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Because the mind is absorbed in desires [vasanas] for pious and impious activities, it is naturally subjected to the transformations of lust and anger. In this way, it becomes attracted to material sense enjoyment. In other words, the mind is conducted by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. There are eleven senses and five material elements, and out of these sixteen items, the mind is the chief. Therefore the mind brings about birth in different types of bodies among demigods, human beings, animals and birds. When the mind is situated in a higher or lower position, it accepts a higher or lower material body.

This verse outlines a series of psychological phenomena that culminates in the soul taking another birth. Let us take a few moments now to analyze this series.

1. The material mind is guna-pravaha, conducted by the three modes of material nature. Each individual's mind is subject to a unique combination of the three modes.
2. The effect of the modes upon the mind is understood by the mind's constant agitation and restlessness. While consoling his mother as she grieved over the death of Hiranyaksa, Hiranyakasipu nicely summed up this effect in Srimad-Bhagavatam 7. 2. 24. He told her that the soul is always avikalah puman, changeless; but when the mind is agitated by the gunas, the soul is bewildered and sees itself undergoing material transformations. In the verse quoted above, Jada Bharata uses the word vikrtah to indicate the transformations of mind that are induced by guna-pravaha.
3. Restlessness of mind is the fertile soil by which the seeds of desire embedded within the karana-deha develop into ideas of sense gratification that blossom in the linga-sarira. In the Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary the word vasana is translated as "infusing" (this is one definition among several given). The word infuse means "to put into or introduce as if by pouring. " Hence the vasanas are waves of desire that pour out of the subconsciousness into the restless conscious mind.
4. The mind is the chief of the sixteen material coverings of consciousness (the others are the five gross elements, the five jnanendriyas, and the five karmendriyas). The desires of the mind are served by the fifteen other coverings.
5. When the senses engage in satisfying the mind's desires, karma is generated, and the wheel of samsara is turned. Thus the soul takes on  body after body according to the mind's condition under the modes: good,  mediocre, or bad.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura writes as follows in his commentary: arthena vyaghra-sarpadina vinaiva drsyamanah svapnadi-bhange sati na drsyante tad evam daradayo 'vastava-vastu-bhutah svapnadayo 'vastu-bhutas ca sarve manobhavah mano-vasana janyatvan manobhavah. At night one dreams of tigers and snakes, and while dreaming he actually sees them, but as soon as the dream is broken they no longer exist. Similarly, the material world is a creation of our mental concoctions. We have come to this material world to enjoy material resources, and by mental concoction we discover many, many objects of enjoyment because our minds are absorbed in material things. This is why we receive various bodies. According to our mental concoctions we work in various ways, desiring various achievements, and by nature and the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (karmana-daiva-netrena) we get the advantages we desire. Thus we become more and more involved with material concoctions. This is the reason for our suffering in the material world. By one kind of activity we create another, and they are all products of our mental concoctions.

Vasana. Therefore we have to become vasana-less. Without any vasana means without any material desires. Vasana cannot. . . it is therefore not actually to make it null and void, but to make it purified. That is the aim of human life. To purify our desires. That purification is possible by Krsna consciousness. Sarva padi vinirmuktan tat paratvena nirmalam. If you simply desire how to serve Krsna then that is really desirelessness.

Diagram 1:  How Klesha Appears

Klesha refers to distress, and the causes of distress.  

Distress has three causes: (1) papam — sins, (2) bija — material desires, and (3) avidya — ignorance, the root cause.

Srila Rüpa Gosvami explains that devotional service is the best means of obtaining relief from distress, because it is the only process that can counteract all three causes.
 

Diagram 2: Two Reactions to Papam (Sins)

Sinful actions (papam) produce two reactions: (1) prarabdha — manifest, and (2) aprarabdha — unmanifest. Srila Prabhupäda describes, “. . . for some of our sinful activities we are awaiting distress in the future, and for others, which are mature, we are suffering at the present moment (NOD pg 4). ” 

Manifest Sinful Reactions (Prarabdha-Papam)

A disease caught early is curable, but is far more difficult to counteract if allowed to become chronic. Similarly, sinful reactions are more difficult to counteract once they become manifest. Devotional service, however, can remove even manifest sinful reactions and the suffering they bring.

Devahuti explains that by practicing devotional service even someone born in the lowest family of dog-eaters becomes qualified to perform the highest brähmiëical sacrifices.   The behavior of those born into degraded families disqualifies them from performing Vedic sacrifices. Devahuti points out that even  slight engagement in devotional service can counteract the disqualifications incurred by a low birth.

One's birth is a tangible result of karma — a manifest reaction (prarabdha-papam). Thus Devahüti's statement is sastric evidence that devotional service can counteract prarabdha-papam.

