Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya-lila Chapter 9 Verse 194

Madhya-līlā | Chapter 9: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's Travels to the Holy Places

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 9.194

aprākṛta vastu nahe prākṛta-gocara

veda-purāṇete ei kahe nirantara

SYNONYMS

aprākṛta — spiritual; vastu — substance; nahe — not; prākṛta — of matter; gocara — within the jurisdiction; veda-purāṇete — the Vedas and the Purāṇas; ei — this; kahe — say; nirantara — always.

TRANSLATION

"Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Purāṇas."

PURPORT

As stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.3.9, 12):

na sandṛśe tiṣṭhati rūpam asya

na cakṣuṣā paśyati kaścanainam

hṛdā manīṣā manasābhikḷpto

ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti

naiva vācā na manasā

prāptuḿ śakyo na cakṣuṣā

"Spirit is not within the jurisdiction of material eyes, words or mind."

Similarly, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.84.13) states:

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

"A human being who identifies his body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of his body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of his birth worshipable, and who goes to a place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than to meet men of transcendental knowledge there is to be considered like an ass or a cow."

These are some Vedic statements about spiritual substance. Spiritual substance cannot be seen by the unintelligent, because they do not have the eyes or the mentality to see the spirit soul. Consequently they think that there is no such thing as spirit. But the followers of the Vedic injunctions take their information from Vedic statements, such as the verses from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam quoted above..

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness