Mesa), Leo (Simha) and Sagittarius (Dhanus) are fire signs. Aquarius (Kumbha), Gemini (Mithuna) and Libra (Tula) are air signs. Each of the three signs that belong to one element appear to characterize a guna. For example, if the air signs Aquarius, Gemini and Libra are counted as rajo-sattva, Aquarius leans more to tamo- guna, Gemini to rajo-guna and Libra to sattva-guna. The planets, too, are indicators of the gunas. Maharsi Parasara Muni, a great Vedic sage, composed the Brihad Parasara Hora Sastra. In Chapter 3, verse 22, he writes:
jiva suryndavah sattvam
budha sukrau rajastatha
surya putre dharaputrau
tamah prakrtikau dvija

O brahmana, the luminaries (the sun and the moon) and Jupiter are sattvic planets, Venus and Mercury are rajasic, while Mars and Saturn are tamasic.
Rahu and Ketu are not mentioned in this verse; but jyotisa assigns Rahu to rajo-guna and Ketu to tamo-guna.
ramo'vatarah suryasya candrasya yadunayakah
nrsimho bhumiputrasya buddha somasutasya ca
vamano vibhudhejyasya bhargavo bhargavasya ca
kurmo bhaskaraputrasya saimhike yasya sukrah
ketormihnavatarasca ye canye te 'pi khetajah
paratmamso'dhiko yesu te sarve khecarabhidhah
Lord Rama manifests as the sun, Lord Krishna as the moon. Lord Nrisimhadeva manifests as Mars. Buddha manifests as Mercury, Vamana as Jupiter, Parasurama as Venus, Kurma as Saturn, Varaha as Rahu and Mina (Matsya) as Ketu. Living entities possessed with a degree of paramatmamsa are called heavenly or divine beings.
The term paramatmamsa is clarified in 2. 2:
The four avataras Rama, Krsna, Narasimha and Varaha are the Supreme Soul in His fullest manifestation.
Thus jivas who are invested with the qualities of these four forms  of the Lord appear in this world as devas, rsis and great sadhus. In 2. 3-4, Parasara Muni declares:
Janardana or Visnu has incarnated as the navagrahas (nine planets) to bestow on the living entities the results of their karmas or actions. He assumed the auspicious form of grahas to destroy the strength of the demons, to sustain the strength of the devas and to establish dharma.
The planets are persons. Each has his identifying characteristics. The sun (Surya) is royal, masculine, disciplined, authoritative, strong and original. The moon (Chandra) is royal, feminine, attractive, everchanging and delicate. Jupiter (Guru) is spiritual, counseling, friendly, self-centered and disciplined. Rahu is rebellious, impulsive, short-tempered and secretive. Mercury (Budha) is princely, entertaining, wily, intelligent and sensitive. Venus (Sukra) is romantic, slow, sensual, sweet-spoken, diplomatic and manipulative. Ketu is mystical, dreamlike, intuitive and inventive. Saturn (Sani) is wise, malefic, servile, laborious, struggling and suffering. Mars (Angaraka) is warlike, strong, rustic, perfectionist, doubting, fighting, alienating and discriminating. There is also a connection between the planets and the dosas of Ayurveda. The sun is pitta-nature, the moon is kapha, Jupiter is kapha, Rahu is vata, Mercury is vata, Venus is kapha, Ketu is kapha, Saturn is vata and Mars is pitta. Besides Ayurveda and jyotisa, there are a number of other Vedic typological systems: varnasrama-dharma, of course, but also natya-sastra (containing Bharata Muni's analysis of emotional types), kama-sastra (the Vedic science of sexuality), and others. All of these can be understood and explained through tri-guna- prakrti.
Surrender, marga and guna

The typologies mentioned above pertain to prarabdha-karma. In Srila Prabhupada's view, one may belong to any typology but that in itself is not an obstacle to spiritual life as long as one surrenders completely to Krsna. Surrender is an exercise of choice (free will), which is the individual prerogative of the jiva. Sastra readily admits that even after having accepted the path of bhakti the jiva may not surrender completely in just one step. In fact he cannot surrender completely if he is not endowed with transcendental knowledge of Krsna's supreme position. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 6. 1. 4-5, Srila Prabhupada explains:
In Bhagavad-gita (10. 8), the Lord says, aham sarvasya prabhavo: "I am the origin of everything. " Mattah sarvam pravartate: "whatever exists in the creation emanates from Me. " Iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-saman-vitah: "When one fully understands that I create everything by My omnipotence, one becomes firmly situated in devotional service and fully surrenders at My lotus feet. " Unfortunately, the unintelligent cannot immediately understand Krsna's supremacy. Nonetheless, if they associate with devotees and read authorized books, they may gradually come to the proper understanding, although this may take many, many births.
There are four typologies within the category of neophyte devotees, or those who, while on the path of bhakti, have not fully surrendered. Srila Prabhupada nicely summarized the four in Nectar of Devotion  Chapter Three.
These four types of devotees have been described in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, and they have all been accepted as pious. Without becoming pious, no one can come to devotional service. It is explained in Bhagavad-gita that only one who has continually executed pious activities and whose sinful reactions in life have completely stopped can take to Krsna consciousness. Others cannot. The neophyte devotees are classified into four groups--the distressed, those in need of money, the inquisitive and the wise--according to their gradations of pious activities.
A related way of knowing who a fully-surrendered devotee is is indicated by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindu 1. 1. 11, where he writes jnana-karmady-anavrtam. Anavrtam, according to a definition given by Srila Prabhupada in a Gita class on 10 December 1972, means "not touched. " Thus a pure devotee is not touched by the margas (Vedic paths) of jnana and karma. It follows that a neophyte devotee is still in touch with these paths. Jnana and karma are indeed paths of piety, and piety is required in order for one to take to devotional service. However, when one fully surrenders to Krsna, he leaves behind jnana and karma. Speaking to a reporter on 24 July 1973 in London, Srila Prabhupada explained that a soul suffering from lingering addiction to fruitive work or to mental speculation will follow the paths of karma-misra- bhakti and jnana-misra-bhakti. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 10. 10. 20-22, Srila Prabhupada states about these paths:
By karma-misra-bhakti one is elevated to the celestial kingdom, by jnana-misra-bhakti one is able to merge in the Brahman effulgence, and by yoga-misra-bhakti one is able to realize the omnipotency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But pure bhakti does not depend on karma, jnana or yoga, for it simply consists of loving affairs.
The summary of all this is found in the purport to Bhagavad-gita 7. 17:
On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, the search for mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.
Two classes of neophyte devotees (those who suffer from material distress and those who feel in need of money) are clearly in touch with karma. It can be further observed that those devotees who are work-oriented, who relate to others in a formalistic, perfunctory manner,  who seek solutions to problems through mechanistic adjustments, display  leanings to the karma-marga. Two classes of neophyte devotees (those who are inquisitive, and those who are dedicated to a philosophical grasp of  the Absolute Truth) are jnana-oriented. Furthermore, devotees who  prefer the cognitive mind over the conative and affective mind, who maintain  distance from others, and who seek solutions to problems from the remove of hands-off analysis, display leanings to jnana-marga. Misra-bhakti, devotional service in touch with karma and  jnana, is conducted under the modes of material nature. Devotees under the modes exhibit typical behavior patterns that are described in  Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter Twenty-nine. Srila Prabhupada gives this summary in  his purport to verse 10 of that chapter.
Devotional service in the modes of ignorance, passion and goodness can be divided into eighty-one categories. There are different devotional activities, such as hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, offering prayer, rendering service and surrendering everything, and each of them can be divided into three qualitative categories. There is hearing in the mode of passion, in the mode of ignorance and in the mode of goodness. Similarly, there is chanting in the mode of ignorance, passion and goodness, etc. Three multiplied by nine equals twenty-seven, and when again multiplied by three it becomes eighty-one. One has to transcend all such mixed materialistic devotional service in order to reach the standard of pure devotional service, as explained in the next verses.
In Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter Thirty-two, Lord Kapiladeva outlines a progressive path for such misra-bhaktas. The path is in terms of asrama-dharma. Srila Prabhupada summarizes this path in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 3. 32. 34-36.
There are four orders of the social system: brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa. For the grhasthas, or householders, performance of sacrifices, distribution of charity, and action according to prescribed duties are especially recommended. Similarly, austerity, study of Vedic literature, and philosophical research are meant for the vanaprasthas, or retired persons. Study of the Vedic literature from the bona fide spiritual master is meant for the brahmacari, or student. Atmendriya jaya, control of the mind and taming of the senses, is meant for persons in the renounced order of life. All these different activities are prescribed for different persons so that they may be elevated to the platform of self-realization and from there to Krsna consciousness, devotional service.
It would be sheer concoction to attempt to match each of the four orders to each of the four classes of neophyte devotees. What should be understood is that as a devotee progresses through the four orders he engages in prescribed duties that gradually purify his consciousness of distress, need of money, inquisitive speculation and attachment to pondering philosophical problems. These duties constitute the vyavahara stage of Krsna consciousness that Narada Muni recommends in his bhakti-sutras:
na tad-siddhau loka-vyavaharo heyah kintu phala-tyagas
Even after devotional service has been achieved one should not abandon his responsibilities in this world, but rather should surrender the results of work. And while still trying to reach the stage of pure devotion one certainly must continue executing prescribed duties.
This essay closes with this summary purport from Srimad-Bhagavatam 3. 32. 37.
The process of bhakti-yoga, devotional service, is the main river flowing down towards the sea of the Absolute Truth, and all other processes mentioned are just like tributaries. Lord Kapila is summarizing the importance of the process of devotional service. Bhakti-yoga, as described before, is divided into four divisions, three in the material modes of nature and one in transcendence, which is untinged by the modes of material nature. Devotional service mixed with the modes of material nature is a means for material existence, whereas devotional service without desires for fruitive result and without attempts for empirical philosophical research is pure, transcendental devotional service.
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1. Krsna explains this principle in the Bhagavad-Gita (7. 28): 

yesham tv anta-gatam papam
jananam punya-karmanam
te dvandva-moha-nirmukta
bhajante mam drdha-vratah


To make significant advancement one must engage in Krsna consciousness with unwavering determination. This is difficult when one's stock of unmanifested reactions continuously generates sinful desires that distract one from bhakti. But by acting piously (controlling the senses) one avoids sinful activity, and thus does not increase his sinful proclivities. This gradually exhausts one's stock of sins, and one can engage in devotional service without distraction (drdha-vrata).

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