Unmanifest Sinful Reactions (Aprarabdha-Papam)

Devotional service is like a blazing fire, able to consume limitless amounts of unmanifest sinful reactions. Srila Prabhupada says, “. . . as the blazing fire can burn any amount of fuel to ashes, so devotional service to the Lord in Krsna consciousness can burn up all the fuel of sinful activities (NOD pg 5). ”

How Unmanifest Reactions Cause Suffering.

Previously, we said that sinful activity causes two types of reaction: manifest and unmanifest. We will further clarify this statement.

Diagram 3: Furtherance of the Two  Reactions to Papam (Sins)

A sinful action generates two types of unmanifest reactions. One type creates direct physical or emotional suffering. The other type creates indirect suffering by increasing one's sinful proclivities.  

For example, if one engages in illicit sex he receives two types of reactions. One type creates some direct physical or emotional suffering. The other type creates indirect suffering by exacerbating his proclivity for sex; thereby increasing sexual desires, impelling future illicit sex, and entangling him in a karmic cycle of suffering.

When sinful desires increase, sinful activities increase. When sinful activities increase, sinful desires increase — it is a self-perpetuating cycle. The more one tries to satisfy his desires, the stronger they become.

Evolution of Unmanifest Sin

The cycle of unmanifest reaction goes through four stages, as explained in Padma Purana:

1. Aprarabdha (unmanifest reaction) — In this stage the reaction is completely unmanifest and has no perceptible effect.
2. Kutam (sinful proclivity) — In this stage the reaction evolves into a psychological disposition towards sin.
3. Bija (sinful desire) — In this stage the sinful proclivity evolves into a specific desire to commit a particular sinful action.
4. Prarabdha (manifest sinful reaction) — In this stage the sinful desire causes one to commit a sinful action and suffer the concomitant reaction.

The following illustration may help clarify the subtle distinctions between these four stages:

Diagram 4: The Four Stages of Bondage

As a result of some sinful act, a man is destined to become a thief  and suffer punishment. However, this reaction is not immediately felt — it is stored for a future birth (this is the stage of aprarabdha). In his next life, the reaction begins to manifest as an almost unnoticed proclivity towards dishonesty and cheating (this is the stage of kuta). This proclivity gradually intensifies and eventually manifests an explicit desire to steal (this is the stage of bija). Finally, this desire causes the man to commit theft and undergo the consequential suffering (this is the stage of prarabdha).

Devotional service eradicates all four stages of sinful reaction in chronological order — first aprarabdha, next kuta, then bija, and finally prarabdha. (See NOD page 6. )

Bija— Desire

Srila Rupa Gosvami described the first cause of suffering (papam) in all its subheadings. Now he describes the second cause of suffering: bija — sinful desire.

He quotes the Visnuduttas (SB 6. 2. 17), who explain that many processes can neutralize the reactions of sinful activities, but only devotional service can uproot sinful desire — which is the cause of sinful activity.

Srila Prabhupada elaborates by citing Ajamila. In spite of his strict performance of brahminical duties, sinful desires remained in Ajämila's heart and caused him to succumb to sinful life. Later, the simple devotional service of chanting "Narayana" uprooted all his calamities, although he was in the midst of sinful activities. (See NOD page 6. )

Vedic rituals like charity and austerity can neutralize sinful reactions, but they cannot neutralize sinful desire. Srila Prabhupäda gives two illustrations: (1)  a person may be cured of venereal disease by some painful medical treatment, but because sex desire remains in his heart he again implicates himself in suffering; (2) an elephant may carefully bathe in a lake, but upon returning to the land immediately covers himself again with dirt. (See NOD page 7. )

Devotional service can uproot even sinful desire, and is therefore the best method for attaining relief from suffering.

Diagram 5: The Appearance of Desire From Ignorance and Its Reactions

The root cause of suffering is avidya — ignorance of one's true identity as Krsna's eternal servant. In ignorance, one acts as an enjoyer and suffers the concomitant reactions.   Srila Prabhupäda says, “As long as one is ignorant about his identity, he is sure to act wrongly and thereby become entangled in material contamination (NOD pg 8). ” 

Uprooting ignorance is the best way to uproot suffering. Only devotional service can uproot all ignorance. Srila Rüpa Gosvami authenticates this by quoting Padma Purana and Srimad-Bhagavatam (Fourth Canto).

