People in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the external energy of Krsna, and they wrongly think that by advancement of material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord. That is the highest perfection of life. The Lord wants this, and He demands it. One has to understand this central point of Bhagavad-gita. Our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching the whole world this central point, and because we are not polluting the theme of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, anyone seriously interested in deriving benefit by studying the Bhagavad-gita must take help from the Krsna consciousness movement for practical understanding of Bhagavad-gita under the direct guidance of the Lord. We hope, therefore, that people will derive the greatest benefit by studying Bhagavad-gita As It Is as we have presented it here, and if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we shall consider our attempt a success.
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Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Preface and Introduction
BG Chapters 1 - 6
It is said in the Manu-smṛti that lust cannot be satisfied by any amount of sense enjoyment, just as fire is never extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. In the material world, the center of all activities is sex, and thus this material world is called maithunya-āgāra, or the shackles of sex life. In the ordinary prison house, criminals are kept within bars; similarly, the criminals who are disobedient to the laws of the Lord are shackled by sex life. Advancement of material civilization on the basis of sense gratification means increasing the duration of the material existence of a living entity. Therefore, this lust is the symbol of ignorance by which the living entity is kept within the material world. While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
According to Manu, the great author of civic codes and religious principles, even the killer of an animal is to be considered a murderer because animal food is never meant for the civilized man, whose prime duty is to prepare himself for going back to Godhead. He says that in the act of killing an animal, there is a regular conspiracy by the party of sinners, and all of them are liable to be punished as murderers exactly like a party of conspirators who kill a human being combinedly. He who gives permission, he who kills the animal, he who sells the slaughtered animal, he who cooks the animal, he who administers distribution of the foodstuff, and at last he who eats such cooked animal food are all murderers, and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature. No one can create a living being despite all advancement of material science, and therefore no one has the right to kill a living being by one's independent whims. For the animal-eaters, the scriptures have sanctioned restricted animal sacrifices only, and such sanctions are there just to restrict the opening of slaughterhouses and not to encourage animal-killing. The procedure under which animal sacrifice is allowed in the scriptures is good both for the animal sacrificed and the animal-eaters. It is good for the animal in the sense that the sacrificed animal is at once promoted to the human form of life after being sacrificed at the altar, and the animal-eater is saved from grosser types of sins (eating meats supplied by organized slaughterhouses which are ghastly places for breeding all kinds of material afflictions to society, country and the people in general). The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted calamities.
Being materially advanced means taking birth in an aristocratic family and possessing great wealth, an education and attractive personal beauty. All materialistic men are mad after possessing all these material opulences, and this is known as the advancement of material civilization. But the result is that by possessing all these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up, intoxicated by such temporary possessions. Consequently, such materially puffed up persons are incapable of uttering the holy name of the Lord by addressing Him feelingly, "O Govinda, O Kṛṣṇa." It is said in the śāstras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord's holy name has such powerful potency.
Advancement of material vision or material civilization is a great stumbling block for spiritual advancement. Such material advancement entangles the living being in the bondage of a material body followed by all sorts of material miseries. Such material advancement is called anartha, or things not wanted. Actually this is so. In the present context of material advancement one uses lipstick at a cost of fifty cents, and there are so many unwanted things which are all products of the material conception of life. By diverting attention to so many unwanted things, human energy is spoiled without achievement of spiritual realization, the prime necessity of human life. The attempt to reach the moon is another example of spoiling energy because even if the moon is reached, the problems of life will not be solved. The devotees of the Lord are called akiñcanas because they have practically no material assets. Such material assets are all products of the three modes of material nature. They foil spiritual energy, and thus the less we possess such products of material nature, the more we have a good chance for spiritual progress.
Kuntīdevī is quite aware that the existence of the Pāṇḍavas is due to Śrī Kṛṣṇa only. The Pāṇḍavas are undoubtedly well established in name and fame and are guided by the great King Yudhiṣṭhira, who is morality personified, and the Yadus are undoubtedly great allies, but without the guidance of Lord Kṛṣṇa all of them are nonentities, as much as the senses of the body are useless without the guidance of consciousness. No one should be proud of his prestige, power and fame without being guided by the favor of the Supreme Lord. The living beings are always dependent, and the ultimate dependable object is the Lord Himself. We may, therefore, invent by our advancement of material knowledge all sorts of counteracting material resources, but without being guided by the Lord all such inventions end in fiasco, however strong and stout the reactionary elements may be.
The Personality of Godhead and His holy name, qualities, etc., are all identical. The personality of Kali was not able to enter the jurisdiction of the earth due to the presence of the Personality of Godhead. And similarly, if there is an arrangement for the constant chanting of the holy names, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no chance at all for the personality of Kali to enter. That is the technique of driving away the personality of Kali from the world. In modernized human society there are great advancements of material science, and they have invented the radio to distribute sound in the air. So instead of vibrating some nuisance sound for sense enjoyment, if the state arranges to distribute transcendental sound by resounding the holy name, fame and activities of the Lord, as they are authorized in the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then a favorable condition will be created, the principles of religion in the world will be reestablished, and thus the executive heads, who are so anxious to drive away corruption from the world, will be successful. Nothing is bad if properly used for the service of the Lord.
SB Canto 2
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is recognized Vedic wisdom, and the system of receiving Vedic knowledge is called avaroha-panthā, or the process of receiving transcendental knowledge through bona fide disciplic succession. For advancement of material knowledge there is a need for personal ability and researching aptitude, but in the case of spiritual knowledge, all progress depends more or less on the mercy of the spiritual master. The spiritual master must be satisfied with the disciple; only then is knowledge automatically manifest before the student of spiritual science. The process should not, however, be misunderstood to be something like magical feats whereby the spiritual master acts like a magician and injects spiritual knowledge into his disciple, as if surcharging him with an electrical current. The bona fide spiritual master reasonably explains everything to the disciple on the authorities of Vedic wisdom. The disciple can receive such teachings not exactly intellectually, but by submissive inquiries and a service attitude. The idea is that both the spiritual master and the disciple must be bona fide. In this case, the spiritual master, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, is ready to recite exactly what he has learned from his great father Śrīla Vyāsadeva, and the disciple, Mahārāja Parīkṣit, is a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is he who believes sincerely that by becoming a devotee of the Lord one becomes fully equipped with everything spiritual.
The bhāgavata-dharma, or the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is perfectly distinct from the way of fruitive activities, which are considered by the devotees to be merely a waste of time. The whole universe, or for that matter all material existence, is moving on as jagat, simply for planning business to make one's position very comfortable or secure, although everyone sees that this existence is neither comfortable nor secure and can never become comfortable or secure at any stage of development. Those who are captivated by the illusory advancement of material civilization (following the way of phantasmagoria) are certainly madmen. The whole material creation is a jugglery of names only; in fact, it is nothing but a bewildering creation of matter like earth, water and fire. The buildings, furniture, cars, bungalows, mills, factories, industries, peace, war or even the highest perfection of material science, namely atomic energy and electronics, are all simply bewildering names of material elements with their concomitant reactions of the three modes. Since the devotee of the Lord knows them perfectly well, he is not interested in creating unwanted things for a situation which is not at all reality, but simply names of no more significance than the babble of sea waves. The great kings, leaders and soldiers fight with one another in order to perpetuate their names in history. They are forgotten in due course of time, and they make a place for another era in history.
It is said there that those who are bereft of all good sense, or those whose intelligence is withdrawn by the deluding energy of māyā, aspire to achieve all sorts of material enjoyment in life by pleasing the various 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-gītā, as well as in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, such less intelligent persons have been described as devoid of all good sense. Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which contains the messages of the Lord and His pure devotees. Death is inevitable for everyone, intelligent or foolish. But Parīkṣit Mahārāja has been addressed by the Gosvāmī as the manīṣī, 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, Śukadeva Gosvāmī. But aspirations for material enjoyment by endeavoring persons are condemned. Such aspirations are something like the intoxication of the degraded human society. Intelligent persons should try to avoid these aspirations and seek instead the permanent life by returning home, back to Godhead.
The materialistic man of the modern age will argue that life, or part of it, is never meant for discussion of theosophical or theological arguments. Life is meant for the maximum duration of existence for eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, making merry and enjoying life. The modern man wants to live forever by the advancement of material science, and there are many foolish theories for prolonging life to the maximum duration. But the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam affirms that life is not meant for so-called economic development or advancement of materialistic science for the hedonistic philosophy of eating, mating, drinking and merrymaking. Life is solely meant for tapasya, for purifying existence so that one may enter into eternal life just after the end of the human form of life.
