Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.2.6 – March 6, 1975, New York

Material life means everyone is engaged for sense gratification

[kirtana]

Prabhupada: [Prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.

[28:48] Hmm. [sings Jaya Radha-Madhava] [Prema-dhvani] Thank you very much. [Devotees offer obeisances]

Nitai: Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. [Prabhupada and devotees repeat] Srimad-Bhagavatam 2nd Canto, 2nd Chapter, verse number 6.

[38:19]

"Thus being fixed, one must render service unto the Supersoul situated in everyone's own heart by His omnipotency. Because He is the Almighty Personality of Godhead, eternal and unlimited, He is the ultimate goal of life, and by worshiping Him one can end the cause of conditioned state of existence."

Prabhupada:

So last night we discussed that why one should bother about his maintenance and go to beg from a person who is very proud of his wealth. He can arrange his own living condition. The living condition is ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam [Hitopadesa 25].

So far one is in the renounced order of life, so he should first of all renounce the sex life and the state of fearfulness. That is renounced. Just like here there are many brahmacaris, sannyasis. They are supposed to be renounced order, especially the sannyasi, and vanaprastha, brahmacari. Renounced. First renunciation is to renounce sense gratification. Therefore the person in renounced order is called svami. Svami means master. Or gosvami. So go means "senses," and svami means "master." One who has become master of his senses, he is gosvami or svami. Otherwise, if one is servant of his senses, how he can be svami or gosvami? Every word has got meaning. So one has to renounce. This is material life. Material life means everyone is engaged for sense gratification, and that is taken as the advancement of civilization. The same sense gratification in different way, same intoxication, same meat-eating, same sex life; either go to club or naked club or this club. Therefore the practice is the same. Punaḥ punas carvita-carvananam [SB 7.5.30], repetition of chewing the chewed. This is material life.

So renounced order means to stop; not stop, at least control sense gratification. That is renounced order. And without being in renounced order you cannot go to the spiritual world. Just like if your…, your hand is there, you have got something which is not very good within your hand, and if you want to take something better, so you have to throw it away and take it, the better one. You cannot keep the both things. That is not possible. Therefore, what is the difference between material life and spiritual life? Material life means simply full of problems, every step. Padam padam yad vipadam [SB 10.14.58].

Simply dangerous. We are riding very nicely, comfortably, in a Cadillac car or motorcar, but we are riding on danger, that's all. We are driving; any moment the car may be smashed, especially in your country. [laughter] Any moment. So shall I sit down at home? No. At home also there may be so many dangers. We are in dangers. Simply we are trying to counteract it. That is called advancement of civilization. The animals, they depend on nature's protection. But we are human being; we are utilizing our higher consciousness, higher intelligence-the same thing. The Russia is manufacturing an, what is called, weapon, an atom bomb. So...

Devotee: Nuclear weapons.

Prabhupada: Nuclear, yes. And America is also trying to. And the cat and dog, they are trying to protect by their nails and teeth. So the real question is defense. So the defense is… It is not that because we have got better life than the cats and dogs we haven't got to defend. We have to defend. This is…, but in a better way. Not better way-after all, we have to die. So anyway, we think that is a better way of defense.

So material life means only busy in four things: how to eat, how to sleep, and how to have nice sex and how to defend: ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca samanyam etat pasubhir naranam [Hitopadesa 25].

But these things are not solving our problems. That we do not understand. The problems are there. Not that we Indians who have come to America to see that very rich nation, whether they have solved their problems. No. There are problems-more problems than India. India may have only one problem, that there is… Actually there is no, but we are advertised that Indians are starving. But I have not seen anyone starving. Anyway, so the problem is there. The material life means problem, and if you want to solve the problems, then here is the prescription given: tam nirvrto niyatartho bhajeta. Tam means the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Then the question may be, "Now you have asked me to give up all endeavor for maintaining yourself, Sukadeva Gosvami. You have prescribed that for your food you just wait under the tree, and he will give you some fruits; you can eat. For water you go to the river and drink as much water as you like." Then, before this verse, he said, "For sleeping, there is very nice mattress in the grass. I won't require any pillow. Now you have got natural pillow this; you have got your hand. Lie down." So, ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca [Hitopadesa 25]. But if you want to advance in spiritual life, simply you have to give up this sense gratification. And the essence of sense gratification is sex life. Otherwise, there is full arrangement for your eating, sleeping, compartment, apartment. Everything is there. Temple also there you have got. "Where is the temple? I want to worship God. Where is church? Where is temple? If I live on the cave, then I will have to find out another means to go to the temple." Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami advises, "No." Evam sva-citte svata eva siddha. "Your, within the core of your heart, the Lord is there. You sit down anywhere-in the cave, in the jungle or anywhere. If you like, you can find out the Lord is there within your heart," isvaraḥ sarva-bhūtanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [Bg 18.61].

