Page 56 - Metaphysical questions of life

called adhyātma, the self. Ac on pertaining to the development of the
material bodies of the living en es is called karma, or frui ve ac vi-
es.”

“Brahman is indestruc ble and eternally exis ng, and its cons tu on is
not changed at any me. But beyond Brahman there is Para-brahman.
Brahman refers to the living en ty, and Para-brahman refers to the Su-
preme Personality of Godhead. The cons tu onal posi on of the living
en ty is different from the posi on he takes in the material world. In
material consciousness his nature is to try to be the lord of ma er, but
in spiritual consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his posi on is to serve
the Supreme. When the living en ty is in material consciousness, he
has to take on various bodies in the material world. That is
called karma, or varied crea on by the force of material consciousness.
In Vedic literature the living en ty is called jīvātmā and Brahman, but
he is never called Para-brahman. The living en ty (jīvātmā) takes differ-
ent posi ons – some mes he merges into the dark material nature and
iden fies himself with ma er, and some mes he iden fies himself with
the superior, spiritual nature. Therefore he is called the Supreme Lord’s
marginal energy. According to his iden fica on with material or spir-
itual nature, he receives a material or spiritual body. In material nature
he may take a body from any of the 8,400,000 species of life, but in
spiritual nature he has only one body. In material nature he is mani-
fested some mes as a man, demigod, animal, beast, bird, etc., accord-
ing to his karma. To a ain material heavenly planets and enjoy their
facili es, he some mes performs sacrifices (yajña), but when his merit
is exhausted he returns to earth again in the form of a man. This pro-
cess is called karma.
The Chāndogya Upaniṣad describes the Vedic sacrificial process. On the
sacrificial altar, five kinds of offerings are made into five kinds of fire.
The five kinds of fire are conceived of as the heavenly planets, clouds,
the earth, man and woman, and the five kinds of sacrificial offerings
are faith, the enjoyer on the moon, rain, grains and semen.”

“In the process of sacrifice, the living en ty makes specific sacrifices to
a ain specific heavenly planets and consequently reaches them. When
the merit of sacrifice is exhausted, the living en ty descends to earth in
the form of rain, then takes on the form of grains, and the grains are

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