By the hearing process, as mentioned hereinbefore, this realization of the presence of the Lord in the temple is made possible. As such, the first process in the routine work of devotional service—hearing—is the essential point. Hearing by all classes of devotees from the authentic sources like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is essential. The common man who is puffed up with his material position and does not bow down before the Deity of the Lord in the temple, or who defies temple worship without any knowledge of the science, must know that his so-called turban or crown will only succeed in further drowning him in the water of the ocean of material existence. A drowning man with a heavy weight on his head is sure to go down more swiftly than those who have no heavy weight. A foolish, puffed-up man defies the science of God and says that God has no meaning for him, but when he is in the grip of God's law and is caught by some disease like cerebral thrombosis, that godless man sinks into the ocean of nescience by the weight of his material acquisition. Advancement of material science without God consciousness is a heavy load on the head of human society, and so one must take heed of this great warning.
Herein Brahmā mentions the future compilation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for the short-lived persons of the Kali age. As explained in the First Canto, the less intelligent persons of the age of Kali would be not only short-lived, but also perplexed with so many problems of life due to the awkward situation of the godless human society. Advancement of material comforts of the body is activity in the mode of ignorance according to the laws of material nature. Real advancement of knowledge means progress of knowledge in self-realization. But in the age of Kali the less intelligent men mistakenly consider the short lifetime of one hundred years (now factually reduced to about forty or sixty years) to be all in all. They are less intelligent because they have no information of the eternity of life; they identify with the temporary material body existing for forty years and consider it the only basic principle of life. Such persons are described as equal to the asses and bulls. But the Lord, as the compassionate father of all living beings, imparts unto them the vast Vedic knowledge in short treatises like the Bhagavad-gītā and, for the graduates, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata are also similarly made by Vyāsadeva for the different types of men in the modes of material nature. But none of them are independent of the Vedic principles.
The unalloyed devotees of the Lord know the glories of the Lord in the sense that they can understand how great the Lord is and how great is His expansion of diverse energy. Those who are attached to the perishable body can hardly enter into the realm of the science of Godhead. The whole materialistic world, based on the conception of the material body as the self, is ignorant of the science of God. The materialist is always busy working for the welfare of the material body, not only his own but also those of his children, kinsmen, communitymen, countrymen, etc. The materialists have many branches of philanthropic and altruistic activities from a political, national and international angle of vision, but none of the field work can go beyond the jurisdiction of the misconception of identifying the material body with the spirit soul. Unless, therefore, one is saved from the wrong conception of the body and the soul, there is no knowledge of Godhead, and unless there is knowledge of God, all advancement of material civilization, however dazzling, should be considered a failure.
SB Canto 3
This silence of the Lord did not mean, however, that He excused the offenses of the Kurus. There were many other kings on earth who had become very proud of three kinds of possessions—wealth, education and followers—and they were constantly agitating the earth by movements of military strength. The Lord was just waiting to get them together on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and kill them all at one time, just to make a short-cut in His killing mission. Godless kings or heads of state, when puffed up by advancement of material wealth, education and increase of population, always make a show of military strength and give trouble to the innocent. When Lord Kṛṣṇa was personally present, there were many such kings all over the world, and He thus arranged for the Battle of Kurukṣetra. In His manifestation of viśva-rūpa, the Lord expressed His mission of killing as follows: "I have willingly descended on the earth in My capacity of inexorable Time in order to decrease the unwanted population. I shall finish all those who have assembled here except you, the Pāṇḍavas. This killing does not wait for you to take part in it. It is already arranged: all will be killed by Me. If you want to become famous as the hero of the battlefield and thus enjoy the booty of war, then, O Savyasācī, just become the immediate cause of this killing and thus take the credit. I have already killed all the great warriors—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Jayadratha, Karṇa and many other great generals. Do not worry. Fight the battle and be famous as a great hero." (Bg. 11.32-34)
We should not understand the process of impregnation by the Personality of Godhead in terms of our conception of sex. The omnipotent Lord can impregnate just by His eyes, and therefore He is called all-potent. Each and every part of His transcendental body can perform each and every function of the other parts. This is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.32): aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti. In Bhagavad-gītā (14.3) also, the same principle is confirmed: mama yonir mahad-brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham. When the cosmic creation is manifested, the living entities are directly supplied from the Lord; they are never products of material nature. Thus, no scientific advancement of material science can ever produce a living being. That is the whole mystery of the material creation. The living entities are foreign to matter, and thus they cannot be happy unless they are situated in the same spiritual life as the Lord. The mistaken living being, out of forgetfulness of this original condition of life, unnecessarily wastes time trying to become happy in the material world. The whole Vedic process is to remind one of this essential feature of life. The Lord offers the conditioned soul a material body for his so-called enjoyment, but if one does not come to his senses and enter into spiritual consciousness, the Lord again puts him in the unmanifested condition as it existed in the beginning of the creation. The Lord is described here as vīryavān, or the greatest potent being, because He impregnates material nature with innumerable living entities who are conditioned from time immemorial.
The activities of the conditioned souls under the influence of material nature are explained here. Every conditioned soul is engaged in different types of work under the influence of material nature. We can see in the material world that the conditioned soul acts so powerfully that he is playing wonderfully in creating the so-called advancements of material civilization for sense gratification. But actually his position is to know that he is an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord. When he is actually in perfect knowledge, he knows that the Lord is the supreme worshipful object and that the living entity is His eternal servant. Without this knowledge, he engages in material activities; that is called ignorance.
SB Canto 4
Material civilization is very proud of being advanced, but it is actually the useless trunk of a body without a head. Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without an understanding of Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, any advancement in a civilization, no matter how sophisticated, is of no value. There is a statement in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya (3.11):
- bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
- jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ
- aprāṇasyaiva dehasya
- maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam
The purport is that sometimes when a friend or relative dies, especially among lower class men, the dead body is decorated. Dressed and ornamented, the body is taken in procession. That sort of decoration of the dead body has no actual value because the life force is already gone. Similarly, any aristocracy, any social prestige or any advancement of material civilization without Kṛṣṇa consciousness is as good as the decoration of a dead body.
The glorification of the Supreme Lord can be very much appreciated by the Āryan family. Although there is no bar for others, the members of the Āryan family very quickly catch the essence of spiritual life. How is it that we are finding it very easy to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness among the Europeans and Americans? History reports that the Americans and Europeans proved their capability when they were anxious to expand colonization, but at the present time, being contaminated by the advancement of material science, their sons and grandsons are turning into reprobates. This is due to their having lost their original spiritual culture, which is Vedic civilization. Presently these descendants of the Āryan family are taking this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement very seriously. Others who are associating with them and hearing the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra from the lips of pure devotees are also becoming captivated by the transcendental vibration. Transcendental vibrations are very much effective when chanted among Āryans, but even though one does not belong to the Āryan family, he will become a Vaiṣṇava simply by hearing the mantra because the vibration has great influence over everyone.
SB Canto 5
How condemned is the advancement of material knowledge can be understood from the behavior of Mahārāja Priyavrata. He performed such wonderful acts as creating another sun, which shined during the night, and creating a chariot so great that its wheels formed vast oceans. These activities are so great that modern scientists cannot even imagine how such things can be done. Mahārāja Priyavrata acted very wonderfully in the material field of activities, but because he was dealing in sense gratification—ruling his kingdom and dancing to the indications of his beautiful wife—he personally condemned himself. When we think about this example of Mahārāja Priyavrata, we can just consider how degraded is the modern civilization of materialistic advancement. Modern so-called scientists and other materialists are very satisfied because they can construct great bridges, roads and machines, but such activities are nothing comparable to those of Mahārāja Priyavrata. If Mahārāja Priyavrata could condemn himself in spite of his wonderful activities, how condemned we are in our so-called advancement of material civilization. We can conclude that such advancement has nothing to do with the problems of the living entity entangled within this material world. Unfortunately, modern man does not understand his entanglement and how condemned he is, nor does he know what kind of body he is going to have in the next life.
