324 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 19

within fire and ether. Living entities have different material bodies composed of
earth, water, air, fire and ether. The words tara madhye mean “within this uni-
verse.” The entire material universe is composed of five material elements. It is not
true that living entities reside only within this planet and not within others. Such a
conclusion is completely contradictory to the Vedas. As stated in Bhagavad-gita
(2.24):

acchedyo ‘yam adahyo ‘yam
akledyo 'sosya eva Ca

nityah sarva-gatah sthanur
acalo ‘yam sanatanah

“This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor
dried. He is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the
same.”

The soul has nothing to do with the material elements. Any material element
can be cut to pieces, especially earth. As far as the living entity is concerned,
however, it can neither be burned nor cut to pieces. It can therefore live within
fire. We can conclude that there are also living entities within the sun. Why
should living entities be denied this planet or that planet? According to the Vedas,
the living entities can live anywhere and everywhere—on land, in water, in air and
in fire. Whatever the condition, the living entity is unchangeable (sthanu). From
the statements of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Bhagavad-gitd, we are to con-
clude that living entities are everywhere throughout the universes. They are dis-
tributed as trees, plants, aquatics, birds, human beings and so on.

TEXT 145

SA AG AT-TifS BS HAS |
Sta ACH CPR, Ale, cate, MAAN S8e 1

tara madhye manusya-jati ati alpatara
tara madhye mleccha, pulinda, bauddha, sabara

SYNONYMS

tara madhye—among all such living entities; manusya-jati—entities born as
human beings; ati—very; alpatara—small in quantity; tara madhye—among the
small quantity of human beings; mleccha—uncivilized men who cannot follow
the Vedic principles; pulinda—unregulated; bauddha—followers of Buddhist phi-
losophy; sabara—the lowest of men (the hunter class).
