Shloka 7
Kapila’s Conclusion: Limits of Karma and Yoga; Supremacy of Bhakti and Qualification to Receive the Teaching
सूर्यद्वारेण ते यान्ति पुरुषं विश्वतोमुखम् । परावरेशं प्रकृतिमस्योत्पत्त्यन्तभावनम् ॥ ७ ॥
sūrya-dvāreṇa te yānti puruṣaṁ viśvato-mukham parāvareśaṁ prakṛtim asyotpatty-anta-bhāvanam
By the gate of the sun, such liberated souls approach the all-faced Puruṣa, Lord of both the spiritual and material worlds, the supreme cause of prakṛti’s manifestation and dissolution.
The word sūrya-dvāreṇa means “by the illuminated path,” or through the sun planet. The illuminated path is devotional service. It is advised in the Vedas not to pass through the darkness, but to pass through the sun planet. It is also recommended here that by traversing the illuminated path one can be freed from the contamination of the material modes of nature; by that path one can enter into the kingdom where the completely perfect Personality of Godhead resides. The words puruṣaṁ viśvato-mukham mean the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is all-perfect. All living entities other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead are very small, although they may be big by our calculation. Everyone is infinitesimal, and therefore in the Vedas the Supreme Lord is called the supreme eternal amongst all eternals. He is the proprietor of the material and spiritual worlds and the supreme cause of manifestation. Material nature is only the ingredient because actually the manifestation is caused by His energy. The material energy is also His energy; just as the combination of father and mother is the cause of childbirth, so the combination of the material energy and the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of the manifestation of the material world. The efficient cause is therefore not matter, but the Lord Himself.
FAQs
This verse states that liberated souls pass through the sun’s gateway and reach the Supreme Person, the Lord of all realms, who is beyond material nature and the ultimate cause of the universe’s creation and dissolution.
Kapila emphasizes the Supreme Person’s all-pervading sovereignty—He is present everywhere, governing both higher and lower worlds, and is not limited by material nature.
By cultivating bhakti—hearing, chanting, and remembering the Supreme Person as the ultimate controller and cause—one gradually shifts identity from material nature to loving devotion directed to the Lord.