SB Canto 6
The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very eager to present Vedic literature in modern languages, especially Western languages such as English, French and German. The leaders of the Western world, the Americans and Europeans, have become the idols of modern civilization because the Western people are very sophisticated in temporary activities for the advancement of material civilization. A sane man, however, can see that all such grand activities, although perhaps very important for temporary life, have nothing to do with eternal life. The entire world is imitating the materialistic civilization of the West, and therefore the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very much interested in giving the Western people knowledge by translating the original Sanskrit Vedic literatures into Western languages.
SB Canto 7
This verse describes how the advocates of economic development are frustrated by the laws of nature. As the previous verse asks, kiṁ viṣayopapādanaiḥ: what is the actual benefit of so-called economic development? The history of the world has factually proved that attempts to increase economic development for bodily comfort through the advancement of material civilization have done nothing to remedy the inevitability of birth, death, old age and disease. Everyone has knowledge of huge empires throughout the history of the world—the Roman Empire, the Moghul Empire, the British Empire and so on—but all the societies engaged in such economic development (sarve 'rtha-kāmāḥ) have been frustrated by the laws of nature through periodic wars, pestilence, famine and so on. Thus all their attempts have been flickering and temporary.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Devotion
A living entity cannot steadily remain either in sense enjoyment or in renunciation. Change is going on perpetually, and we cannot be happy in either state, because of our eternal constitutional position. Sense gratification does not endure for long, and it is therefore called capala-sukha, or flickering happiness. For example, an ordinary family man who works very hard day and night and is successful in giving comforts to the members of his family thereby relishes a kind of mellow, but his whole advancement of material happiness immediately terminates along with his body as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death. At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity—political, social, national or international—the result of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure.
Foolishly, people who are enamored of the glimmer of modern materialistic advancement are thinking that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is for less intelligent men. "I am better off being busy with my material comforts—maintaining a nice apartment, family and sex life." These people do not know that at any moment they can be kicked out of their material situation. Due to ignorance, they do not know that real life is eternal. The temporary comforts of the body are not the goal of life, and it is due only to darkest ignorance that people become enamored of the glimmering advancement of material comforts. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has therefore said that the advancement of material knowledge renders a person more foolish, because it causes one to forget his real identity by its glimmer. This is doom for him, because this human form of life is meant for getting out of material contamination. By the advancement of material knowledge, people are becoming more and more entangled in material existence. They have no hope of being liberated from this catastrophe.
One should not give up anything which can be utilized in the service of the Lord. That is a secret of devotional service. Anything that can be utilized in advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service should be accepted. For instance, we are using many machines for the advancement of our present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, machines like typewriters, dictating machines, tape recorders, microphones and airplanes. Sometimes people ask us, "Why are you utilizing material products if you condemn the advancement of material civilization?" But actually we do not condemn. We simply ask people to do whatever they are doing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the same principle on which, in Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa advised Arjuna to utilize his fighting abilities in devotional service. Similarly, we are utilizing these machines for Kṛṣṇa's service. With such sentiment for Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we can accept everything. If the typewriter can be utilized for advancing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, we must accept it. Similarly, the dictating machine or any other machine must be used. Our vision is that Kṛṣṇa is everything. Kṛṣṇa is the cause and effect, and nothing belongs to us. Kṛṣṇa's things must be used in the service of Kṛṣṇa. That is our vision.
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
To remain in the poverty-stricken condition is a kind of austerity. According to Vedic culture, therefore, the brāhmaṇas, as a matter of routine, keep themselves in a poverty-stricken condition to save themselves from the false prestige of material opulence. False prestige due to advancement of material prosperity is a great impediment for spiritual emancipation. A poverty-stricken man cannot become unnaturally fat by eating more and more. And on account of not being able to eat more than he requires, his senses are not very turbulent. When the senses are not very turbulent, he cannot become violent.
Message of Godhead
There is much advancement of material science all over the world, but regrettably, these advanced scientists have made no attempt to understand the living spark, the spirit, which is always the most important subject. This is our gross ignorance. This is our helplessness.
Factually, also, in no country other than India have the great sages endeavored so much for the realization of the spirit self. It is admitted that in the Western countries the people have done their best to advance in the culture of material science, centered on the material body and mind. But it is admitted, also, that notwithstanding all such advancement of material knowledge in the West, the people in general there are suffering the pangs of the poisonous effects of materialism because they have cared very little for the culture of spiritual science. Great thinkers in the Western countries must therefore look to the people of India if the message of Godhead, of genuine spiritualism, is to reach their ears.
Light of the Bhagavata
Material manifestations of things are but shadowy representations of reality. They are compared to mirages in the desert. In the desert there is no water, but the foolish deer runs after illusory water in the desert to quench his thirsty heart. Water is not unreal, but the place where we seek it is misleading. The advancement of materialistic civilization is just like a mirage in the desert. The deer runs after water in the desert with full speed, and the illusion of water moves ahead at the same speed as the foolish deer. Water is not false, but we must not seek it in the desert. A living entity, by his past experience, remembers the real happiness of his original, spiritual existence, but since he has forgotten himself he seeks spiritual or permanent happiness in matter, although this is impossible to achieve.
Sri Isopanisad
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, a great ācārya, maintained that all forms of material knowledge are merely external features of the illusory energy and that by culturing them one becomes no better than an ass. This same principle is found here in Śrī Īśopaniṣad. By advancement of material knowledge, modern man is simply being converted into an ass. Some materialistic politicians in spiritual guise decry the present system of civilization as satanic, but unfortunately they do not care about the culture of real knowledge as it is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Thus they cannot change the satanic situation.
Since the creation of the material world, everyone has been trying to attain a permanent life, but the laws of nature are so cruel that no one has been able to avoid the hand of death. No one wants to die, nor does anyone want to become old or diseased. The law of nature, however, does not allow anyone immunity from old age, disease or death. Nor has the advancement of material knowledge solved these problems. Material science can discover the nuclear bomb to accelerate the process of death, but it cannot discover anything that can protect man from the cruel hands of old age, disease and death.
The path of avidyā, or advancement of material knowledge for sense gratification, is the path of repeated birth and death. As he exists spiritually, the living entity has no birth or death. Birth and death apply to the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments. Foolish human beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of avidyā, nescience, do not mind this cruel process. Enamored with the beauty of the illusory energy, they undergo the same miseries repeatedly and do not learn any lessons from the laws of nature.
In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of avidyā, ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Śrī Īśopaniṣad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
We are deluded, illusioned. We are accepting this place as permanent settlement. We are making plans, so many plans, to make a permanent settlement, but the Lord says it is not only full of misery, aśāśvatam, you cannot remain here permanently. However make your plan to live here permanently, you cannot live here. You have to give up. You can spoil your energy for making this material world very comfortable or you may live for some years very comfortably, but cruel death will come and snatch from comfortable position and put you into another position which is beyond your control. You cannot say that "I have made my position very secure. I am very comfortable with great endeavor by advancement of economic development, by advancement of material science. Let me remain here. I am very happy." The time will say, "No, that will not be allowed. You must leave immediately, immediately, without delay."
Now, seven hundred years before, people were dying. Death was there. So has the advancement of material science during the seven hundred years, has stopped death? No. That is not possible. People were suffering from diseases seven hundred years before. Then has the material science so much advanced, stopped diseases? No. People were embarrassed with increase of population. Has that been stopped? No. People were embarrassed with so many death rate. Has that been stopped? No. That is now... Now, seven hundred years before, the sun was rising on the eastern side. Has the material science stopped the sun rising on the eastern side? Has it gone to the western side? No. Then what is this advancement? Simply defying the existence of God, is that the advancement of knowledge? If we materially calculate that... Practically the major questions which are embarrassing us... Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). We are embarrassed with the material miseries of life. That has not been solved. The major questions have been set aside. Simply by thinking that "There is no God. We are God. Science is everything," oh, do you think that is advancement of knowledge? No.
So when he is situated in that practical status of spiritual realization, then he is to be understood that he is actually situated in the yoga. Not that I am going to a class and, weekly or twice weekly attending yoga class, and I remain the same thing for the so many years. No. There should be practical realization. What is that practical realization? Praśāntātmā. Praśāntātmā. The mind is calm and quiet, no more agitated by the attraction of this material encirclement. You see? So jñāna-vijñāna...kūṭastho vijitendriyaḥ. The first qualification is called vijitendriyaḥ, sense control. Advancement in the yoga system means yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Yoga means to... Because our whole life is disturbed due to the senses. Senses. This material life means sense gratification. That's all. The sum and substance of materialistic life means sense gratification. Therefore advancement of material science means giving you products for your sense gratification. Unnecessarily, so many things are produced just to satisfy my senses. That is the material advancement.
