Page 16 - Metaphysical questions of life

man beings by virtue of their limited free will have only two free choic-
es in life. They can choose to follow Lord Krishna’s instruc ons or re-

ject them. The Lord is never responsible for the mistakes made by be-
wildered living en es who desire sense gra fica on.

nāda e kasyacit pāpaṁ / na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ
ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ / tena muhyan jantavaḥ

“Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious ac vi es.
Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance
which covers their real knowledge.” (Bg 5.15)

Bhak vedanta Swami Prabhupada gives the following brilliant explana-
on of this verse.

“The Sanskrit word vibhu means the Supreme Lord who is full of unlim-
ited knowledge, riches, strength, fame, beauty and renuncia on. He is
always sa sfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious ac vi es. He

does not create a par cular situa on for any living en ty, but the living
en ty, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain condi-
ons of life, and thereby his chain of ac on and reac on begins. A liv-
ing en ty is, by superior nature, full of knowledge. Nevertheless, he is
prone to be influenced by ignorance due to his limited power. The Lord

is omnipotent, but the living en ty is not. The Lord is vibhu, or omnisci-
ent, but the living en ty is aṇu, or atomic. Because he is a living soul, he
has the capacity to desire by his free will. Such desire is fulfilled only by
the omnipotent Lord. And so, when the living en ty is bewildered in his
desires, the Lord allows him to fulfill those desires, but the Lord is never
responsible for the ac ons and reac ons of the par cular situa on

which may be desired. Being in a bewildered condi on, therefore, the
embodied soul iden fies himself with the circumstan al material body
and becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life.
The Lord is the constant companion of the living en ty as Paramātmā,
or the Supersoul, and therefore He can understand the desires of the

individual soul, as one can smell the flavor of a flower by being near it.
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