Brahma Samhita 5.44 – Cultivate a Krishna-centered, not self-centered, vision of nature

Srishti sthiti pralaya sadhana shakti reka, chhayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga, ikshana roopama viyasya chheshta tesa, govindam adi purusham tamaham dharyami. So here, Brahma is describing in the Brahma Samhita the relationship between the material energy Devi and the Adi Purusha Govinda.
He says Srishti sthiti pralaya Srishti is creation, sthiti is maintenance. Pralaya is destruction. Sadhana shakti reka That which brings about is shakti reka.
There is one energy which does all these things. Chhayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga Chhayeva That moves like a shadow. Chhayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga In this material world, Durga is Durga Devi.
Ikshana roopama viyasya chheshta tesa Ikshana roopama As he desires. This is chheshta tesa, chheshta tesa means she endeavours, she acts. Govinda adi purusham tamaham rajam evam That Lord Govinda, I offer my obeisance here.
Adi purusham There are in this world people who in the evolution of their consciousness recognize the primacy of natural energy or nature beyond humanity. Some people think that humanity is meant to bring nature under control All nature under one’s control So I think technology is the means to bring nature under control And there are others who consider that nature is much stronger than us and we are meant to live in harmony with nature and yes, neither understanding is entirely wrong, nor is either fully correct. It’s certainly not that we can or we should dominate nature but cooperation does involve give and take So, we see that there were cities in the Vedic times also in the epic times we see that Mahabharata the Pandavas burnt the Khanda forest so that they could have after burning the Khanda forest they could have something like they could build a city over there so at the same time when the Pandavas were living in the forest at that time when they stayed at one place for a good amount of time Vyasudev came there and told them that if they stay at one place then the hunting and other activities which happen at that place may disrupt the actual balance in that region so better that they should move to some other place and accordingly the Pandavas moved so there is a certain amount of sensitivity in nature also and also there is a certain amount of recognition of the need to live with some intermediate control over nature both these attitudes are primarily human centric what should we do with nature should we bend it to our will or should we try to live harmoniously with it but the Brahma Sunitha takes us towards a more infusive vision where it states that beyond nature there is the one with whom nature is in harmony already eternally there is the lord of nature and without going into the specifics of how Durga is a goddess or as we might say a demigoddess and Krishna is the supreme lord these are cultural specific things that people who are not already familiar with the Vedic culture and the various personalities within it they may not be able to understand it but beyond the specifics there are principles which are being talked over here and Durga is not just a goddess within the Indian pantheon nor is Krishna one god in the Hindu pantheon Durga is the personal manifestation of the power of nature and it is that power which is to be considered it is to be analyzed in this context so nature is something which is at one level visible to us, we can see the flora and the fauna and we can see we can see nature in documentaries which talk about how mythology, how animals live in their natural habitats but the question when observing the sometimes breathtaking variety and beauty of nature, the question that comes to our mind a thoughtful mind is, is there anything underlying nature, is there any principle overseeing and harmonizing and unifying nature while within nature we see that things are conscious but beyond nature but in nature itself is it conscious, what is it exactly when we use the word nature, what do we exactly mean by it so whatever be the different constructions that different people have of nature, an underlying common denominator is the resolution that we need to live in harmony with nature because no matter how much we try we cannot control nature entirely we may think of conquering space by going to the moon or the mars but then the next tornado or tsunami brings us crashing down to earth and we recognize that there is really so little that we can do in front of the awesome power of nature the Brahma Samhita explains over here that nature acts according to the will of God Ikshaan Rootam Ya Siddha Cheshta Desa Ikshaan Rootam according to his will and to stress this point example drawn from nature itself is given that is of a shadow a shadow so a shadow has no free will of its own as the person moves the shadow automatically moves now is it denigrating to say that Durga is simply like a shadow does it mean that she has no free will? no, it does not mean that she has no free will it means that she has freely chosen to harmonize her will with the supreme lord’s will that is what is the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita Karishye Vachanam Tava so I will do your will similarly that harmony between Durga and Krishna is there and what Krishna desires that Durga executes And that way, nature manifests Godhood.
Maya adhyakshena praká¹›tiḥ suhyate Å›accharāccharaṁ hetu nālena kaunteya jata dvÄ« parivartate maya adhyakÅ›ena praká¹›tiḥ maya adhyakÅ›ena under my supervision material nature works so working under his supervision that means she acts as per Krishna’s will and this way we can have we can imbue our conception of nature with the vision of the seeker that this is Krishna’s nature this is manifesting Krishna’s will and when we see things this way then rather than having a vision of hostility towards nature although nature may give us ādhyātmika, adhikādhyamika, kleshya still we don’t have to have an antagonistic vision of nature just as say the if a house has a fence with some barbs on it and the child touches those barbs and the child’s fingers will get cut now the purpose of those barbs is not to cause pain to the child the purpose is to keep the child in a safe zone Krishna will the miseries that we get in the Durga Durga means fort in the four-dimensional existence they are not because Durga is our enemy they are because she wants to keep us on the safe course so of course this fort we are not meant to eternally stay in this fort we are meant to come out of it to attain Krishna’s abode to attain Krishna’s abode the safe course is to act in a way that is harmonious with scripture and it is that kind of acting that kind of actions not acting, the word acting sometimes connotes a sense of artificiality that you are putting up an act that kind of action which is harmonious with Krishna’s will which is which takes us towards Krishna that is the safest way to live in this world so Krishna says if you become conscious of me, Krishna says you will be able to pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life so we can whenever we feel the miseries of material existence we can see that as a prod don’t go away from Krishna don’t forget Krishna move towards Krishna, remember Krishna when we have such a devotional vision of scripture of life of nature based on scripture then we will not fall into illusion when nature seems to sometimes act in seemingly hostile ways we will see that ultimately it is Krishna’s plan to help us attain Him and thus we can stay safe we will be focused on Krishna even while we are in the material nature and thus as she is harmonized with the lord’s will, we too can become harmonized