42 Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge

Such mahatmas are not under the control of
material nature (mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim
prakrtim asritah). God is great and the mahatma’s
heart also becomes great by serving the great.
Mahatma is not a stamp for a political leader. One
cannot be stamped mahatma by votes. The standard
for mahatma is given in Bhagavad-gita: the mahatma
is he who has taken shelter of the superior energy of
the Lord. Of course all energies are His, and He does
not make distinctions between spiritual energy and
material energy, but for the conditioned soul who is
situated marginally between material energy and
spiritual energy, there is a distinction. The mahatmas
see this distinction and so take shelter under the
spiritual energy (daivim prakrtim).

By serving the great, the mahatmas also become
great through identifying with the superior energy:
(aham brahmasmi) ‘I am Brahman-—spirit.” It is not
that they become puffed up and think that they are
God. Rather, if one becomes Brahman, he must show
his activities in Brahman. Spirit is active, and to be-
come Brahman is not to become inactive. Brahman is
spirit, and these material bodies are active only be-
cause Brahman is within them. If we are active de-
spite our contact with material nature, do we cease
to be active when we purify ourselves of the material
contamination and establish ourselves in our proper
identity as pure Brahman? Realizing “I am Brahman”
means engagement in spiritual activity because we
are spirit, and our activities are exhibited even though
we are contaminated by matter.To become Brahman
does not mean to become void but to establish
ourselves in the superior nature, which means
