Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.2 in Bengali – January 13, 1976, Calcutta
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760113SB.CAL
Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2
in Bengali - January 13, 1976, Calcutta 760113SB-Calcutta [33:53 Minutes]
औदिओ ॥
Prabhupada:
mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes
tamo-dvaram yositam sahgi-sahgam mahantas te sama-cittaḥ prasanta vimanyavaḥ suhrdaḥ sadhavo ye [SB 5.5.2] [Transl. Yesterday we were discussing about the instructions of emperor Rsabhadeva. Rsabhadeva imparted instructions to His sons. Rsabhadeva said that this human form of life is not meant for working hard whole day like dogs and lambs just to eat two pieces of chapatis. This is not human life. But nowadays people are taught to work very hard. "Now is the time for hard labor." I have seen it in so many signboards here in India.
[Transl. The instruction that simply work very hard, according to sastra, is also done by hogs. Is it the duty of the human form of life to work hard like hogs? No. Actually we don't want to work hard. In Marshall Economics we read in our childhood that nobody wants to work hard but due to his family affection he works hard. In fact we see that when some people accumulate some money by working hard then they no longer work hard. They want to relax somewhere peacefully. So working hard, especially for the human beings, just to fill up the belly is not desirable. For what purpose should we labor hard? Ah? Therefore tapasya is recommended. Tapasya is also hard work. Why tapasya is required? Tapo divyam. [SB 5.5.1]
[Transl. To attain Bhagavan: the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You undergo austerity for that purpose. This is Vedic civilization. From childhood they are taught to perform austerity. Brahmacari. Practice tapasya. This is life. After practicing tapasya learn how to become a good grhastha. Then after becoming a grhastha also for some time, you give up your family life grhastha life and accept vanaprastha. Thereafter finally accept sannyasa. This brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa, this is the process. And brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya and sūdra. From this point begins human life.
varnasramacara-vata
purusena paraḥ puman visnur aradhyate pumsam nanyat tat-tosa-karanam [Cc Madhya 8.58] [Transl. This is verdict of the sastra. Because the goal of life or purpose of life….What this human form of life is meant for? We are all part and parcel of Bhagavan. We are children of Bhagavan. Because of forgetting the Supreme Personality of Godhead we have been entangled into this material world and as a result we are working so hard. This is not proper. So we should go back to Bhagavan and live with Bhagavan. Just like, if a person leaves his home for a long time, and even though he is situated in a very luxurious way in a foreign or any other place, he cannot be peaceful. Only when he returns home and meets his family, father, mother, and children, he becomes happy. That life is perfect. This is the aim of human life. By forgetting Bhagavan we have come to this material world.
[Transl. Japatiya dhare. When we forget Krsna and endeavor to enjoy sense gratification in this material world, that desire to enjoy is called maya. One Bengali vaisnava poet says krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha kare. That one forgets Krsna and tries to enjoy sense gratification in the material world is called maya. All of you have heard about maya. But what is maya? That is to forget Bhagavan and enjoy sense gratification in the material world. The sastra has defined like this, nūnam pramattaḥ kurute vikarma. [SB 5.5.4]
[Transl. Rsabhadeva will explain this later. Those who have come to this material world, whether human beings or animals, or anyone, what's his business? Pramatta. They have become mad. Why have they become mad? Simply to enjoy sense gratification. Nūnam pramattaḥ kurute vikarma. For sense gratification they indulge in all types of sinful activities. But for animals there is no sin or piety. Each animal is destined to indulge in some particular activities arranged by maya and they work like that. Just like hogs, they are animals. So nature has decided that they eat stool. They don't want rasagulla. They will eat stool only. That is the rule for them. And those who belongs to the human society, they have more intelligence, so they will eat both rasagullas and stool. This is the civilization of the human beings. They don't understand that stool is meant for the hogs and rasagulla is meant for us. Why should we eat stool? They lose this intelligence. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has given to us fruits, flowers, milk, and from milk we can prepare thousands eatables. From milk we can make ghee and from ghee we can make puris, kachoris and other things. So why should we eat meat etc? Meat is food for dogs and tigers. Are we dogs and tigers? We are human beings. As human we do not abide by the arrangements made by Bhagavan and His agent the nature. Therefore they eat stool. The Supreme Lord said,
[Transl. This is human life. Just like Bhagavan is here. Out His causeless mercy He is sitting on a throne. We should not think that it is stone. No. Bhagavan has mercifully manifested in order to accept our service. Because, if we analize about the Supreme Personality of Godhead anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. [Katha Upanisad 1.2.20]
[Transl. If He is like the vast sky then how will we capture Him? We are so tiny. Therefore the Supreme Lord comes as a form which is accessible to us so that we can render service to Him. We can dress Him, decorate Him and offer foodstuffs to Him. And the Lord accepts it. Therefore Bhagavan says
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati [Transl. This is an opportunity for us to serve Bhagavan. He is giving us a chance. It is not that as many foolish people think, why go to the temple? Why worship a stone? Someone wrote a song, patthar puje hari mile to main pujun pahad: If by worshiping stone one attains Hari then I will worship a hill. This is not true. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not a mere stone. He is omnipotent, but because at present I am not able to see anything other than wood and stone therefore He appears as a stone form. Because, you have no capacity to see anything else. He is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaḥ. [Bs 5.1].