The modern civilization is simply meant for creating unnecessary necessities of life. That's all. So we are becoming deviated from God. The more we are advancing in so-called material civilization, we are more becoming far away from God. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung: jaḍa-bidyā jato, māyāra vaibhava, tomāra bhajane bādhā. Jaḍa-bidyā, the material education, they are simply paraphernalia of this illusory energy, māyāra vaibhava. And the effect of this advancement of material civilization means stopping one's relationship with God. Jaḍa-bidyā jato, māyāra vaibhava, tomāra bhajane bādhā, anitya saṁsāre. Anitya means this temporary life, this... Everyone, we are in this material world, say, for fifty years, sixty years, hundred years. That is temporary. In the unlimited time, a duration of life, say of hundred years, that is nothing. Even, not even a point. It is very temporary, but in this temporary life, we are addicted to so many unnecessary things, and we are forgetting our real business, how to go to home, back to home, back to Godhead.
Formerly, at least we Indian know that go to a blacksmith and he prepares a razor, very nice razor. You pay him four annas, and it will last for your life and shave your cheek very nicely, daily or occasionally. But the modern civilization means that in everything there must be machine. That is the advancement of material... But the śāstra says, "What is the use of taking so much labor?" Kaṣṭān kāmān. Kaṣṭān means with so much labor. If you create some convenience by the so-called machine use, you create so many other inconveniences. Just like we have got now motorcar. Of course, it is convenience. But there are many inconveniences. Formerly people used to find everyone within the village. Now, because we have got big, big motorcars, we have to go thirty miles to find out a doctor. So the other inconveniences are also increased. Now we have to find out petrol and flatter the Arabians, "Give me petrol." In this way... And if I stop manufacturing, then there is unemployment.
Sometimes you go, sarva-ga, sarva-ga. Sarva... Jīva. Jīva means the living entities, they have got a propensity to go from here to there, there to here. That is their... Because they are living force, they cannot stay at one place. That is not their nature. Even in this life also, you Americans, you try to go to India; the Indians try to come here or some other country. This is nature. In the birds, beasts, everywhere, they want to transfer in some different... So it is going on. So the materialists who want to go to the higher planets by pious activities, they can go there, but they will have to come back again. But what is the idea of going there? The idea of going there is the materialists, they are always seeking of better comforts of life. There is no limit, where is better comfort. In this earth also, people are trying, advancement of material... Just like in your city I see very nice building.
So materialists, they do not know where their advancement of material civilization will be perfect. They do not know that. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). That perfection will never come, but they are after that perfection, dismantling and building. And after fifty years they will dismantle this building and prepare another kind of building. That will be... At that time further material advancement will be there. So this is going on, gatāgatam. Gatāgatam means, what is called, stereotyped. Everyone is going. The exact Hindi word is variyagasan(?). They call variyagasan. Variyagasan means that the goats, the goats, the goat merchant, they are taking to the slaughterhouse, and they are going hither and thither. But if one goat enters the door, all the variyas, they will enter. You see? So because one has entered... But nobody will consider that he has entered the slaughterhouse. No. "One has entered; therefore let us enter all." This is advancement. "Oh, one has entered; therefore I must enter also. I do not care where I am entering. That I do not know." So this is going on, gatāgatam.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Material knowledge, advancement of material knowledge, means more and more bondage. And advancement of spiritual knowledge means more and more liberation. But our problem is how to liberate ourselves from this material bondage. We are bound up. Just like I am a spirit soul, you are spirit soul, but we are put into this material bondage. Because we are in material bondage, therefore we have no freedom. People do not understand this. Just like spirit soul is described as sarva-ga. Sarva-ga means the spirit soul can go anywhere he likes. But due to this material bondage, because we have this material body, we are checked. Even we cannot go to the other planet. But we have got instances... Just like Nārada Muni. Nārada Muni is traveling all over the universes, not only within the material world, but in the spiritual world, because he has got spiritual body. There is no material bondage.
Adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). The problem is they cannot control the senses. Therefore their philosophical idea is that sense gratification is the ultimate goal of life. They are thinking, which will never be successful, that by advancement of material comforts they will be happy. Therefore the śāstra says impossible or very difficult or by a kind of hope which will never to be fulfilled. It was never successful in the past, it is not successful in the present, therefore in the future also it will never be successful. But they have taken up this philosophy of sense gratification materially.
Ṛṣabhadeva has forbidden, that "This life, human form of life, is not meant for working so hard like hogs and dogs." Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). This is the advice. But we are advancing in civilization—to get our food, we have to work so hard. This is condemnation of life. Human life should be very peaceful, and without any hard work we shall get our food and save time for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is human life, not that for senses gratification we work so hard like an ass. This is called anartha. Anartha means unwanted things. We can see practically. The birds and beasts, they are living very easy and comfortable life without any problem. They rise early in the morning regularly. You have seen. As soon as there is little light, immediately they will rise up and they will talk amongst themselves and go, one tree to another, and he will eat one or two fruits, little fruits, ample fruit. They have no scarcity of food. And live very pleasantly. For eating, sleeping, sex life, they have no problem. These are primary necessities of life. Why there should be problem for these things? But in the human society there is problem. That is called the effect of Kali-yuga. Effect of Kali-yuga means the so-called advancement of material civilization means to become godless, immoral, and they must suffer. That is going on.
So they are not interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the position at the present moment. Everyone is trying that "I must have a good position in the society." People will say, "Oh, his house is very nice." Or everyone is trying to be educated to acquire money. In the Western countries, these are very prominent, janmaiśvarya-śruta. They are not very much interested about the janma, but aiśvarya, śruta, they are interested, and śrī. So everywhere, more or less, that is the... So these are disqualification for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the material world they are very good qualification, advancement of material civilization. But here Kuntī says, janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān, naivārhati: "He does not desire." Na eva, naiva, arhati.
Prabhupāda: Just see, at least fifty ounce will be required to decorate one horse. And one ounce is $120. So what is the price of fifty ounce?
Devotees: Five thousand dollars.
Prabhupāda: Such sixty-thousand horses, how much it comes? (laughter) Where is that gold? They are very much proud, advancement of material civilization, but instead of gold, we find plastic. (laughter) And the nonsense, they are very much proud of their wealth. Just see. Even they cannot decorate their wives. And woman, they require also ornament. It is psychology. Manu-saṁhitā, it has been recommended that "If you want to keep satisfied your wife, then you must give her good food, good sari and good ornament." This is the system. Therefore during marriage time, the girl is given by the father according to his means, as many saris, nice saris, beautiful costly saris, and as much as possible, golden ornaments. And those who are very rich, they, still in India, they give jewelries, means diamonds, pearls, sapphire, according to means. Those who are richer class, they don't touch gold. They must give jewelry. This is the system.
So the one process is voluntarily giving up. Just like Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. He is the king. He is giving up a royal dress. Valayādi. A king is decorated with fine jewelries, bangles and many other, here, here, here. You have seen. Nowadays nobody has seen also how many different types of ornaments there is. They do not know it. Simply plastic plate or a paper plate, and he thinks something. That's all. They do not know what is golden plate, what is silver plate, what is jewelry. All forgotten. All forgotten. And still, they are proud of advancement of material civilization. What you have got? Plastic and paper plates only. That's all. No more ornament, no jewel, no house, no garment, no life—everything is gone. And still, they are proud: "We are advancing in this material civilization." Money. "We have got money." What is that money? Paper, that's all. (laughter) And everyone is cheated. "Take hundred dollars." What is this? A paper. That's all. So it is the society now at the present moment, the cheater and the cheated. Similarly religion. Similarly science. Similarly philosophy. Everything is cheating. Because all of them are rascals, and people are rascals, they cannot protest. They cannot protest.
He's situated within your heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 18.61). Just see how much He loves you. He's trying always to get you back to home. And He says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: (BG 18.66) "You rascal, why you are engaged in such nasty things, material life? You come to Me. You'll be happy. I shall give you all protection." "No, Sir, I am not going. I shall become a hog, and I shall eat stool. That, that is my advancement of material civilization." You see. Hog means he has no discrimination of food. That is hog. You have seen, a hog can eat up to the stool. So anyone who has no human brain, has no discrimination of food, anything he can eat, he's a hog. "Anything, anyone, never mind, mother, sister or anyone, let us have sex life"—that is hog's life. You'll find the hog's life is practical like that, to eat anything and have sex life with anyone. That is hog's life. Is it not? What is the hog? You have seen hog? They have no discrimination of sex and no discrimination of food. That is hog's life.
