Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.2–7 – May 24, 1972, Los Angeles

720524SB-Los Angeles [33:27 Minutes]

There is no limit of our desires

Prabhupada: Translation?

Pradyumna: Read all up to where we are?

Prabhupada: Hmm?

Pradyumna: "One who desires to be absorbed in the impersonal brahma-jyoti effulgence should worship the master of the Vedas [Lord Brahma or Brhaspati, the learned priest], one who desires powerful sex should worship the heavenly King, Indra, and one who desires good progeny should worship the great progenitors called the Prajapatis. One who desires good fortune should worship Durgadevi, or the superintendent of the material world. One desiring to be very powerful should worship fire, and one who aspires after money only should worship the Vasus. One should worship the Rudra incarnation of Lord Siva if he wants to be a great hero. One who wants a large stock of grain should worship Aditi. One who desires a worldly kingdom should worship Visvadeva, and one who wants to be popular with the general mass of population should worship the Sadhya demigod." [SB 2.3.2-7]

Prabhupada: So these are the problems. [chuckles] We have to... fix. Exactly like that. Just like government departments: If you want to have this, you have to go to a particular department-building department, water department, so many, electric department. Many departments. Tax department, income tax department, support tax department.

So there are many statements in the Bhagavad-gita that... In Indian villages still, there are different wells. One well is meant for washing dishes. Another well is meant for taking bath. Another well is meant for washing cloth. Another well is meant for drinking water. So Krsna says, "There are different wells for different purposes, but when you go to the river, all the purposes will be served." You can wash your dishes, you can wash your cloth, you can take bath, and then you take drinking water.

Similarly, all these desires... Of course, a devotee has no material desire. Unless one is free from all these material desires... These are all material desires. Somebody wants to be powerful, somebody wants wealth, somebody wants to have beautiful wife, somebody wants to possess grains and worldly kingdom... There is no limit of our desires. And there are different department also. You can fulfill your desires. Yanti deva-vrata devan pitṝn yanti pitr-vrataḥ [Bg 9.25].

So this is kindness, mercy, of Krsna, that He has given you facility if you want to fulfill your desire. But all of them are kama. In each, every line the word is used, kama. We have marked it. Here, just like annadya-kamas tu aditi. Annadya. Anna means grains. There are different types of grains. That is also wanted. Annadya-kamas tu. Kama. But you won't find here a meat-eater. No. That is not at all. That is aboriginal. That is not for a human being. Anna. You can desire anna, grains. You can desire to become king. You can desire to have nice wife. These are natural. But there is not a single sentence here you will find they are desiring to eat meat, egg, flesh. No. That is beyond human jurisdiction. They are not meant for human being.

So these are the different departments if you want to take facility of quickly getting some benefit... Yajanta iha devataḥ. Kahksantaḥ karmanam siddhi..., karmanam siddhi yajanta iha devataḥ [Bg 7.23]. Those who are less intelligent, for them, not for the first-class intelligent.

Those who are Krsna conscious, they are first-class intelligent. They don't want anything beyond Krsna. That's all. They don't want to know anything except Krsna. The advantage is, if you can know Krsna, then you know everything. And if you get Krsna, you get everything. Therefore this conclusion cannot be perceived by less intelligent class of men. Exactly like that. If one is intelligent, he goes to the river from the village, and he takes there bath. River water is never contaminated, because constantly the wave is flowing. Suppose you contaminate a certain portion, but it does not stand; it flows down immediately. Immediately, moment after moment, you are getting pure water. And especially in India.

In India there are so many nice rivers-Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Kaveri, Krsna, Sindh. There are many rivers, all very nice water. In the Western countries I have seen only one river very nice, in Montreal. What is that river?

Devotee: St. Lawrence.

Prabhupada: St. Lawrence, yes. All other rivers I have seen, they are very unclean, especially in Moscow, Hamburg. Oh, it is so dirty. So in India the rivers are very clean, and people take pleasure in taking bath in rivers. If there is river, nobody will take bath at home. They will go all to the river. And it is very refreshing. That you know. So this example is very nice, that if you go to the river, then your all purposes are served. But in the village, there are restricted, that "This well is for this purpose, this well is this purpose." It may be crowded. You have to wait for the opportunity. But the river is open. You can go there and have your business done very nicely. That will be summarized in the last verse:

That will be the conclusion.