Srila Prabhupada's summarizes the quotation from Padma Purana, “Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness is the highest enlightenment, and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious snakes of desire (NOD pg 8). ” In this quotation, Srila Prabhupada expresses the Sanskrit word avidyam as "desire. " One usually translates avidyam as ignorance. Accordingly, Srila Prabhupäda clarifies, “Similarly, the blazing fire of Krsna consciousness is so strong that the snakes of ignorance are immediately killed (NOD pg 8). ”

Devotional service eradicates sinful reactions, nullifies sinful desires, counteracts material proclivities, and — most importantly — uproots ignorance. Therefore it is the only efficient and effective way to achieve permanent relief from all suffering. In Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 25. 8 we find the phrase anadi-kala-karma-vasana-grathitam avidyamayam hrdaya-granthim. Anadi-kala means "from time immemorial," karma-vasana means "the desire for fruitive activities", and grathitam means "tied tightly. " Avidyamayam means "consisting of the illusory energy. " Hrdaya-granthim means "the knot within the heart. " There are many verses in Srimad-Bhagavatam about the severing of the hard knot within the heart as the final stroke of liberation for the soul; among them 1. 2. 21 and 11. 20. 30 are oft-cited. In Srimad-Bhagavatam 5. 25. 8 it is made clear that this hard knot is the beginningless susceptibility of conditioned consciousness to the influx of vasana. This verse further makes clear that hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, and constant remembrance of Him, is the only process by which consciousness can be purified so that vasana can no longer penetrate.

About this state of purified mind, Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 4. 29. 69:

In Brahma-samhita 5. 54, it is said karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti bhajam. When a person is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness, his stockpile of material desires is minimized. Indeed, the desires no longer fructify in the form of gross bodies. Instead, the stockpile of desires becomes visible on the mental platform by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

No living entity is free from the cycle of birth and death unless he takes to Krsna consciousness; therefore in this verse it is clearly stated (sattvaika-nisthe) that when one is fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness, in one stroke he is freed of past and future mental desires. Then, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, everything becomes simultaneously manifest within the mind. In this regard, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura cites the example of mother Yasoda's seeing the whole cosmic manifestation within the mouth of Lord Krsna. By the grace of Lord Krsna, Mother Yasoda saw all the universes and planets within the mouth of Krsna. Similarly, by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, a Krsna conscious person can see all his dormant desires at one time and finish all his future transmigrations. This facility is especially given to the devotee to make his path clear for returning home, back to Godhead.

In this purport Srila Prabhupada explains that a pure devotee is released from the reaction of stockpiled material desires through dreams.

Kalisantarana Upanisad 7 declares:

iti sodasa kalasya jivasyavarana vinasam
tatha prakasate parabrahma megha paye
ravi rasmi mandali veti

In this way the Mahamantra of sixteen names is the destroyer of the covering of the jivatma which is composed of sixteen parts. It is then only that Parambrahma Lord Sri Krsna shines before the jiva like the rays of the sun after the cloudy covering of the sky is removed.

In the first part of the Hare Krsna Mahamantra, the holy names (Hare and Krsna) are uttered eight times. In the second part, the holy names(Hare and Rama) are uttered eight times. Thus there are sixteen names in the Mahamantra. The sixteen layers that cover the soul have already been explained; the vasana-infected mind is the chief of these sixteen. Chanting the sixteen holy names rids consciousness of all these coverings. When consciousness is pure, it is illuminated by the rays of Lord Krsna's personal form.

ei ye sri-madhavendra sri-pada upeksa karila
sei aparadhe inhara vasana, janmila

Ramacandra Puri was thus denounced by Madhavendra Puri. Due to his offense, gradually material desire appeared within him.

Samskaras (Impressions)

It is very important in dealing with our individual psychology that we understand samskaras, which means "mental impressions. " Almost every time this word appears in Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, letters and conversations, "Vedic reformatory performance" is meant. For example, the Vedic marriage ceremony is called vivaha-samskara. Samskara in this usage also has its psychological sense, but it is reformatory. The ceremony impresses the minds of the couple getting married that the vow they are taking is one of the most important in their whole lives; they must preserve this solemn vow in years to come, in both good times and bad, etc. It is sometimes said that when the newly married couple circles the sacrificial fire seven times together, this creates an impression in their minds that will last for seven lifetimes.

Sinful events and associations also deeply impress our minds for years and even lifetimes together. Such sinful samskaras are closely associated with vasana (sinful desires) and kuta (sinful inclination). Srila Prabhupada indicated this sense of samskara in a conversation of 11 September, 1972, in Arlington, Texas.

Well, samskara you can change in a second. Samskara may be powerful. (indistinct) Krsna assures you, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami. He will give you protection. Samskara means you did some sinful activities and you are suffering. But He gives you protection. Sarva-papebhyo. Then what is the meaning of samskara? You can change your samskara immediately by surrendering to Krsna. Why you are so much concerned with samskara? He says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam. . . , aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksa. . . The samskara as effects of sinful activities, that is troublesome. So He gives you protection. Ma sucah, "Don't worry. " Why don't you take this? You don't want to change your samskara, and who can help you? That is a different thing. You don't want to change. Otherwise Krsna is ready to give you all help. How their samskara is changed? From the very beginning of their life they are addicted to these principles: illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling. How they have changed? They don't touch it. How it has become possible?