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Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night but he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition; he has no information where is the destination of perfection

Expressions researched:
"Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night" |"but he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition; he has no information where is the destination of perfection"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Mūḍha . . . real meaning of mūḍha is ass. Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night, or very . . . but he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition; he has no information where is the destination of perfection. Therefore they are called mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍhāḥ means rascal.

Mūḍha . . . real meaning of mūḍha is ass. Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night, or very . . . but he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition; he has no information where is the destination of perfection. Therefore they are called mūḍhāḥ. Mūḍhāḥ means rascal. So na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Narādhama means lowest of the mankind. Na prapadyante, "They do not surrender unto Me, God." Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ.

Now the question may be that "Why they do not surrender? Why they do not believe in God? Why they do not take to God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness? They are very educated, advanced. They have got university degrees. But why they do not do it? They are supposed to be very culturally advanced." So the answer is given there in the Bhagavad-gītā, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ (BG 7.15). Because their intention is to deny God, therefore although they are very much advanced in so-called education, the effect of knowledge has been taken away by the illusory energy of māyā. The māyā has taken away the effect of knowledge.

Just like we met some Indian gentleman while coming. I asked him, "Why don't you come to temple?" "Swāmījī, I am searching after some employment. I have lost my employment." Just see. He has come from India—so, about fifteen thousand miles away—and the problem is still unemployment. Why he has come here, so far distant? That means he's educated. Otherwise, this country would not allow him immigration. But the problem is there, unemployment.

So there is very nice program, er, proverb in Bengali: yadi yao bhaṅge kaphala yabe saṅge. That means, "Wherever you go, your this fortune . . ." Generally, when we speak of fortune we touch our head. Sometimes we say, "Oh, it is my misfortune." That means fortune may be written here. It is said. So, "Wherever you go, your this fortune will go with you." So how you can avoid your . . .?" If you have got nonsense fortune, then it will go with you. Either you go to Canada or you go to hell or you go to heaven, the fortune will go with you.

The Bhāgavata says, therefore, tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ (SB 1.5.18). You cannot change your fortune. That means, fortune means, you are, with this body, you have got certain amount of enjoyment and certain amount of distress. That is made already according to your past activities. That you can change. Just like due to some mistake, I may have some disease or infection, but there is medicine also to counteract that infection. That is possible. It is not that because I am misfortunate, it cannot be changed. It can be changed.

Similarly, what should be my attempt? The attempt should be, according to Bhāgavata, to understand the laws of nature, or the laws of God, and how it is working under His direction. That should be the attempt. You are making research. That's very nice. But your research is not complete, because you take something halfway, "This is the beginning of life" or "This is the beginning of the creation." No. You have to go still further, still go further. And science means you have to prove by experiment that, "This law is working like this, and therefore things are happening like this." If you simply presuppose that "Here is the beginning," that is not perfect.

So duṣkṛtina means that those who do not believe in the authority. So many things are there which is beyond our conception, beyond our understanding. Our senses, our, I mean to say, instrument of acquiring knowledge, are so imperfect that it is not possible simply by handling our the present senses to understand the right knowledge. It is not possible.

Page Title:Ass has no knowledge. He is working day and night but he does not know what for he is working. He has no ambition; he has no information where is the destination of perfection
Compiler:PoojaA
Created:2022-09-20, 11:52:13
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1