Still you'll find in India in the villages—I think here also the same—they don't mind. I see from the street the original walls.(?) They are not very much interested how to live comfortably. The real purpose of life should be done. At the present moment the civilization is simply for bodily comforts. Divasa-śarīra-sāje. Whole day is spoiled for trying how to make the, keep the body in comfortable situation. That is not the purpose of life. The purpose of life is, we should supply the necessities of the body as you can keep fit for executing spiritual purpose. But at the present moment there is no spiritual purpose, simply bodily comforts. This is the civilization of animals. As animals they do not know anything except bodily comforts. If human society becomes like that, then it is animal society. And because it is animal society, there is no peace in spite of advancement of material conforts.
So we human being, if I study all the science, physics, chemistry, psychology, and other material science, soil expert... Soil expert means studying the earth, that's all. There are so many. So in spite of all these things, if we remain in the darkness of my spiritual identity, then I am no better than the cats and dogs. This is conclusion.
So this so-called advancement of material science means that we are kept in the darkness of spiritual knowledge. We are still in the platform of animal concept of life. Therefore śāstra says,
- yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke
- sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ
- yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij
- janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
- (SB 10.84.13)
Go-khara. Go-khara. Go means cow, and khara means ass. So in spite of all our educational advancement, if we remain in the darkness of bodily concept of life, then we are no better than go-khara. Go, go means cow, and... So we should not remain that. The human life is meant for above this.
And karma means they are not struggling hard to enjoy the fruitive result, as we see generally everywhere, they are working so hard. Big, big buildings, big, big factories, big, big roads, cities, so many things. They are trying to be happy by such advancement of material opulence. They are called karmī. Some of them are trying to be happy within this material, within this world or within this life, and there are others also, they are also performing big, big yajñas, charities, so that next life they may also take birth in very nice family or may be elevated to the higher planetary system where the standard of life is thousand times better than here. There is all arrangement. So they are trying for that. Not only to become very bodily happy in this life, but also next life. But as there is difficulty... Suppose if you want to be happy materially, then... You see how they are working very hard. They have no time. In the morning, at half past five, we go for morning walk, we see, workers are going. At night... You Europeans, you know better than me how they are working very, very hard. What is the idea? To become happy. To satisfy the senses. Similarly, there are others who know that there is life after death. So they are also preparing how "Next life also we'll be happy, we may take birth in very rich family, in higher planet, in heavenly planet."
You eat. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya yogo bhavati siddhi-daḥ (?). You don't require to eat less. Suppose you can eat one pound. The Kṛṣṇa conscious prescription does not say, "You simply eat one ounce." No. You eat one pound. But don't eat more. Similarly, you have to sleep. All right, make your shelter, apartment, nicely so that you can comfortably sleep. Defense, yes, you defend your country, you defend your home nicely. Sex life, yes, you have sex life, but not in the unrestricted way. Limited with married wife or married husband and comfortably and very gentlemanly. So these are prescriptions are there. There is no denial. But make it systematic. But the balance of your life Don't spoil your life simply for sense gratification or so-called advancement of material civilization. You should utilize your time how to make advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the sum and substance of Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction to his class fellows who were born of atheistic family, and we shall gradually discuss.
Today you are American or something, or Indian, but tomorrow if you become a tree in the American land, then what is your position? But they do not care for it, do not understand it, therefore it is māyāra vaibhava. This advancement of material civilization is māyāra vaibhava. Therefore the Vedic civilization is voluntarily accepting poverty. Voluntary. Big, big kings, they voluntarily accepted poverty. Rūpa Goswami Don't go to the past, big, big..., Bhārata Mahārāja and others. Even Lord Rāmacandra. Take recent history, within five hundred years. Rūpa Goswami, the chief minister of the government of Bengal, most opulent position: tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. They became mendicant, voluntarily accepting, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-mandala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. "What is this nonsense position, minister, opulent life? Kick it out." They are not fools. They are politicians. But why they "Kick it out." Then what they became? Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. They become mendicant.
So in the modern age, advancement of material civilization, they also do not care for these siddhis, material siddhis. Just like laghimā. Laghimā-siddhi, the yogis, they become so light that they can float in the air. So nowadays you have got airplane. The yogi can float alone in the air. Now five hundred passengers, they can float in the air. So there is no need of such yoga, yoga-siddhi. The science, the material science of craftsmanship, mechanical, they have done it. Or formerly these things were very magical. Still, the so-called yogis, they are trying to achieve such perfection. Sometimes they can float in the air, they can walk on the water, they can get anything they desire, prāpti. Prāpti, in my childhood there was my teacher. He said that he had his guru, a yogi. So he told me that his spiritual master, yogi, he inquired from his disciple, "What do you want to eat?" So he said that "We want to eat some pomegranate from Kabul." So he said, "Yes, you can get it. Go into the room and you'll find." So they found a bunch of pomegranate just fresh taken from the tree. This is called prāpti. The yogis, they can get all these facilities. Prāpti siddhi. Īśitā, they can keep anyone under his control. Īśitā, vaśitā... There are eight kinds of aṣṭa-siddhi. But that is not perfection of life. Caitanya-caritāmṛta kaja says, bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmi-sakali "aśānta" kṛṣṇa-bhakta-niṣkāma, ataeva "śānta" (CC Madhya 19.149). Bhukti means karmis, they are also wanting something, material success. Mukti, the jñānīs, they want liberation, to merge into the existence of Brahman. And siddhi, the yogis... So everyone wants something. Therefore they then you have to struggle for it. But kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma. Kṛṣṇa-bhakta does not want anything. They simply want to be en-gaged in the service of the Lord. That is their satisfaction. That is the aim of life. Unfortunately we are not educated, we are not given training. Prahlāda Mahārāja's subject matter is kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). From the very beginning of life, the children should be educated in bhāgavata-dharma. That is the subject matter.
So people do not understand. Therefore they are called mūḍhas. They are simply making arrangement how to become happy. It is not possible to become happy here. That's a fact. But still they are. Therefore they are called mūḍhas, rascals. Which will never be possible, and they are trying for that. You see, whole world is trying to be happy. They are discovering so many technological arts, but they are dying. They cannot. They have invented horseless carriage, having very, I mean to say, speedy carriages, but there are so many dangers. Every moment the life can go, the motor accident. It is happening in the Western country. So whatever you do for the advancement of material civilization, you are one side increasing more danger. If you did not discover these aeroplane and motorcar, then death would not have been so easier. You could live at least for some days. But because you have discovered some facilities, your death is also very become near. So this is prakṛti. You are trying to solve the problem in one way, and the problem is becoming more dangerous and difficult by the laws of nature. That these rascals cannot find even. They continually working. There is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, paśyann api na paśyati. They are so big rascals that paśyann api na paśyati: even they are seeing every moment that "All our endeavors are being baffled," still, they'll try for it. They'll try for it, again and again. Punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām (SB 7.5.30). These things are... Punaḥ punaḥ, again and again, chewing the chewed, this is their business. Therefore they are called mūḍhas.
Just like we are changing our body. In mother's womb we had a small body. It grows, and we come out. Again it grows. Grows... It is not actually growing, it is changing. The child is changing his body to baby, the baby is changing his body to boy, and the boy is changing his body to youthhood. Then... in this way you are changing body. That you have got experience. You had a child's body—you remember. Or you had a boy's body—you remember. But the body is no longer existing. But you are existing. Therefore the conclusion is that when this body will be no more fit for existing we shall have to accept another body. This is called tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. So we have to change. That is nature's law. The soul is immortal. Na jāyate na mriyate vā kadācit na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The soul is not finished, simply a particular type of body being finished, no. The people do not know it. And because they are simply engaged in sinful activities, their brain has become so dull that they cannot understand this simple truth that as you are changing body in this life therefore you will change this body to another life. This is very simple truth. But at the advancement of material civilization, we have become so dull and rascal that we cannot understand it.