Here, Srimad-Bhagavatam is recommending different demigods for different purposes, because there are all classes of men. So to take immediate effect, they worship demigods. Ksipram, "very soon." Generally, people do not go to worship Krsna and Visnu, because you cannot ask from Krsna anything which is not good for you. Suppose you pray to Krsna on the seaside, "Krsna, give me a good fish. I want to catch," Krsna will never fulfill your desire. That is Krsna's mercies. Because Krsna will not give you facility for possessing anything which will ultimately cause your harden[?]. Krsna knows that "If he catches a fish, then he will have to become a fish again, to be caught by the same fish." So why shall He give the facility? You see? So therefore our policy is not to ask anything from Krsna. He knows what is good for me; simply I have to surrender unto Him. That's all. Why shall I bother Him, "Give me this, give me that, give me that"? No. Na dhanam na janam... .

Here, stri-kama, beautiful wife, kama, one who wants, devim, he should worship Goddess Durga. This is recommended here. But it is kama. But those who are devotees, they have no kama. Anyabhilasita-sūnyam [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11]. Anya. Anya means other than Krsna's service. They have made all, everything zero. We don't want all these things. We simply want to serve Krsna. Anyabhilasita-sūnyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam [Cc Madhya 19.167]-jnana means knowledge; karma means fruitive activities-uncovered by or untouched by fruitive activities and jnana. Just like in Vrndavana, all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, they never tried to know Krsna, whether He is God.

That was not their business, jnanam. The jnanis, they want to know. Just like Brahma wanted to test whether Krsna is God or not. Indra wanted to test whether... The inhabitants of Vrndavana, they never did it. They think, "Krsna is our very intimate friend, my beloved son, my lover, my master." Everyone's concentrated love for Krsna in different mellows. That's all. Even when Krsna played wonderful thing, so they simply thought, "Oh, He might be a demigod." You see? So they never tried to analyze Krsna, but their love for Krsna, there is no comparison.

So that is wanted. Jnana-karmady-anavrtam [Cc Madhya 19.167]. "Whether Krsna is God or not, let me test..." You can test. But pure love means, "Whatever Krsna may be, He is my lovable object," mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparaḥ. We have no other business than to love Krsna, whatever He may be. He may be God or He may be whatever He may be. That is called anyabhilasita-sūnyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11]. Then what is the business? If everything is sūnyam... Sūnyam means zero. No, we are not zero. We are positive. What is that? Anukūlyena krsnanusilanam [Cc Madhya 19.167]. Simply cultivate Krsna consciousness favorably: "How I can become a lover of Krsna?" That is wanted. Anukūlyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama. This is first-class devotion service.

Of course, we should know Krsna; otherwise, it may be we may neglect Him. Just like we are trying to explain what is Deity. But if one has got unflinching love for the Deity, he doesn't require to understand the Deity through the sastra. Spontaneous love. Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed, as soon as He entered the Deity room, fainted, "Here is My Lord." That is first-class position of a devotee-without any other consideration. Enhance your love for Krsna without any condition. That is required.

So these worship of different demigods are recommended in the scripture not to mislead him, but to lead him gradually to the higher stage. To lead him to the higher stage. Because the demigods are considered different limbs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam. Just like if you want to serve me... There is a routine work how to serve superior. Now if you touch my hair, you are touching me, but that is not the service. You see? Service means there is routine work: you should touch my feet. Similarly, anywhere go, it is Krsna, because without Krsna there is no other existence.

So to worship the demigod, indirectly worshiping Krsna, but avidhi-pūrvakam, without regulative principles. Yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam. The same example: if you want to touch me, so the regulative principle is that you have to touch the lotus feet of your spiritual master, not that you touch his head and do like that. You can say, "I am touching you." Oh, that's not the way. You have to touch according to the regulative principle. Similarly, those who are nonsense: "All right, you touch the hair of your spiritual master. If you cannot touch the lotus feet, then you touch...," giving a chance to come in touch. So this demigod worship, it is an example given.

