never satisfied

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The renounced order of life is never meant for begging nor living at the cost of others as a parasite. According to the dictionary, a parasite is a sycophant who lives at the cost of society without making any contribution to that society. The renounced order is meant for contributing something substantial to the society and not depending on the earnings of the householders. On the contrary, acceptance of alms from the householders by the bona fide mendicant is an opportunity afforded by the saint for tangible benefit of the donor. In the sanatana-dharma institution, almsgiving to the mendicant is part of a householder's duty, and it is advised in the scriptures that the householders should treat the mendicants as their family children and should provide them with food, clothing, etc., without being asked. Pseudo-mendicants, therefore, should not take advantage of the charitable disposition of the faithful householders. The first duty of a person in the renounced order of life is to contribute some literary work for the benefit of the human being in order to give him realized direction toward self-realization. Amongst the other duties in the renounced order of life of Srila Sanatana, Srila Rūpa and the other Gosvamis of Vrndavana, the foremost duty discharged by them was to hold learned discourses amongst themselves at Sevakunja Vrndavana (the spot where Sri Radha-Damodara Temple was established by Srila Jiva Gosvami and where the actual samadhi tombs of Srila Rūpa Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami are laid). For the benefit of all in human society, they left behind them immense literatures of transcendental importance. Similarly, all the acaryas who voluntarily accepted the renounced order of life aimed at benefiting the human society and not at living a comfortable or irresponsible life at the cost of others. However, those who cannot give any contribution should not go to the householders for food, for such mendicants asking bread from the householders are an insult to the highest order. Sukadeva Gosvami gave this warning especially for those mendicants who adopt this line of profession to solve their economic problems. Such mendicants are in abundance in the age of Kali. When a man becomes a mendicant willfully or by circumstances, he must be of firm faith and conviction that the Supreme Lord is the maintainer of all living beings everywhere in the universe. Why, then, would He neglect the maintenance of a surrendered soul who is cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord? A common master looks to the necessities of his servant, so how much more would the all-powerful, all-opulent Supreme Lord look after the necessities of life for a fully surrendered soul. The general rule is that a mendicant devotee will accept a simple small loincloth without asking anyone to give it in charity. He simply salvages it from the rejected torn cloth thrown in the street. When he is hungry he may go to a magnanimous tree which drops fruits, and when he is thirsty he may drink water from the flowing river. He does not require to live in a comfortable house, but should find out a cave in the hills and may not be afraid of jungle animals, keeping faith in God, who lives in everyone's heart. The Lord may dictate to tigers and other jungle animals not to disturb His devotee. Haridasa Thakur, a great devotee of Lord Sri Caitanya, used to live in such a cave, and by chance a great venomous snake also was a copartner of the cave. Some admirer of Thakur Haridasa, who had to visit the Thakur every day, feared the snake and gave a suggestion to the Thakur to leave that place. Because his devotees were afraid of the snake and they were regularly visiting the cave, Thakur Haridasa agreed to the proposal on their account. But as soon as this was settled, the snake actually crawled out of its hole in the cave and left the cave for good before everyone present. By the dictation of the Lord, who lives also within the heart of the snake, the snake gave preference to Haridasa and decided to leave the place and not disturb him. So this is a tangible example of how the Lord gives protection to a bona fide devotee like Thakur Haridasa. According to the regulations of the sanatana-dharma institution, one is trained from the beginning to depend fully on the protection of the Lord in all circumstances. The path of renunciation is recommended for acceptance by one who is fully accomplished and fully purified in one's existence. This stage is described also in the Bhagavad-gita as daivi sampad (Bg. 16.5). A human being is required to accumulate daivi sampad, or spiritual assets; otherwise, the next alternative, asuri sampad, or material assets, will overcome him disproportionately, and thus one will be forced into the entanglement of different miseries of the material world. A sannyasi should always live alone without company, and he must be fearless. He should never be afraid of living alone, although he is never alone. The Lord is residing in everyone's heart, and unless one is purified by the prescribed process, one will feel that he is alone. But a man in the renounced order of life must be purified by the process; thus he will feel the presence of the Lord everywhere and will have nothing to fear (such as being without any company). Everyone can become a fearless and honest person if his very existence is purified by discharging the prescribed duty for each and every order of life. One can become fixed in one's prescribed duty by faithful aural reception of Vedic instructions and assimilation of the essence of Vedic knowledge by devotional service of the Lord. (More...)

