Are we struggling to stay or struggling to leave the material world?

Forest of material existence

Question : Are we struggling to stay or struggling to leave the material world?

There are five kinds of struggle everyone goes through in material existence. According to Sanskrit linguistics, the word pa-varga also refers to the Sanskrit letters pa, pha, ba, bha, and ma.

1. Pa – pariśrama, which means “labor / pa, comes from the word parābhava, which means “defeat.”
2. Pha – Phena is the foam which is found on the mouth when one is very tired (as is commonly observed with horses)
3. Ba – The letter ba comes from the word bandha, or bondage
4. Bha – Bha is taken from the word bhīti, or fearfulness / fear (bhaya)
5. Ma – Ma is taken from the word mṛti, or death

As soon as one accepts a material body – whether it is that of a president or a common man, a demigod or a human being, an insect or a Brahmā – one must go through these tribulations, ultimately ending in mṛtyu (death). Our efforts to secure a comfortable life in the material world only ensure that we remain entangled in these five tribulations, life after life.

However, if we choose to take on the challenge of doing the opposite—embracing discomfort by adopting a spiritual life and struggling against our material conditioning—we can elevate ourselves to the platform of Apavarga.

Apavarga represents the exact opposite of material existence. It is the spiritual realm where there is no labor, no foam (useless effort), no frustration, no fear, and no death. This is why Kṛṣṇa is known as anapavarga-vīrya, for He reveals the path to apavarga, the spiritual world and liberation from material struggles.

Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu 2.1.205
yathā —
parābhavaṃ phenila-vaktratāṃ ca
bandhaṃ ca bhītiṃ ca mṛtiṃ ca kṛtvā |
pavarga-dātāpi śikhaṇḍa-maule
tvaṃ śātravāṇām apavargado’si

“O topmost jewel! Though You give the pavargas of defeat (pa), foaming mouth (pha), bondage (ba), fear (bha) and death (ma) to Your enemies, You give them the opposite, apavarga or liberation as well.”

Even the enemies of Kṛṣṇa attained apavarga by being defeated by Him. For example, Kṛṣṇa embraced Pūtanā’s body with great pleasure and sucked her breast. Although she was a wicked witch, she was granted the position of a mother in the transcendental world and thus achieved the highest perfection.

If this is the result for someone like Pūtanā, what can be said of the cows whose nipples Kṛṣṇa sucked with great pleasure, as they offered their milk joyfully and affectionately, just like mothers?

Therefore, it is far better to struggle in our chanting until we develop a taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, rather than to endure the struggles of pavarga by taking birth again in another mother’s womb.

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