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Atyantikam means

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Ātyantika means ultimate.
Lecture on SB 1.8.33 -- Los Angeles, April 25, 1972:

Science means that you advance in knowledge so that your miserable condition of life can be reduced, minimized. That is science. Otherwise, what is this science? They are simply promising; "In future." "But what you are delivering just now, sir?" "Now just now you suffer as you are suffering, go on suffering. In future we shall find out some chemicals." No. Actually ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti. Ātyantika, ultimate. Ātyantika means ultimate. Duḥkha means sufferings. That should be the aim of human life. So they do not know what is ātyantika-duḥkha. Duḥkha means suffering. So ātyantika-duḥkha is pointed out in the Bhagavad-gītā. "Here is the ātyantika-duḥkha, sir." What is this? Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). Birth, death, old age and disease.

Ātyantika means ultimate.
Lecture on SB 1.16.25 -- Hawaii, January 21, 1974:

Sukha means happiness. If you want to increase happiness... Everyone wants to become happy. That is the highest principle. Ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti. The whole struggle is going on to minimize our miseries and to increase our happiness. That is our attempt. Everyone is working for that. Ātyantika-duḥkha, nivṛtti. Duḥkha means unhappiness, and ātyantika means ultimate. So people do not understand that what is that ultimate happiness. Ultimate happiness is there. No, there is no duḥkha, there is no unhappiness. That is ultimate happiness. If you study whatever happiness we are trying to establish, there is unhappiness also. It is not unmixed. It is mixed. The economic development... Just like modern age, if you, if any man wants to become rich man, he has to first of all accept unhappiness, to work very hard, day and night. Then he can get some money. Then, engaging that money for increasing further money, increasing further money... Then one day he may be millionaire. So that millionaire, to become, that is also not undisturbed happiness. "How to keep the money?" "How to invest it?"

Ātyantika means ultimate, and duḥkha means unhappiness.
Lecture on SB 1.16.25 -- Hawaii, January 21, 1974:

So here, in the material world, as we are engaged, unalloyed happiness is not possible. But if you actually want unalloyed happiness, then you have to be advanced in spiritual consciousness, unalloyed. Ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti. Ātyantika means ultimate, and duḥkha means unhappiness. Ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti. Nivṛtti means finish. So people do not see what is that ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti, what is that ultimate disappearance of unhappiness. That they do not know. So many things they do not know. Therefore it requires education. Education means knowledge, to get knowledge. And the Vedic direction is that if you want really knowledge, then tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: (MU 1.2.12) "One has to go to the guru, or the spiritual master." Gurum eva abhigacchet. One must go. There is no alternative. Nobody can say that "Without going to the guru we can become happy." That is not possible, according to Vedic principle.

Ātyantika means supreme.
Lecture on SB 3.25.13 -- Bombay, November 13, 1974:

Everyone in this material world trying to mitigate or trying to become free from the distress. Duḥkhasya. Ātyantika-duḥkha-nivṛtti. Ātyantika means supreme. The struggle for existence in this material world is everyone is trying to get some happiness and minimize the quantity of distress. This is called struggle for existence. Generally, yoga practice is executed for getting some material profit: aṇimā laghimā prāpti īśitā vaśitā mahimā. Aṇimā... The yogis, they have aṣṭa-siddhi-yoga, eight kinds of perfection. One can become smaller than the smallest or lighter than the lightest, bigger than the biggest, whatever he likes, he can get immediately, vaśita, he can control over, he can create a planet even. These are some of the yoga-siddhis. But here it is said that the supreme yoga system is not to aspire for material happiness, neither to become distressed by the material inconvenience.

Ātyantikam means the supreme happiness.
Lecture on SB 3.26.7 -- Bombay, December 19, 1974:

Everybody has got some material happiness. The man has got a standard of material happiness. The dog has got a standard of material happiness. The demigods, they have got a standard of material happiness. Everyone has got. So... But actually, it is not happiness. It is simply miserable condition. And because we do not appreciate this miserable condition, we still think that we are happy. That is called māyā, illusion. This is called saṁsṛtiḥ. Although we are in a miserable condition, continually, every moment, every second... This place is like that. Kṛṣṇa says, not that we are saying. Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam. Continually you have to suffer. But we are, we have become so much habituated in this suffering, we do not accept it as suffering. We take it as very pleasing, because we have no idea what is actually happiness. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyaṁ grāhyam (BG 6.21). Real happiness, what is real happiness? Sukhaṁ yat. Then what is sukham? That is not to be appreciated by these material senses. Sukham ātyantikam. Ātyantikam means supreme. This is not... Whatever so-called happiness we derive in this material world, that is dependent on so many conditions. That is not ātyantikam. Ātyantikam means the supreme happiness. That is different from this material happiness, but we have no information or taste because we have been conditioned for many many creation, anādi. Just like a man suffering from disease from many, many years. He becomes accustomed. He does not take any more that this suffering is suffering. He thinks this is natural.