[Transl. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaḥ. We have only heard about Him that He is sac-cid-ananda. But we cannot measure Him by our senses. So Bhagavan is sac-cid-ananda. vigrahaḥ. And this vigrahaḥ whom we call stone is also sac-cid-ananda. vigrahaḥ. It is a question of our vision. Therefore when Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Jagannathaji temple, the moment He saw the Deity He fell unconscious. And some people say, "Look, this is a Deity made of wood and by seeing Him this fool has become unconscious and fell down to the ground!" So there is a difference of perception. As one's devotion develops his darsana of the Lord also develops. And a nondevotee, how can he see Bhagavan at all? He cannot have darsana.
[Transl. One who has no devotion, how will he have darsana of Bhagavan? And one who has devotion will see Bhagavan all the time.
[Transl. A person who is a devotee, who has got love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he always sees within his heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he is the greatest yogi. The Supreme Lord Himself says,
[Transl. He is the topmost yogi. Therefore The Supreme Lord manifests in the temple. If we take darsana of Him two or four times a day then this Deity form of the Supreme Lord will always remain awakened within our hearts. Therefore we should come to the temple. For a kanistha-adhikari, a neophyte devotee who not yet made much progress in devotional service it is a must to come to the temple. It is mandatory. He has to abide by this. It is a rule.
[Transl. These are scriptural injunctions. Just like, you all come here and see the Lord's Deity form and render some service. Someone brings fruits, someone brings flowers, someone plays gong, someone plays karatala, children offer obeisances by imitating their parents, all these services will be taken into account by the Lord. Everything is accounted for. Even if one doesn't understand anything, but if he simply comes here and listen to the topice of the Supreme Lord as described in the sastras then, punya-sravana kirtanah.
[Transl. By hearing and chanting about the Supreme Lord's topics you become pious, whether or not you understand. Simply by hearing the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. You will become pious. Without being pious one cannot have darsana.
yesam tv anta-gatam papam
jananam punya-karmanam te dvandva-moha-nirmukta bhajante mam drḍha-vrataḥ [Bg 7.28] [Transl. Devotional service is a pious activity. In fact it is more than piousness. The 'avyabhicarini bhakti' belongs to Brahman or spiritual platform.
[Transl. The activities we perform to revive this devotional attitude is called Tapasya. Therefore Rsabhadeva said, tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam [SB 5.5.1] If you want to purify your existence, suppose you have contacted malaria disease and fever and if you want to get freed from that fever, actually freedom means like that. Artificially we invite some fever but somehow or other we should get rid of the fever by some medication etc. So by medication when there is no longer any fever and the doctor says you are freed from fever. Similarly now our fever is that we will enjoy this world or renounce this world. There are two classes of men. One class of men are busy in sense gratification, how to enjoy this world? They are called karmi. And another class of men, when they beome tired of enjoying this world and conclude that there is nothing substantial in it, they become jnani and declare, brahma satyam jagan mithya.
