Instructions To His Sons

Maharaja Rsabhadeva was giving these instructions to his sons before his retirement. Maharaja Rsabhadeva had one hundred sons, and all of them assembled together so that their father, the king, could give them instruction. According to the Vedic system, it was the duty of the father to instruct his sons before his retirement. The Vedic system dictates that whether one is a king or an ordinary human being, at a certain age he must retire. The Vedic system does not recommend that just because one is a king and has ample opportunity for sense enjoyment he should indulge in sense gratification until the moment of death. The Vedic system is concerned with elevating oneself to the perfection of Krsna consciousness. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Sri Krsna says, "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness. From all the Vedas I am to be known; indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I know the Veda as it is." (Bg. 15.15) Thus the whole Vedic system is designed to enable the living entity to know Krsna, who is the author of the Vedas.

For one who follows the Vedic system, his ultimate objective is Krsna consciousness, knowledge of Lord Sri Krsna. This is the Vedic version corroborated by Lord Sri Krsna Himself. Because Lord Sri Krsna is the actual compiler of the Vedas, His words should be accepted. The very purpose of studying the Vedas is to come to know Krsna-that is all. Of course Maharaja Rsabhadeva did not have to instruct his sons in this way. He could have remained on the throne and enjoyed his kingdom. At the present moment a king or a family man does not retire, even though he may be struggling with great difficulty. There are many old men who are suffering, who are not happy with their family members, but who are working arduously until their death. They will not agree to join the Krsna consciousness society or to take up Vedic training. No, they will stick to family life until the very end. It is not uncommon to see politicians seventy-five and eighty years old continuing in the political arena until they are forced to vacate by death. Gandhi, for instance, was forced to retire when he was killed by a political opponent. When Gandhi attained independence, I wrote him a letter requesting, "Mr. Gandhi, now you have succeeded in your struggle with the British, and now India has attained its independence. Now we deserve to learn something about God. You have a great deal of influence, so now you should preach Bhagavad-gita. You are known throughout the whole world as a very saintly person, and you also claim to be a great scholar of Bhagavad-gita, so why don't you take up Bhagavad-gita and preach?" He did not reply but continued to meddle with politics until his assistants became disgusted and his assassination followed. Although he was considered a mahatma, still the intoxication of materialistic life caught him up. Although he got his desire, although the Britishers left India, still he would not give up politics. That is the way of material life. Men refuse to retire until they are killed by the laws of material nature. This is a disease. Maya is so strong that even an old man who advertises himself to be very pious cannot give up politics because he is thinking that if he leaves the political field his country will suffer, so many disasters will ensue, etc. He does not realize that things will go on without him.