Krsna says that the Supreme Lord-that means He-He is situated in everyone's heart. If we are sincere… "We" means these living entities. We are also living within this body. Asmin dehe, dehino 'smi..., dehino 'smin dehe [Bg 2.13]. We are not this body. I am, you are, we are also situated within this body, and Krsna is also situated within this body. Īsvaraḥ sarva-bhūtanam hrd-dese [Bg 18.61]. It is not that He is situated in the heart of the Hindus and not of the others. No. Everyone. Sarva-bhūtanam. He is situated even within the heart of cats and dogs and tigers and others. Everyone. That is isvaraḥ. Īsvaraḥ sarva-bhūtanam hrd-dese. This verse we have repeatedly discussed-it is very, very important-that this body is just like a motorcar, yantra. Mayaya… Bhramayan sarva-bhūtani yantra rūḍhani mayaya [Bg 18.61]. Mayaya. Through the agency of maya, material energy, this vehicle, machine, has been given to me. Why? Because I wanted to wander throughout the universe, just like they are going to the moon planet. So everyone has got this. This is called philosophical ideas. Everyone, every human being, if he is at all human being, he considers. That is philosophical mind. He considers, "Oh, there are so many stars. Whether…, what they are doing? How many men are there? Whether there is motorcar? Whether there is hill, ocean?" These questions automatically come to an intelligent man. That is the beginning of philosophy. Natural.

So actually that is the fact. We are traveling all over the universe. Not only that we have come to this planet. We have traveled many other planets. Otherwise, how Krsna says bhramayan, wandering; sarva-bhūtani, all living entities-either in the higher planetary system or this lower planetary system? And how he is traveling? Yantrarūḍhani. This yantra, this body. He is given body. Now if I want to go to the moon planet and other higher planet, yes, you will get. But not this yantra, your so-called teeny sputnik. No. You have to take the yantra, the car, the vehicle, from Krsna. He will give you if you want, if you are serious, that if you want to go to the moon planet, then you pray to Krsna that "Give me a yantra, or a machine, I can go to the moon planet." Then you can go. Otherwise you will unnecessarily spend money and try to go somewhere and bring some dust, and you will say, "Now I…, we are triumphant." That's all. But if you want to go there seriously, then you have to prepare yourself in this life. Pray to the Supreme Lord, who has created all this moon and sun and other and this planet, and He will make you befitting, qualified to go there. You cannot go to the sun planet. It is very, very hot, high temperature. Similarly, it is very, very cold in the moon planet. So how you can go with this body? This body means this machine. Then you have to accept another machine. That is the process. That is the process. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita:

Everything is clearly stated there, that if you want to go to the heavenly planets or higher planetary system, they are in the…, in front of you. You can see them, that the sun planet is there; but you are so unqualified you cannot go there. But the thing is there. It is not fictitious. The temperature is there, sastra description, yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam [Bs 5.52]. Savitameans the sun. He is the eye of all the planets, because without sunshine you cannot see. You are very much proud of your eyes, but as soon as there is no sun, then you are blind. Therefore, yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam. All, all the planets, unless there is sunlight you cannot see. And the sun planet is there in front of you. Every morning you are getting the sunshine. Why don't you go there? Huh? Go. You have got nice 747. [laughter] That you cannot. Then you have to pray. Īsvara, Krsna, is within your heart, and if you fervently pray, He is very kind. Therefore He gives you different types of vehicle. Bhramayan sarva-bhūtani yantrarūḍhani mayaya [Bg 18.61]. Bhramayan means making him wandering in every planet, in every species of life. Sarva-bhūtani: all species of life. There are different types of birds, different types of beasts, different types of human being. This is called vicitra, varieties. God's creation is varieties.