Nectar of Devotion Lectures
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he sings, jaḍa-vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava. This advancement of material education means advancement of the snares of the illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa. Māyāra vaibhava. Because we are already enamored by the glimmer of this material world. Just like the insects are attracted by the fire. They, with great force, enter into the fire without knowing that he's going to die. His forceful entrance into the fire means his sure death. Actually, we are seeing, especially in the Western countries, this motorcar civilization, when we run on on the motorcar, especially with high speed, it is always we think that any moment danger can take place. (aside:) You remember, you were driving your father's car, eighty miles. So I asked you, "Don't go so fast." So the materialistic way of life is that. We create some so-called comforts of life for temporary enjoyment, but at the same time, we take the risk of so many dangerous condition. In the śāstra it is said that this place is padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58). In every step there is danger. Although we are trying to mitigate all kinds of discomforts, it is simply changing the burden from head to the shoulder. Just like a coolie carrying some burden, when he feels uncomfortable, he changes the burden from head to the shoulder, but actually, that is not mitigating the pains of burden. Similarly, we are trying to get material comforts by manufacturing or adventing so many scientific discoveries, but that is not actually getting happiness. It is simply changing the position. Exactly, we just consider that in your country, especially, you have got many motorcars, but riding on motorcars, how much dangerous conditions you accept. Everyone accept.
Now we are creating so many problems, you know. You have got many cars, many roads, but still, you have to construct highways or flyways, one road after another, one road after another. Still, there is congestion. Still, there is accident. So in this way we cannot be comfortable. This is a vain endeavor. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. They are unnecessarily, hopelessly trying to become happy within this material world. And people, the so-called scientists, so-called advancement of material education means... Now, the scientist says that they have finished their business; they have no more to discover. But the discomforts of life still is there. As it was two hundred years ago, still, I think it is more acute now than two hundred years ago. So in this way, we cannot... The another example is that just like we dream. We dream something dangerous, a tiger is coming, a snake is coming; sometimes we want to change to another sort of dream. Those who have got practical experience... Dreaming another dream in dream. Similarly, our attempt, so-called attempt to become comfortable in this material world, and manufacturing some ways of comforts, it is simply useless endeavor, because such kind of artificial endeavoring will not make us happy. Real happiness is, as we are trying to manufacture so many things, as Kṛṣṇa says, real happiness is there, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ: (BG 18.66) to take shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. That is required. We have to take shelter of Mukunda, Murāri, Kṛṣṇa. Then we'll be happy.
This obedience, the sense of obedience to higher authorities, to love somebody, these propensities are there in everyone. Even a child, we have seen, when there is saṅkīrtana, they also clap their hands. They also try to dance. This is natural. So this has to be little organized. That is called practice. Otherwise the things are there, dormant. Sometimes by bad association that dormant propensities are cut down. They forget. The present situation is like that. The so-called material advancement has curbed down the dormant propensities for loving God, or Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that jaḍa-vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava. Jaḍa-vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava, tomāra bhajane bādhā. The more artificially we make advancement of material civilization, the more we become away from devotional service. Practically we can see. People are engaged in developing their material resources. Everyone is busy. And we, if our men approach, then they think it is simply waste of time. "All right. They're asking something. Give them some money. Let them go away, and let my business be done nicely." So this is the propensities observed (by) Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura: jaḍa-vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava. The more we advance in material civilization, we become backward in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our principle is, therefore, to minimize the artificial necessities of life, as much as possible. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. Anāsaktasya viṣayān. We should eat, sleep, not for material comfort. But eating is required. Without eating, we cannot live. Sleeping is required, to give rest for some time. For that purpose, we shall eat, sleep... Nirbandha kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. Anāsaktasya viṣayān. We should not be attached. That will make our spiritual progress firm.
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
So vidyā and avidyā. We should learn what is vidyā and avidyā. Avidyā means this materialistic knowledge. That is avidyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, jaḍa vidyā sab māyāra vaibhava: "Advancement of material knowledge means advancement of māyā's jurisdiction." The more you become implicated in material knowledge, entangled, you..., less you can understand Kṛṣṇa consciousness. People, those who are supposed to be very advanced in material knowledge, they think, "Eh, what is this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement?" They have no attraction. Just like some of our Indian boys sometimes come. They have come here to learn technology. So sometimes they question. They are surprised that... They have rejected these things, and they have come here to learn technology. So when they see that Swamijī introduced the things which they have rejected in India, so they are surprised.
Just see Vyāsadeva. He is the original guru, spiritual master, of Vedic knowledge. How he was living? In a cottage in Badarikāśrama. But just see his knowledge. He has written so many Purāṇas, and Bhāgavata-Purāṇa is one of them. The Vedānta philosophy, Mahābhārata, each and every verse if you study, you can study for the whole life. Similarly, in some book he has written 100,000's of verses, not less than 20,000, 25,000 verses. And each verse is so full of meaning that one has to learn it throughout his whole life. This is Vedic culture. There is no comparison of knowledge, not only in spiritual knowledge, in other department also—in astronomy, in mathematics. It is not that in the olden age there were no aeroplanes. We get so many information from Purāṇas. Their aeroplane was so strong and so, I mean to say, speedy, they could easily reach other planets. Arjuna went to the heavenly planet. So material knowledge, advancement, is not that there was no advancement of material knowledge in the Vedic age. It was there, but they did not take much care of it. They were interested for spiritual knowledge. It is not that material knowledge was not there. It was there. The opulence... That opulence you cannot compare now. Gold, jewels, full—every city, every individual person, and what to speak of kings and rich men. So avidyā and vidyā. So one should know side by side what is vidyā and what is avidyā.
Festival Lectures
Actually, superficially we see that material advancement of material science, people have got so many machines, so many facilities. But actually, they are in trouble. Just like I gave you one example: the computer machine. It can work for thousands of men. So thousands of men means the thousands of men must be unemployed. And especially in your country, they are taking advantage of this machine because the salary is If you want to pay to the worker, a big, big salary. So they want to save. They are taking machine, and they think they will save money, so many workers. But the workers are becoming unemployed. The government has to give them welfare. The government will tax. That's all. (laughter.) Government will not give money, welfare, from government's pocket. The government will increase your taxation. So you are..., you stop payment by importing some machine, now you have to pay that money to the government. This is called entanglement. This is a crude example. I don't say that you stop all this business, but the material world is like that. You want to solve something; instead of solving, you'll create so many problems. This is material life. Because our life is not meant for solving problems and creating problems. Our life is meant for understanding God. Then everything is all right. But that you have given up.
General Lectures
Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said, jaḍa-vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava: "Advancement of material science is increasing the illusion of māyā." We are already illusioned, and if we go on increasing the illusion more and more, then we become more and more entangled. That is the nature. And so long we are illusioned, we shall put forward different theories, different philosophies, and different arguments. Therefore śāstra says, tarko apratiṣṭhaḥ (CC Madhya 17.186). Simply by argument and reasoning, you cannot make any spiritual advancement. Because you may be very good, I mean to way, logician, putting forward nice arguments, but somebody may come who is better than you. He will spoil all your logic, and he will establish his own logic. That is nyāya-śāstra. In Sanskrit there is nyāya-śāstra. So they are taught how to defeat his opponent. Therefore the Absolute Truth you cannot understand by argument, by material dealings.
In the Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa. We are presenting in that way. We are presenting Kṛṣṇa in the Western world. When I first went there the people were saying, "God is dead." Exactly in the same way as in our country also. We have been misled by so-called leaders. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ. There is a statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
- na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
- durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
- andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
- te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ
- (SB 7.5.31)
But actually we are misled by the so-called blind leaders. They have no vision what is the actual goal of life. Not only in a particular country—everywhere the same mischief is going on. Therefore, as a blind man, if he leads other blind men, there will be catastrophe, similarly, because we are led by blind men, the whole world is in catastrophe. Nobody is in peace. Everyone is unsatisfied in spite of so much material education, advancement of material education, because the missing point is Viṣṇu. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31).