Festival Lectures

Ātyantikam means the super, superhappiness, ātyantikam—means that which you cannot excel more... That is the final point.
Lecture-Day after Sri Gaura-Purnima -- Hawaii, March 5, 1969:

Today, of course, we find that our, this small endeavor to preach this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is not very successful, but it has got the potency if the workers try for it. My Guru Mahārāja used to say that "If people do not come to hear this philosophy, don't be discouraged. You sit down in a room and try to preach. The four walls will hear you. Don't be disappointed." So there is no cause of disappointment, but this is, today is, very important day, Lord Caitanya's birthday ceremony. At least in India, specially in Nabadwip, there is very, very great ceremony today. Thousands and millions of people are gathering to observe this important ceremony. So ceremony, apart from ceremonial function, let us try to understand the philosophy of Lord Caitanya. So Lord Caitanya thought it... Not thought it. This is a fact, that this sort of life, seek material happiness... Material happiness means sense gratification. That's all. Actually, according to Bhagavad-gītā... Not according to Bhagavad-gītā—that is a fact according to any authoritative statement. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyaṁ grāhyam (BG 6.21). Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that sukham ātyantikam. Ātyantikam means the super, superhappiness, ātyantikam—means that which you cannot excel more... That is the final point. That sort of happiness is not possible to achieve... Happiness... First of all, you must understand, happiness means sense gratification, happiness. You can understand it very easily. If I get some nice foodstuff, because I satisfy my taste, palate, I feel happiness, "Oh, very nice food I am eating." Similarly, you take any of your sense organs, when it is satisfied according to the sense object, it is called happiness. So the sum and substance of happiness is to satisfy the senses. But Kṛṣṇa says that sukham ātyantikam. The supermost happiness can be achieved not by these senses, but atīndriya. Atīndriya means transcendental senses. Just like at the present moment our senses are gross material senses. But there is another sense, not another sense, this sense. This is covered sense. Suppose you will try... You will be able to understand. Now, I want to touch some soft place to enjoy the sense of this hand, touch sense. But if the hand is covered with gloves, I cannot enjoy that sense so nicely. You can easily understand. The sense is there, but if it is artificially covered, then even the facility is there, I cannot enjoy the sense perfectly. Similarly, we have got our senses, but our senses are now covered by this material body. So Kṛṣṇa gives us indication in the Bhagavad-gītā that that superhappiness can be achieved by that sense, not this covered sense. Covered sense, you cannot enjoy the happiness superbly. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriyaṁ grāhyam (BG 6.21). Atīndriya means transcendental, not this covered sense. And Kṛṣṇa consciousness means... We have got consciousness. Everyone is conscious, but that consciousness is covered consciousness.

Philosophy Discussions

Atyantikam means the greatest happiness.
Philosophy Discussion on Jeremy Bentham:

Śyāmasundara: A little bit. The first one's name is Jeremy Bentham, and his philosophy is that virtue is defined in terms of utility, and that utility is defined as that which enhances the happiness of men. So that the goal of society, according to the utilitarians, is the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

Prabhupāda: Yes. So that is also our aim but that happiness is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat. Ātyantikam. Atyantikam means the greatest happiness. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya grāhyam (BG 6.21). That happiness can be perceived by transcendental senses.

Śyāmasundara: So you're talking about a qualitative happiness, the quality of happiness.

Prabhupāda: Yah, qualitative it must be. Ātyantikam. Ātyantikam means the actual, the greatest happiness.

Śyāmasundara: Greatest, highest happiness.

Prabhupāda: Happiness everyone wants. You are feeling happy by eating something but if you get another better thing, you feel more happiness.

Śyāmasundara: Quality of happiness.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Not the quality of happiness. You feel actually greater happiness. Just like you are taking ordinary sugar, but if you take rasagullā, it is also sweet but it is greater happiness.

Page Title:Atyantikam means
Compiler:Visnu Murti, Rishab, Serene
Created:08 of Nov, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=7, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7