So if you want to go somewhere within this material world or beyond this material world, beyond this material world: paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktat sanatanaḥ [Bg 8.20]. Krsna giving you the information that there is another material nature. That is spiritual nature. Just like we have got this experience, although we could not go anywhere, but we see, by studying geography, that there are many, many hundred, thousands and millions of planets. Similarly, there is another nature. There also, similarly. The same-not only same; it is three times more than in this material world. This is only God's one part of creation. Ekamsena sthito jagat.

When Krsna wanted to know…, Arjuna wanted to know from Krsna, "How much Your potency is extended? How You are working? I want to know." Because he is inquisitive, brahma-jijnasa. He is trying to understand what is God. And God is personally replying. So He has stated in that chapter that "I am this amongst these; I am this amongst these; I am this." Then, then He summarizes that "How much I shall say? Just try to understand Me, My potency, that the…, this material world there are innumerable universes, and in each universe there are innumerable planets. So I want in every one of them," vistabhyaham idam krtsnam, "all of them, and I maintain them." Just like Krsna is situated in everyone's heart, then the…, similarly, Krsna is situated in everything, even within the atom. That is Krsna. We want to imitate Krsna, but if I…, if we are asked that "You enter into the atom," "That I cannot do." No.

Krsna, God, means He is…, can, He can be, become that the greater than the greatest. We can conceive of the greatest, the universe. So, not only this universe, but many millions of universes, they are being created from the holes of…, of His bodily hair. Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam athavalambya jivanti loma-vila-ja jagad-anḍa-nathaḥ [Bs 5.48]. That is God. Probably we have got many millions of holes on our body. So God has got, Maha-Visnu, and from that hole universes are coming out, continually, breathing. Yasyaika-nisvasita-kalam. So you must have what is the conception of God: greater than the greatest, and smaller than the smallest. That is God. He can produce these big, big universes simply by breathing, and again-we do not know how many atoms are there in each universe-He can enter in each atom. Anḍantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham.

This is the conception of God. So here the proposal is that we are suffering in this material world, that we are simply thinking that "In future we shall be happy if I do like this." But before that future comes, we become finished. This is our position. Not only once, but many times. Still I, you, have opinion. Just like the so-called scientist: millions of years' gap, and then this will be happening, this will be happening. No. These are all nonsense. Then how-your age is fifty or sixty years-how you are considering millions of years? Your fifty, sixty years of age will be millions' time finished before you realize the truth. But the so-called scientists, they are thinking, "No. This fifty, sixty years is large extent of…, span of life." In that way cannot understand. That is not possible. Ciram vicinvan. If you stipulate in this foolish way for ciram, eternally, still you cannot understand. Ciram vicinvan.

Ciram means "eternally." If you speculate to understand God by your teeny brain and limited sense perception, it will be none. To take the prescription of the sastra, if you want, the first is that you must give up material attachment. Nivrtta…

[aside:] Take this.

Material attachment, so long I will be attracted by material things, Krsna will give me a relative body. Tatha dehantara-praptir [Bg 2.13]. If we want this temporary material enjoyment, then according to the body there is enjoyment. In the ant's life there is also the same thing: eating, sleeping, sex and defense. And in the Lord Indra's, or the king Indra, the heavenly king, he has all the same propensity-eating, sleeping, mating and defense. So if you go to the moon planet or sun planet or the topmost planets, wherever you go, the four things will follow: eating, sleeping, mating, defense; and birth, death, old age and disease.

So, so long I shall remain in this material world, I may be Lord Indra, Lord Brahma, or President of America, or this or that-you cannot avoid these four things. That is material existence. That is the fact. But if you want to solve the problem, then this is the process giving: the nivrtta. Anyabhilasita-sūnyam. Don't aspire for material enjoyment. Enjoyment is there. Don't think that "If I stop my material enjoyment, then my life of enjoyment is finished." No. It is not finished. Just like a diseased man: he is also eating, he is also sleeping, he is also having other duties; but that he is eating, sleeping, and the healthy man's eating, sleeping is not the same thing. Similarly, our material enjoyment-the eating, sleeping, mating and defense-that is with…, full of dangers. We cannot enjoy without any hindrance. There are so many hindrances.