The functions of the mind are thinking, feeling, and willing. When the mind is materialistic, or absorbed in material contact, it acts for material advancement of knowledge, destructively ending in discovery of nuclear weapons. But when the mind acts under spiritual urge, it acts wonderfully for going back home and back to Godhead for life in complete bliss and eternity. Therefore mind has to be manipulated by good and unalloyed intelligence. Perfect intelligence is to render service unto the Lord. One should be intelligent enough to understand that the living being is, in all circumstances, a servant of the circumstances. Every living being is serving the dictates of desire, anger, lust, illusion, insanity, and enviousness-all materially affected. But even executing such dictations of different temperaments, he is perpetually unhappy. When one actually feels this and turns his intelligence to inquire about it from the right sources, he gets information of the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Instead of serving materially for the above-mentioned different humors of the body, the living entity's intelligence then becomes freed from the unhappy illusion of materialistic temperament, and thus, by unalloyed intelligence, the mind is brought into the service of the Lord. The Lord and His service are identical, being on the absolute plane. Therefore the unalloyed intelligence and the mind are merged into the Lord, and thus the living entity does not remain a seer himself but becomes seen by the Lord transcendentally. When the living entity is directly seen by the Lord, and the Lord dictates to him to act according to His desire, and the living entity follows Him perfectly, the living entity ceases to discharge any other duty for his illusory satisfaction. In his pure unalloyed state, the living being attains the stage of labdhopasanti and ceases all material hankerings. (More...)

This is an example of asuric life. Atheists can advance materially and create an extremely comfortable situation for the senses, but because they are controlled by the senses, they cannot be satisfied. This is the effect of modern civilization. Materialists are very much advanced in enjoying money and women, yet dissatisfaction prevails within human society because human society cannot be happy and peaceful without Krsna consciousness. As far as material sense gratification is concerned, materialists may go on increasing their enjoyment as far as they can imagine, but because people in such a material condition are servants of their senses, they cannot be satisfied. Hiranyakasipu was a vivid example of this dissatisfied state of humanity. (More...)

You have served your senses so many lives, life after life, 8,400,000's of species of life. The birds, they are also under senses. The beasts, they are also under senses. The men, human being, and everyone, the demigods, everyone within this material world, they are after senses, serving the senses. But Krsna says that "You just surrender unto Me. Just agree to serve Me. Then I take charge of you." That's all. Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucaḥ. (More...)

No. 5 to Tirthanga dasa

I do not know how these doubts have come upon you. Why bother about all these things? They are not very important. Everything is explained in Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, why you are still asking? If you believe whatever the material so-called scientists are saying, that is your business, but I do not believe any of their so-called observations in outer space by the blunt material senses can be true without any doubt. So why you doubt Vedas and not scientists. I cannot even see into the next room, how I can see anything very surely so many millions of miles distant? But if someone who has been there tells me, then I can know everything about that place. So we must have to take the authority of experienced persons to get the truth, and what experience our so-called scientists have got? Can they deliver even an ant from the miserable conditions of this spot-life, from birth, death, disease, and old age? No. They have spent simply millions of dollars to make a show of their so-called learning and the resul is a handful of dust, that's all. So we are not very much impressed by them, neither we take their version as perfect. They will say that millions of years ago the human beings were primitive hunters. But if we see Vedic language, we can understand that their thought and language and intelligence was not that of primitive men, no. If you are looking for some excuse to doubt, then maya will always provide you. So this or that you may find out something flaw if you want. But Krsna says surrender unto Me and I will give you all protection, perfect knowledge of everything. You should not go to modern scientists for perfect knowledge. They cannot supply that. Krsna will supply you. Of course, sometimes there is allegorical reference in the Vedas, just like the body is called the city of nine gates, like that, so we may sometimes misunderstand due to our imperfect reading. Even it is true that they have landed on the moon, so what is their accomplishment? If I come to Earth planet and land in the Sahara desert, then I say, "Oh, this planet is a barren desert, no one lives here?" The moon may be like that or like this, so what does that help to our Krsna consciousness movement. We have nothing to do with moon planet or this planet and that planet in Krsna consciousness. We simply want to serve to Krsna, that's all. Do not be disturbed by these things. Simply go on with your work in positive mood. That will be best for you and for other also. After all intelligence to understand Krsna is not within the range of your material senses. You cannot make any experiments and calculations and expect to find Krsna. But if somehow or other you are fortunate enough to find out a pure devotee of the Lord, then you get opportunity to him, and as you surrender Krsna gives you the intelligence by which you may come to him, that is sure. No other process will give us any intelligence to understand things as they are, except Krsna consciousness. (More...)