[Transl. This falsehood is good. "Grapes are sour." We hear this often. You cannot achieve the Supreme Personality of Godhead by this bhoga-tyaga. Neither can you attain Him through bhoga nor through tyaga. Therefore the Supreme Lord says, sarva-dharman parityajya. [Bg 18.66]
[Transl. We have created so many dharmas. Some are meant for material enjoyment. Perform sacrifice and we will go to heaven. Work hard so that your business will expand and you will earn more. These are all bhoga. And another dharma we create is that of tyaga. Brahma satya jagan mithya. This world is false so why work hard for it? We will become Brahman. We will become one with Bhagavan. These things are going on. Not become one with Bhagavan but with Brahman. You all know about this. Then there are yogis who want siddhi. So by this you cannot achieve Bhagavan. Bhagavan can be achieved only by bhakti.
[Transl. What is Bhagavan? What is our relationship with Bhagavan? What are we suppose to do in accordance with that relationship? And finally what is the purpose of our life and how to obtain it? All these things can be obtained only through devotional service. That's why Rsabhadeva says, tapo divyam putraka yena suddheta sattvam. [SB 5.5.1]
[Transl. My dear sons, perform penance. Perform penance so that your existence will become purified and you will get freedom from the cycle of birth and death. We don't understand, we don't even know that we have to stop this cycle of birth and death. This will make us happy. They don't even know. They think that the cycle of birth and death cannot be checked. It is possible. Why not possible? When you are eternal, na hanyate hanyamane sarire, then why should you become entangled in the process of birth and death? [Bg 2.20]. These questions should be asked. This is the duty of the human life. They do not care for these things. They are simply busy in temporary material happiness. Even dogs and sheep are busy for those things. Human life is meant for solving the ultimate problem of life. To work hard like dogs and sheep, is not good. Nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke kastan kaman arhate… [SB 5.5.1]
[Transl. What will you gain by taking so much hardship? Will your life become purified by hard labor? No. You have to undergo tapasya. Everyone in this world strives hard but does that mean they all become rich? No. You will get what you deserve. This is the law of nature. Prakrteḥ kriyamanani [Bg 13.27] It is not true that by working harder one will get more. Only intelligent people are capable to understand this. Therefore we should work hard only to be connected to the the Supreme Personality of Godhead again. We have forgotten the Supreme Lord and as a result we have to suffer the miseries of..
[Transl. Therefore to get rid of birth, death, old age and disease we should revive our relationship with Bhagavan. Therefore Lord says,
[Transl. That same word divyam is again spoken. Tapo divyam. What is spoken in Bhagavad-gita, that same thing is spoken by Rsabhadeva also. Why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead take birth? It is divine transcendental. One who knows this, janma karma ca me divyam yo janati tattvtaḥ, what He is in reality? Why does He come? Why does He teach us Bhagavad-gita? Why does He leave with us the literature? He instructs His devotees to preach to the nondevotees, preach to the ignorant people.
[Transl. The Lord Himself declared that nobody is more dear devotee than he who preaches this most confidential knowledge to others. This is the Lord's verdict. Such is this literature Bhagavad-gita! And to talk all nonsense and put others into bewilderment in the name of Bhagavad-gita is not at all acceptable. The devotees of the Supreme Lord never do like that. The devotees of the lord repeat the same words as the Lord has spoken in the Bhagavad-gita. The Supreme Personality of Godhead instructed,
[Transl. A real speaker of Bhagavad-gita will not change anything. He will preach to everybody, "Look, Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Always think of Him, worship Him, offer obeisances to Him and always remain devoted to Him. He is a guru who teaches like this. And one who takes a Bhagavad-gita in his hand and teaches something else, he simply puts others into confusion. This is not correct. Therefore the Supreme Lord that any devotee who teaches Bhagavad-gita As It Is, teaching means conveying the real purport and not mislead. Therefore He says, ya idam paramam guhyam. Paramam guhyam, this is the most confidential knowledge. Ordinary persons cannot understand it. It can be understood by all, but people become misled by misinterpretation. That's why He says paramam guhyam. Most confidential means,
[Transl. This is the most confidential part of knowledge. So, let us discuss further. This tapasya… How to begin this tapasya? Tapo divyam, perform tapasya, tapo divyam putraka. But how to start this tapasya? Mahat-seva. Mahat-seva. Render service to the mahatmas. Tapasya will begin from here. Mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes. This mahat-seva…Who is a mahatma? Nowadays there have been so many mahatmas. But who is a genuine mahatma? That also the Supreme Lord has revealed.
