Page 58 - THE FOURTH DIMENSION

a scientist or a poet, and repeatedly become entangled in the same disadvantages of birth and death. But, due
to the illusion of the material energy, one thinks that that sort of life is pleasant. (Bg 14.6 - purport)

Lord Krishna says:

guṇān etān atītya trīn / dehī deha-samudbhavān
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair / vimukto ’mṛtam aśnute

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can
become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life. (Bg 14.20)

Devotional service in Krishna consciousness is effective liberation from material entanglement. When one is
freed from the influence of the modes of material nature, he enters into devotional service and begins the path
to immortality. Unalloyed devotional service for the Lord is the surest way to become free from the oppressive
cycle of birth, death, old age and disease. Bhakti (devotion to Krishna) is always joyfully performed. By continual
service for Krishna one is blessed with self-realization, namely understanding and acting in one’s eternal
relationship with the Lord. One is no longer attracted by temporary material pleasures and pursuits due to being
completely satisfied by constant engagement in the Lord’s service. This amazing state of mind is explained by
Lord Krishna:

viṣayā vinivartante / nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya / paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But,
ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. (Bg 2.59)

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains:

Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of
restriction from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting a diseased person from
certain types of eatables. The patient, however, neither likes such restrictions nor loses his taste for eatables.
Similarly, sense restriction by some spiritual process like aṣṭāṅga-yoga, in the matter of yama, niyama, āsana,
prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, (and Samadhi) etc., is recommended for less intelligent persons who
have no better knowledge. But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the course of his
advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, no longer has a taste for dead, material things. Therefore, restrictions are
there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life, but such restrictions are only good
until one actually has a taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When one is actually Kṛṣṇa conscious, he automatically
loses his taste for pale things. (Bg 2.59 purport)

Once the devotee understands the difference between the body, which is made of matter always subject to
change, and the soul, the real person who exists eternally, one begins to lose attraction to temporary pursuits
and pleasures. This is the turning point in one’s life from the illusory pursuit of material happiness to dedication
to the blissful service of Lord Krishna. The advantages of this dramatic change of consciousness are immesurable
because one enters into the fourth dimension. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has written:
Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses.
By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses.
But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then

56