So actually, in this material existence we are forgetting our real constitutional position, that we are all eternal servant of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati (BG 15.7). But some way or other, we have come to this material world for enjoying, for lord it over the material nature. And that is not possible. You cannot lord it over. The Lord is Kṛṣṇa, but we are trying to be lord. And the endeavor, the labor which we are giving incessantly, that we are thinking happiness. The nature, the material nature, is putting stumbling block every time. That, to overcome the impediments offered by the material nature and our trial for overcoming that stumbling block, that is our endeavor. And we are thinking this is happiness. Just like you are making one high road and there is, material nature is offering a big hill, a big mountain before you. Now you have to make tunnel. You have to call for dynamite and try to penetrate through the hill. That struggle is known as advancement of material condition. That you cannot. In America and other materialistic countries we see—here also, in Japan—they are laying down one kind of road for plying their motorcars. After some years it becomes a problem—another flyway, another flyway. So this is going on. This is called struggle for existence. We are trying to conquer over the stringent laws of material nature, and that labor, that useless spoiling our life, we are thinking that we are..., this is happiness. This is called māyā. We are actually giving service to the māyā instead of giving service to Kṛṣṇa. This is illusion.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: He also felt that materialistic progress is a possible hindrance.
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is very good idea. That is confirmed by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Jaḍa-vidyā jato māyāra vaibhava tomāra bhajane bādhā. Material progress means expansion of the external energy, māyā, illusion. So we are already in illusion, and therefore we practically see the so-called scientists, so-called philosophers, because they are materially advanced, they cannot understand even what is God and what is our relationship. So this is hindrance, the so-called advancement of material science, of material knowledge, is undoubtedly hindrance. Tomāra bhajane bādhā. They are all hindrances to the progressive march of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When we minimize our necessities, that is saintly life—the bare necessities of life. We are not after very luxurious way of life. We are satisfied only with the bare necessities of life. So it is not an attempt for material progress. It is simply an attempt to make spiritual progress, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Hayagrīva: Because a favorable environment merely strengthens the dangerous tendency to expect everything to originate from outside,...
Prabhupāda: No, everything originates from inside, from the soul.
Prabhupāda: This is very good. First of all they must know what is the welfare of the human being. Unfortunately, with advancement of so-called material education, the human society is missing the aim of life. The aim of life is declared openly in the Vedānta philosophy, athāto brahma jijñāsā. This is the aim of human life. In the Bhāgavata it is said, jīvasya tattva-jijñāsā. The life is meant for understanding the Absolute Truth. That is the aim of human life. The whole Vedic civilization is based on this principle. But on account of deviating from the original Vedic civilization, they have dedicated the human form of life in so many unnecessary scientific discoveries, that discovery, which will not give him any relief to the human society. The real tribulation of life is birth, death and disease and old age. So the so-called advancement of material civilization has not solved the real problem of life, and the aim of human life is to solve the real problem of human life. The real problem of life, that we are eternal, as eternal as God, but we are subjected to birth and death. So with the poor fund of knowledge in the Kali-yuga, people being very bad, or slow for self-realization, and they create their own way of life, mandāḥ sumanda-matayo (SB 1.1.10), and they are unfortunate and, and disturbed. Disturbance is always there, but they are not mindful about the real disturbances of life. Now, on the whole in this age, practically the human being has become like animal. The animal, although always in disturbed condition, cannot understand the aim of life, what is his position. So this type of civilization is very, very dangerous to the human society, that they have no aim of life.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1972 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Physics has nothing to do with spirit. (break) ...manufacture the subtle(?) parts of motorcar, easily you can go. So this rascal thinking this is advancement, says, "I am killing the soul. The soul is going to become a dog next life after riding motorcar." That is written, and they have no knowledge. But because you have advanced from bullock cart to motorcar, this is.... So rascal they are. They have no knowledge what is advancement. What is the time?
Jayatīrtha: It's quarter to seven, thirteen minutes to seven. The advancement of material science really means to complicate the problems of life.
Prabhupāda: That's all, increasing the problem. They have to dig out petroleum oil from the midst of the ocean. Is it easy job?
Jayatīrtha: No.
Prabhupāda: But they will do it because they have got motorcars, they must find out petrol.
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Svarūpa Dāmodara: That's the inborn quality of the living entities.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām. The only special significance of human being is that he has got special intelligence to understand what is Absolute Truth. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. So therefore his first duty is to know the Absolute Truth. Not waste time for eating, sleeping, mating. The modern material civilization is wasting time, so-called advancement of material comforts. Simply wasting time. Nidrayā hriyate naktaṁ vyavāyena ca vā vayaḥ (SB 2.1.3). They are wasting time at night either by sleeping or by sexual intercourse. Divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. And during daytime, simply: "Where is money? Where is money? Where is money?" And as soon as they get money, they spend it for kuṭumba-bharaṇa, for maintaining the family. This is their business. The sum total of modern civilization. And if they can purchase a nice car, that is the success of their life. Kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. Not only for himself, for his wife, for his children, if he has got three cars. Just like our Mukunda Mahārāja is doing. He's earning one thousand dollars and spending in car. That is his Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Rascal boy is so much captivated with the rascal girl. He's thinking that he's happy. He's spoiling his life.
Svarūpa Dāmodara: So everybody should develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Prabhupāda: Yes. (Śrīla Prabhupāda gets into car) Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only remedy. Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam... (CC Adi 17.21). (break) And this advancement of material civilization means entrapping the entrapped. The living entity is already entrapped, and he is allured by farther entrapment. Jaḍa-vidyā jato māyāra vaibhava. Jaḍa-vidyā, material advancement of civilization, means expanding the influence of māyā. Why? Now anitya saṁsāra, cannot live here. You have to give up this place. But still, you are thinking to make it a permanent settlement. That is not possible. Everyone knows. He will not be allowed to stay. But still insisting, gorgeous arrangement, how we can be, how we can become immortal. The scientists bluffing, "Yes, you will become immortal. We are finding out the means." But he will die. That means he is ass. He is allured by these false words. Therefore he is ass. Jībake karaye gādhā. This is Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's song. Anitya saṁsāra, this temporary world, he is attracted by this temporary. He cannot live here, he cannot stay here, he cannot enjoy here. That's a fact. But he is being allured. That means he is becoming more and more ass. Ass because they are believing still, "No, by scientific method, we shall do that, we shall do that. We shall cure all diseases. We shall live for good. There will be no more death. And we are happy." That means you are becoming... This material advancement of knowledge means you are becoming more and more asses.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. Dissatisfaction. If you are not worried, that means you are animal. You are not human being.
Puṣṭa-kṛṣṇa: Is that like Prahlāda Mahārāja's prayer when he saw Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and he said, "I am not afraid of Your ferocious form, but I am afraid of this material world of saṁsāra."
Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. He has given nice reference. A devotee, although sees God in His lion feature, and very ferocious, he knows He is God. "He's my Lord." But this so-called advancement of material civilization is the greatest enemy. That is not... Material civilization is very, very backward position. Māyā-mohita. He'll be captivated by the so-called stones and bricks, and he'll forget God. That is the disease of the western world. They are very much fond of these stones and bricks, and therefore they have no knowledge about God. This electricity, the electrons, the radio, this, everything machine and stones. They have got, forgotten God. Jaḍa-vidyā jato māyāra vaibhava. The more you materially advance, you forget God. So human life is meant for reviving our relationship with God, but if you forget God, then what kind of civilization it is? You are forgetting your real business.
Devotee: Now they've found out, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that India has been, over the past few years, spending crores of rupees to develop the...
Prabhupāda: Hm. And people are starving for want of. There was a cartoon that some public came to some minister: "Sir, we are starving. Give us our food." So the reply was: "Of course, that's a problem, food problem. But I can assure you that from next week you'll have television." (laughter) These rascals are like that. "Next, from next week, you'll have television, atom bomb. Never mind. Starve." (laughter) So that is also becoming fool's paradise. Jaḍa-vidyā jato māyāra vaibhava. In this way, the more we increase sense, sense gratification by advancement of material..., the more we forget Kṛṣṇa. And more we forget Kṛṣṇa, we are more fools.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
- na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ
- prapadyante narādhamāḥ
- māyayāpahṛta jñānā
- āsuri-bhāvam āśritāḥ
- (BG 7.15)
Because they have denied the existence of God, therefore they are blind and they are engaged in sinful activities without knowing what is going to happen next in his life. Therefore mūḍha, rascal. And narādhamāḥ. Narādhamāḥ means lowest of the mankind, because in the human form of life one could understand what is God, but he is misusing his intelligence for something else, narādhamāḥ. But if you say, "They are educated. They have got so much education. Why do you condemn them?" then the answer is māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. This so-called knowledge they have acquired, that means māyā has made them more foolish. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says,
- jaḍa-vidyā sab, māyāra vaibhava,
- jībake karaye gāḍhā
He has said like that, that so far advancement of material education means that so-called educated man is becoming more, more, more an ass. Why? anitya soṁsāre, moha janamiyā, He is simply getting more attached to this material world, where he will not be allowed to stay. This is his foolishness. Naturally, we are sitting in this room, and if we say that "I can spare only two minutes," then will you be very much eager to decorate the room? So that warning is already there.