So if we want that uninterrupted happiness… Happiness is there. Just like a diseased man, he is also eating, and the healthy man is eating. But he is having bitter taste. A man with jaundice, if you give him sugar candy, he will taste as bitter. That's a fact. But the same person who is cured from the jaundice disease, he will taste it very sweet. Similarly, in the material condition of life there are so many inebrieties, we cannot enjoy life fully. If you want full enjoyment of life, then you must come to the spiritual platform. Duḥkhalayam asasvatam [Bg 8.15]. This material world has been described in the Bhagavad-gita that this is duḥkhalayam. It is the place of miseries. Then if you say, "No, I have made arrangement. I have got now good, nice bank balance. My wife is very nice, my children are also very nice, so I don't mind. I shall remain in the material world," Krsna says asasvatam: "No, sir. You cannot live here. You will be kicked out." Duḥkhalayam asasvatam. If you agree to stay here, in this miserable condition of life, that is also not allowed. No permanent settlement. Tatha dehantara-praptir.

So these problems, where is the scientists they are discussing about these problem? But the problems are there. Who wants to give up whatever family he has got? Everyone has got family, but nobody wants to give up his family. But by force he is taken away. The man is crying, "Oh, I am now going. I am now dying. What will happen to my wife, my children?" He is forced. He must get out. So this is the problem. So where is the solution of the problem? There is no solution of the problem. If you want solution of the problem, then Krsna says,

"If one comes to Me," mam upetya, "then he hasn't got to come to, again, in this material world full of miseries." So here Sukadeva Gosvami is suggesting that you become devotee. Your all problems will be solved. He is describing here, evam sva-citte svata eva siddha [SB 2.2.6]. You don't have to find out where is God, God is there within your heart, svata eva. How he has come? Svata eva. He is so kind that he is by his own nature, by his habit, he is accompanying you, as friend, just to save you. Just to save you. You are rotting in this material world and Krsna, God is within your heart, just to, looking forward, when you will say, "Krsna, now I have finished my business, please save me". He is simply waiting, and he says, "sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg 18.66], you rascal, you are simply suffering, you give up all this nonsense engagement, you surrender unto Me, I shall give you protection." Krsna is opportunities, he is looking after the opportunities when after being thoroughly being experienced, that your so-called material life hasn't given you any comfort at any moment, now you surrender unto the Supreme Lord. That opportunity he is saying, therefore He comes, just to offer, paritranaya sadhūnam vinasaya. Those who are a little advanced, Krsna gives His instruction, "Oh, you are very nice, all right, satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drḍha-vrataḥ [Bg 9.14]. You, 24 hours chant about Me, satatam kirtayanto mam, satatam. Satatam means knowledge. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also says, kirtaniyaḥ sada hariḥ . So this is the opportunity to make solution of all the problems, bhajeta tam, bhajeta, bhaja, this is Sanskrit word, the root meaning is to serve, bhajeta. How bhajeta? Tam nirvrto niyatartho bhajeta [SB 2.2.6]. You become relieved from all these so-called material duties.

Nirvrta. Nirvrto niyatarthaḥ. Niyata artha means that is your permanent duty. Artha. Artha means the aim of life or the achievement. Niyata. That is your real purpose of life. "Real purpose of" means that you are part and parcel of God, and He is waiting when you give up service, your manufactured service, and come to this service of Krsna consciousness, devotional service. Then what will be the result? Samsara-hetūparamas ca. Your this material life begun because you did not like to serve Krsna. Samsara. Samsara means this material life. Samsara-davanala-liḍha-loka-tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam. So it is the spiritual master's duty is, Sukadeva Gosvami, that inform this, that "You are suffering in this material world. So because you wanted to be relieved from the suffering, so here is the message. Here is the message." Satatam kirtayanto mam [Bg 9.14].

Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that, enechi ausadhi maya nasibaro lagi'. "This maya, this illusion, you want to get relief from this illusion. So I have brought medicine for you." Enechi ausadhi. Ausadhi means medicine. Enechi, "I have brought," enechi ausadhi maya nasibaro, "to..., just to drive away this maya." What is that? Hari-nama maha-mantra lao tumi magi'. Magi, "you voluntarily take it." He doesn't force. That is not good. It is not force.

So this Krsna consciousness movement means on behalf of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are canvassing from door to door; "My dear sir, you are very intelligent, but you are suffering always. Take this medicine. Chant Hare Krsna."

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya! Haribol! [applause] [end]