[Transl. This is mahatma. And everyone else is duratma. They should be verbally abused. Those who do not worship the Supreme Lord they are all duratmas. They are not mahatmas. If we become influenced by such mahatmas then our purpose of life will not be achieved. We need that kind of mahatma. Who are they? mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritaḥ. He who has taken shelter of daivi prakrti: divine nature is a mahatma. Apara prakrti and para prakrti. You all know about them as stated in the Bhagavad-gita.
[Transl. This material world consists of bhūmir apo 'nalo vayuḥ kham mano buddhir. [Bg 7.4] This is apara prakrti. Apareyam itas tv anyam viddhi me param. So, one more prakrti is there. Who is that? Jiva bhūta. Yayedam dharyate jagat. You have heard all this. The living entity puts on a body provided by the nature and is supporting the inferior nature. Just like I am a living entity and you are all living entities and our bodies are made of earth, water, fire, air: material elements. But who is activating it? We are activating. Because we are living within the body therefore the body works. The moment we will give it up it will transform into earth. It will no longer work.
[Transl. So there are two natures. One nature comprises earth, water, fire, air with which the body is created. Tejo-vari-mrdam vinimayo [SB 1.1.1] This body is a product of matter. They don't understand it. This body decorated with hat, coat, and pant and is walking fast on the street, but who is moving it? This should be understood. Do hat, coat, pant move about on their own? Ah? And when the spirit soul leaves the body the same hat, coat, pant is there but they cry, "Our father has gone." Where has he gone? He is there in the hat, coat, pant. Why are you crying? It means he has never seen who his actual father was. They are so ignorant. So one should try to acquire this knowledge. Pasyati jnana-caksusa: [Bg 15.10] The Supreme Lord Himself has instructed that knowledge. This Rsabhadeva is also an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and He is also imparting. Krsna Himself is speaking. Krsna never said that you are this body. One who thinks that I am this body, he is an ass. Is he a human being? What will he understand about spiritual topics? Therefore in the very beginning the Supreme Lord is teaching, dehino 'smin yatha dehe [Bg 2.13]
[Transl. Don't think you are this body, you are inside this body. Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara. But wherefrom you will gain this knowledge? Only when you will render service to great personalities. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] in order to understand the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master. So if you are really interested to obtain spiritual knowledge, tad-vijnanartham, to understand that science, sa gurum evabhigacchet, you should approach a guru. Who is a spiritual master?
saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhiḥ kintu prabhor yaḥ priya eva tasya vande guroḥ sri-caranaravindam [Sri Gurvastakam 7] [Transl. This is guru. What is the duty of the guru? The disciple worships the guru as much as he worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is proper etiquette. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair. This is the injunction of all the sastras that the guru is Bhagavan. Bhagavan is sevya-Bhagavan [worshipable God] and guru is sevak-Bhagavan [servitor God.] Bhagavan is present in the Deity form. Bhagavan is seated within the heart. And one who, by the mercy of Bhagavan, has advanced, He sends him as the guru. Bhagavan is so merciful. This is described in the Caitanya-caritamrta.
[Transl. But do the representatives of the Bhagavan consider themselves as Bhagavan? No. He always thinks himself as a servant of Bhagavan. But because the sastra recommends to worship the guru as Bhagavan, they say, "yes, yes. Krsna was Bhagavan before, but He is now dead. I am now Krsna." Is he a guru? No. He is an ass. He doesn't know anything. Not that kind of guru. Therefore it says, mahat-seva. Mahat-seva. What is the meaning of mahat? Mahatma, an exalted soul. Mahatma is not a title to be given someone. No.