Prabhupāda: You want me to speak? I can speak. Shall I speak? Yesterday in San Diego one press representative met me. So I told that America is advanced in material civilization, all comforts of bodily concept of life. But why the American young men are becoming hippies and crazy. Yesterday, I saw, some of the girls came almost naked. So why they are dissatisfied in spite of so much material advancement? They have got enough food, enough shelter, enough clothing, enough cars and everything. There is no scarcity. Why they are disappointed? Can you answer, why they are disappointed? It means they requires spiritual fulfillment of desire. That is the nature. When in the primitive stage of life, a man is concerned about the bodily comforts. And when one is advanced or satisfied—not satisfied; advanced—in our bodily concept of life, the next question is about spiritual life. So America is in that point, specially. So unless you fulfill their spiritual needs, they will remain in such disturbing condition. So I compared it just like there are many zeros: one zero, two zero, three zero, or hundreds and millions of zero. All these zeros together—the value is zero. But if there is one, then one and zero, it makes 10. The ten times of one value increases. Another zero, it is hundred. Another zero, it is thousand. Similarly, this material advancement of America, if it is added with God consciousness, then the value will increase. Otherwise, it will remain zero. You may advance materially as far as possible. but if you don't take God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then the value of all this material advancement is equal to zero. Nobody will be satisfied. So therefore this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be taken very seriously. It is the finishing touch of American advancement of material comforts. Then people will be very happy, and America is already leader of the world. They will be first-class leader. The world will be benefited, and you will be benefited. And my endeavor will be also successful. Don't keep yourself in zero. Take the one. Then it will be very nice. Just like... You can understand very easily. This life, very important man, but if there is no spirit soul, it is zero. It has no value. However an important man may be, when the spirit soul is out of the body, it is a lump of matter; it has no value. Anything you take—this machine, that machine, any machine—if somebody, some spiritual being, some living being is not tackling it, what is the value? No value. Therefore, everywhere this spiritual consciousness must be there. Otherwise it is zero.
Prabhupāda: "It is impossible. It will not be allowed, and they are trying for it. How this body can be maintained? 'Yes, we are trying. Now the disease has been reduced. Now they are living more days.' These are their foolish. They will never say, 'No, it is impossible.' Still, they will support their rascal endeavors." Modern advancement of science, what actually they have done? We are talking on that point. Simply misleading. The Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung one nice... (tape recorded section accidentally plays) "eating meat and drinking wine." (Prabhupāda and devotees laugh at interruption. Harikeśa apologizes) That... He says, jada vidy saba māyāra vaibhava. Jada vidyā means material education, the so-called material science. So jada vidyā. Vidyā means education, so this expansion of knowledge means expansion of the influence of māyā. Jada vidyā saba māyāra vaibhava. And the result is tomāra bhajane bādhā. People will forget God. With the advancement of so-called material science or material knowledge, the result will be that people will forget God. And then next, next is anitya saṁsāre moha janamiya. "This material world, which is temporary, where we cannot stay, we are already captivated, but this advancement of material knowledge will make me more captive, and I shall work just like an ass." That's all. Now, whether he is right or wrong, tell me. His charge is that advancement of material education is advancement of the influence of material energy, and if you say that "What is the wrong there?" the wrong is that we are already rascals, and this education will make me more rascal. Anitya saṁsāre moha janamiya. "I am already captivated in this temporary material world, and these things will make me more advanced to be captivated in this material world." Now this is the version of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Now, if you don't like, tell what is the reason.
Prabhupāda: That is life. This artificial life is no life. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has described this modern civilization of artificial life. So he says, jaḍā vidyā sab, māyāra vaibhava. He declares all these artificial way of life, advancement of material civilization, means advancement of influence of māyā. Jaḍā vidyā sab, māyāra vaibhava. Expansion of the influence of māyā. Then? What is the result? The result is anitya saṁsāre, moho janmeiya. Jaḍā vidyā sab, māyār vaibhava, tomāra bhajane badha. māyā means forgetfulness of God. This is māyā. māyā means the more you forget Kṛṣṇa, the more you are involved in māyā. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So māyā's business is to cover you more and more as you forget Kṛṣṇa. This is māyā's business. So therefore, expansion of māyā's influence means forgetting Kṛṣṇa. Tomāra bhajane badha. They're all hindrances only to make spiritual progress and to understand God. So what is the net result? The net result is anitya saṁsāre, moha janmeiyā. We are already attached to this material world, which is temporary. By this expansion of māyā's influence we become more attached. Attachment is already there, but we become more and more attached. In this way, jība ke karaye gadha. So he is already ass; he becomes first-class ass. That's all.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Interviewer: What is your opinion of what this movement should be doing in terms of world activities and world affairs that it isn't doing now? Are there some new areas that you may try to influence?
Prabhupāda: No, we are pushing on this movement all over the world. It is not that this particular place is important, but our interest is that Western people... They are so intelligent. They are very systematically making improvement in material condition of life. They should know also that spiritual life is more important than material life. Because, for example, we are combination of matter and spirit. So long the spirit soul is there, our body is very important. Otherwise, without spirit, the body has no importance. Everyone can understand. Similarly, all this material advancement of civilization is very good, provided there is spiritual understanding also. Otherwise it is decoration of the dead body. A dead body decorated has no value, but when there is life, then the body is valuable. So material advancement of material civilization means decoration of the dead body. But when there is spiritual understanding, then there is importance of everything.
Correspondence
1947 to 1965 Correspondence
Present advancement of material civilization, in the opinion of the Indian sages, is going in the wrong way because it has neglected the spiritual side of human constitution. All living beings are spiritual sparks covered by material encagement. In his pure spiritual form a living being eternal, cognizant and blissful, but being covered by matter he is suffering threefold miseries of material existence.
1968 Correspondence
Krishna Consciousness movement is the need for the Western countries at this time. The Westerners have sufficiently enjoyed their material achievements and they are now, especially the younger generation, seeking for something spiritual. That is quite natural. In the Vedanta Sutra, it is stated as "Atha Atho Brahma Jijnasa." When a person finishes his material activities, naturally, he becomes interested to search after spiritual realization. That is natural consequence. A living entity is factually a spirit soul whose eternal position is knowledge and blissfulness. Material knowledge, however advanced it may be, cannot award blissfulness, which is the demand of the spirit soul. That blissfulness is being searched for by the materialist by advancement of material science, but they cannot find it in such a way. Therefore, the younger generation, especially in the Western countries, who have seen much of material amenities, are now feeling something greater than that. Unfortunately, they have not received it. There are some movements like the Beatles, or Hippies, among the younger generation, by realizing the negation of matter. Their attempt is to forget matter by some hallucination or mental concoction, with the help of some deluding matter. So their attempt is nice, but there is no guide. Therefore, the younger generation in Europe and in America require an authorized guide for their present urge for spiritual realization.
1969 Correspondence
I am in due receipt of your letter of May 29, 1969, sent along with your beads, and I have duly chanted upon them and have initiated you as my disciple. Your spiritual name is Turya das and this means transcendental. So you are the servant of the Transcendental Lord, Krishna, and when one serves the Transcendental Lord, he also becomes completely transcendental to the laws and contaminations of material nature. In material life, everyone is bound up tightly by the laws of karma, and there is no question of transcending these laws by any material means. The modern civilization is trying to transcend the pangs of material life, namely birth, death, old age and diseases, by advancement of material knowledge, but actually this advancement is only binding them more tightly into the material concept of life. So thus there is no freedom from or transcending of these material miseries. But one who comes to the intelligence to understand that rather than serving the cause of material advancement, he should serve the cause of Krishna, then such person becomes transcendental to the stringent laws of karma. Krishna instructs us in Bhagavad-gita that one who serves Him in loving devotional service is delivered fully from all material contamination.
| Page Title: | Advancement of material... |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Serene |
| Created: | 27 of Apr, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=2, SB=20, CC=0, OB=11, Lec=34, Con=10, Let=3 |
| No. of Quotes: | 80 |