Prabhupada: Never, never, never. That is his insanity. Anyway, as soon as one thinks, "I am independent," that is another insanity. He is under control. Just like a man is thinking, "I don't care for the state laws." He's insane. He will be forced to accept state laws in the prison house by the police. But he thinks, "Oh, I am a prisoner, but I am still independent." He is slapped by the police, but he still says, "I am independent. Go on slapping." That is insanity. Is it not insanity? The police slap him, and he says, "I am independent." Do you think that is independence? That is the sort of independence we are having. We are always kicked by maya, yet we are thinking ourselves independent. This is insanity. We do not think how we are independent. One is servant of his senses, he cannot refrain from enjoying his senses for an hour, and he is thinking himself independent. That means he is insane. He cannot think properly. Where is his independence? He cannot be independent. He is born dependent; he is part and parcel of God. His constitutional position is dependent. The child might declare independence, but what is the meaning of that independence? Danger, that is all. He is simply inviting dangers. A child says, "Oh, I don't care for my parents. I shall cross the ocean; I shall go everywhere." So if he is allowed to do that, then he's simply inviting dangers. And if he remains under the protection of the parents, he is always safe. So these living entities declaring independence are insane and are suffering from different kinds of insanity. They cannot be independent. Let them think very deeply, but they cannot be independent. They are thinking themselves independent of God, but they are dependent on their senses, that's all. And some intoxication. They voluntarily accept dependence of something-maya. That's all. Who is independent? Is there anyone independent? Nobody is independent. To think of independence is maya. The best thing is that since I am dependent, let me remain dependent properly. Then I am protected. So is your question answered? Material consciousness means thinking oneself falsely independent. That is material consciousness. Falsely. He is not independent, but he is thinking falsely, "I am independent." This is maya. Just like in a dream, he is falsely thinking there is a tiger. There is no tiger, but he is actuated by this false impression: "Oh, the tiger is eating me! He has attacked me! Save me!" So this material existence means that because he is insane he is thinking there are so many problems. "The tiger is there! He is attacking me!" This, that, oh, so many, he is creating so many things. But they're all false. But he is attacked by that false hallucination. That's all. This is maya. Everyone is thinking, "Oh, there are so many problems I have to solve; I have to make this much. I have this-" But he actually has no problems. His only problem is how to accept Krsna. That's all. And Krsna is so kind He says, "Yes, you accept Me. Simply chant 'Krsna'; I am yours. That's all." But I am so unfortunate that I cannot chant it. All problems are solved simply by chanting Krsna. Etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan. Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "O Krsna, You are so kind that You have come to me in the sound vibration 'Krsna.' I can very easily chant, and You will remain with me. But I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction even for this." When you see people and tell them, "Chant Hare Krsna and you'll get everything," they'll not believe it. And if you say, "I'll press your nose, you pay me $50, and I'll give you some nice mantra. And you move your head like this, your leg like this," then they will say, "Oh! Here is something!" [laughter] "So this Swamiji says simply chant Hare Krsna! What is this?" Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "You have become so easily available in this age, but I am so unfortunate that I cannot accept this." This Krsna consciousness is so easily being distributed, but they are so unfortunate that they cannot accept. Just see. And if you give them a bluff, if you cheat them: "Ah, yes, welcome!" Yes. They welcome it, and cheaters are always ready. "Customers are being cheated, so let me take advantage of it." My Guru Maharaj used to say that this world is the society of the cheaters and the cheated. You have the association of cheaters and cheated. So we want to save people from this society of cheaters and cheated. (More...)

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