[Transl. Spiritual. There are two prakrtis-apara prakrti and para prakrti. So he has accepted the subordination of para the prakrti. And he who has accepted the subordination of the apara prakrti: [material potency], he cannot become a guru. So spiritual potency. Just the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna has got two potencies. Actually not two but one only. Prakrti is one and not two. the university department and the police department. The police department is meant for punishing the thieves and crooked and the university department Police department is meant for punishing the thieves and wickeds and University department is meant for educating the loyal citizens, offer them service and make them high court judges. The intelligent class of people take shelter of the university and the thieves and crooked take shelter of police department. But the Supreme Lord has two departments apara prakrti and para prakrti.
[Transl. So who is a mahatma? Mahatma is he who does not take shelter of the police department which takes care of the thieves. That department is for the rogues only. He takes shelter of that prakrti Radharani 'Jaya Radhe' in Vrndavana. He takes shelter of Radharani. And those who are rogues, demons, rascals, they surrender to the worldly demigods and goddesses. They think, let me take shelter of Durga Mayi and ask for many things. "Dhanam dehi, yasom dehi, rūpavati bharyam dehi, dehi, dehi": Give me wealth, give me reputation, give me beautiful wife, give, give. And Durgadevi gives him, yes take. Take as much as you want. As a result, he becomes a demon and disregards Bhagavan. Then Durgadevi takes a trident in her hand and chastises, "How dare you deny Bhagavan?" and strikes right at his chest. Visaya visanale, diva-nisi hiya jvale [Prarthana. Dainyabodhika. Song 4. Stanza 2]
[Transl. Anyone who will not take shelter of Bhagavan: the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Durgadevi will punish him like anything. After all she is also the Lord's potency.
[Transl. Police will punish you only until you follow the government laws. But as soon as you begin to follow the law then what's your connection with the Police? Similarly, the material nature Durgadevi will not even touch a person who becomes a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And for asuras who don't obey Bhagavan she uses her trident. Trisūla: Trident means tri-tapa: threefold miseries. Adhyatmika [miseries caused by one's body and mind], adhibhautika [miseries caused by other living entities], and adhidaivika [miseries caused by natural calamities]. Always. Therefore mahatmas who are under the shelter of the spiritual potency, they should be approached. Mahat-sevam dvaram ahur vimuktes. Now you are bound up by the cycle of birth and death. After this life, another life, another life, another life, that's all. Just like hogs and sheeps work whole day and we also work hard. The hardship is the same whether one is a high court judge or anyone else. Work hard whole day for bread.
[Transl. Therefore first He instructs that this is not good. You have to perform tapasya. Tapasya you have to do even for your bread, for taking education, for passing examinations. Then with an application in your hand you have to go to this office, that office, and if lucky you may get a job. Otherwise you starve. That is also tapasya. But what is the use of such tapasya? Undergo tapasya in such a way that your existence becomes purified and you get freedom from the cycle of birth and death. That is called tapasya. Tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam. How will you achieve it? In the next verse Rsabhadeva explains, mahat-seva dvaram ahur vimuktes. This present condition of yours, this continuous cycle of birth and death, work hard, make huge bank balance and try to become happy, it doesn't happen as people expect but those who are lucky they do get, even if they think that by hard work they can accumulate, that too will be snatched away. The Supreme Lord says, mrtyuḥ sarva-haras caham: I am all-devouring death. [Bg 10.34]
[Transl. As death. We will not accept Him. We go on collecting money, but we will have to accept His authority. When? Mrtyu: at death. He will come and take away everything from us. Mrtyuḥ sarva-haras caham. He will snatch away everything. Again He will make us poor. Again we will have to accept another body. We will have to remain in the mother's womb for ten months. If we are born in a well to do family and get education we we will get a good post. Then again we will have to die. And again everything will be taken away. Bhūtva bhūtva praliyate [Bg 8.19] This is because our present existence is not pure. That's why the Supreme Personality of Godhead is instructing purify your existence so that the cycle of birth and death will stop. They don't know all this. They think after death everything is finished. Big, big professors in Europe say like that. I met Professor Kotovski in Moscow, he said, "Svamiji, when this body is finished everything is finished. Nothing else remains. This is the opinion of the atheists.
bhasmi-bhūtasya dehasya
kutaḥ punar agamano bhavet [Carvaka.] [Transl. In our country also there were big, big atheists. [end]
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