Demigod worship is recommended in the Vedas. At least, they should gradually understand, "Who is this demigod? Why we are worshiping him? Wherefrom he has got this power?" Then, when one can understand that this Indra, Candra and Sūrya and Diti, Aditi, and fire, Lord Siva, they are all different departmental heads of Krsna's government; the real king is Krsna-to understand that. Not that... Then one could derive all the benefits from one department. No. The different departments are recommended: "If you want this, you approach this. If you want this, you approach this." In the conclusion it will be said that "Whatever you want, you go to Krsna. Your all desires will be fulfilled." Yasmin vijnate sarvam idam vijnatam bhavati [Munḍaka Upanisad 1.3]. Akamaḥ sarva-kamo va moksa-kama udara-dhiḥ [SB 2.3.10]. So? What is the time now? Kirtana?

Devotee: It's 8:30.

Prabhupada: So next, another verse you can read. [break] Ayus-kamo [devotees repeat words], asvinim devan. So, you can...

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse]

Prabhupada: Next for two verse, finish. Rūpa-kama. Rūpabhikamo gandharvan.

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verses; Prabhupada corrects pronunciation]

Prabhupada: Hmm. Now you read the purport.

Pradyumna: Purport: "There are different modes of worship for different persons desiring success in particular subjects. The conditioned soul living within the purview of the material world cannot be an expert in every type of materially enjoyable asset, but one can have considerable influence over a particular matter by worshiping a particular demigod, as mentioned above. Ravana was made a very powerful man by worshiping Lord Siva, and he used to offer severed heads to please Lord Siva. He became so powerful by the grace of Lord Siva that all the demigods were afraid of him, until he at last challenged the Personality of Godhead Sri Ramacandra and thus ruined himself.

"In other words, all such persons who aspire after gaining some or all of the material objects of enjoyment, or the gross materialistic persons, are on the whole less intelligent, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita [Bg 7.20]. It is said there that those who are bereft of all good sense, or those whose intelligence is withdrawn by the deluding energy of maya, aspire after all sorts of material enjoyment in life by pleasing the respective demigods or by advancing in material civilization under the heading of scientific progress.

"The real problem of life in the material world is to solve the question of birth, death, old age and disease. No one wants to change his birthright, no one wants to meet death, no one wants to be old or invalid and no one wants diseases. But these problems are solved neither by the grace of any demigod nor by the so-called advancement of material science.

"In the Bhagavad-gita, as well as in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, such less intelligent persons have been described as devoid of all good sense. Sukadeva Gosvami said that out of the 8,400,000 species of living entities, the human form of life is rare and valuable, and out of those rare human beings who are conscious of the material problem, none of those rare human beings..., those who are conscious of the material problems are rarer still, and the still more rare persons are those who are conscious of the value of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, because it contains the messages of the Lord and His pure devotees.

"Death is inevitable for everyone, intelligent and foolish. But Pariksit Maharaja has been addressed by the Gosvami as the manisi, or the man of highly developed mind, because at the time of death he left all material enjoyment and completely surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord by hearing His messages from the right person, Sukadeva Gosvami. But aspiration for material enjoyment by endeavoring persons is condemned. Such aspirations are something like the intoxication of the degraded human society. Intelligent persons should try to avoid it and seek instead the permanent life by returning home, back to Godhead."

Prabhupada: You can read the sloka number 8 also. Dharmartha uttama-slokam tantuḥ tanvan pitṝn yajet.

Pradyumna: [leads chanting of verse]

Prabhupada: Read. Dharmartha. [devotees chant verse] That's all right. Now... [another devotee chants]

Devotee: All glories to Sri Guru...

Prabhupada: Now have kirtana.

Devotees: Jaya. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. [devotees offer obeisances]

Prabhupada: Vibration of this mantra will purify. This... Even if we do not understand the meaning, try to vibrate the mantra. Hmm. [end]