Durlabha means

Expressions researched:
"Durlabham means" |"durlabha means"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Durlabha means very difficult to obtain.

Lecture on SB 1.8.45 -- Los Angeles, May 7, 1973:

So if we can purchase Kṛṣṇa by love... That is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā: durlabha, vedeṣu durlabham, vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33). God is adurlabha, vedeṣu durlabha, not adurlabha. I am sorry. Vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33). Durlabha means very difficult to obtain. Dur. Dur means with difficulty. And labha means getting. So Brahmā says that officially if you study Vedic literature to find out God, to know about God, it is very difficult. It is very difficult. Therefore those who are depending on personal studies, speculation, personal knowledge to understand God, for them, Kṛṣṇa is durlabha, very difficult to find out. It is not possible. Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ (BG 7.25). In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said that "I do not expose Myself." Kṛṣṇa reserves the right of being exposed to anyone and everyone. No. That is not possible. Although the Vedic literature is meant for to find out Kṛṣṇa, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ... (BG 15.15).

Durlabha means very rarely obtained, after many, many evolutionary process, either you take the anthropologists' theory how human body has developed or you take from Vedic literature.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- San Francisco, March 3, 1967:

But Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "No." Kaumāra. Why kaumāraṁ? Now, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. You are calculating that when you'll get old, at that time you shall try to understand what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But what is the guarantee that you are not already old enough? Who can say? The next moment I can die. Old age means nearing death, but there is no such guarantee that one shall die at eighty years old or hundred years old. Death can take place at any moment. Therefore a sane man will understand that we are always old enough because there is no guarantee. Durlabhaṁ. And this mānuṣaṁ janma, this human form of life is called durlabha. Durlabha means very rarely obtained, after many, many evolutionary process, either you take the anthropologists' theory how human body has developed or you take from Vedic literature. But the difference is that anthropologists, they say, "There is no soul. The organic matter is developing in different ways." But Vedic literature says it is not the organic matter, but it is the soul. The soul is a person, is individual, and he is transforming different types of bodies from one body to another, transmigrating. This we have explained several times.

Here is also. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that adurlabham ātma-bhaktau. Adurlabha means very easily obtained. Durlabha means very difficult to obtain, and adurlabha, just the opposite: very easily obtained. How? Now, ātma-bhaktau: "Those who are devotees of the Lord, for them He is very easily available."

Lecture on SB 7.9.9 -- Montreal, July 4, 1968:

Here is also. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that adurlabham ātma-bhaktau. Adurlabha means very easily obtained. Durlabha means very difficult to obtain, and adurlabha, just the opposite: very easily obtained. How? Now, ātma-bhaktau: "Those who are devotees of the Lord, for them He is very easily available." So affection is so nice thing. So try to develop your affection. That affection is already there. Don't think that Kṛṣṇa affection is being artificially propagated. Perhaps in this meeting I am the only Indian, but all my students here, they are all Americans. They belong to different faith. How they are developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness? I am not bribing them, I have no money. But still, why they are so much affectionate? This is the proof that everyone has got dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness within himself. It is not an artificial thing. Simply you have to develop it. It is not taught actually.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Durlabha means very difficult to approach. Adurlabha ātma-bhaktau. But ātma-bhaktau, those who are devotees, for them He is very easily accepted.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 6.151-154 -- Gorakhpur, February 14, 1971:

So because they are not going through the proper channels, they are... Still, vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau (Bs. 5.33). Simply by trying to understand the Vedic literature, one cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vedeṣu durlabha. Durlabha means very difficult to approach. Adurlabha ātma-bhaktau. But ātma-bhaktau, those who are devotees, for them He is very easily accepted. Take for example... Now, you have gone to see a very high officer, say, the secretary of the government. You are waiting. You have sent your card, you are waiting. But you cannot enter the room without being permitted. But an ordinary orderly, his servant, he's thousand times going and coming.

Durlabha means it is not possible. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). Prasāda-leśa. Prasāda-leśa. One who has got little favor of Kṛṣṇa, he knows Kṛṣṇa-tattva. Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:

Kṛṣṇa-prāpti hoy yāhā haite. That is spiritual master, one who can give you Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa se tomāre, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, dhāi tava pāche pāche-Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. "Kṛṣṇa... I am seeking after Kṛṣṇa, Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura, my spiritual master. So Kṛṣṇa is your property." Kṛṣṇa is not independent. He is the property of the devotee. Kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, dhāi tava pāche pāche: "I am just following you, sir. Because Kṛṣṇa is your property, if you like, you can deliver: 'Take it immediately.' " So it is not flattering; it is in the śāstras. Vedeṣu durlabha adurlabha ātmā-bhaktau. You cannot get Kṛṣṇa by studying all the Vedas. Vedeṣu durlabha. Durlabha means it is not possible. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi, jānāti tattvam (SB 10.14.29). Prasāda-leśa. Prasāda-leśa. One who has got little favor of Kṛṣṇa, he knows Kṛṣṇa-tattva. Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ.

So mahātmā, su-durlabha mahātmā, means who is liberated, not trying for liberation. There are two kinds of mahātmās. One mahātmā is trying for liberation, mukti, and the su-durlabha means... Those who are trying for mukti, out of millions of such persons, one becomes mukta.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.120 -- Bombay, November 12, 1975:

So mahātmā, su-durlabha mahātmā, means who is liberated, not trying for liberation. There are two kinds of mahātmās. One mahātmā is trying for liberation, mukti, and the su-durlabha means... Those who are trying for mukti, out of millions of such persons, one becomes mukta. That is the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Out of millions of karmīs, one becomes jñānī. And out of millions of jñānī, one becomes mukta. And out of millions of mukta, one becomes bhakta. This is the description given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

So Kṛṣṇa is not so easy to approach by the nondevotees. Vedeṣu durlabha. Or even by studying Vedas, durlabha. Durlabha means not approachable, not approachable.

Arrival Address -- London, July 7, 1973:

So Kṛṣṇa is not so easy to approach by the nondevotees. Vedeṣu durlabha. Or even by studying Vedas, durlabha. Durlabha means not approachable, not approachable. Vedeṣu durlabha adurlabha ātma-bhaktau. But to His devotees He's very easy. He's very easy. Just like the gopīs. Gopīs, they are village girls, not educated, not brāhmaṇa, not Vedantist. But Kṛṣṇa is within their palms, within their hands. So this bhakti-yoga is so nice that Kṛṣṇa, or God, who is unapproachable by any other method-however efficient it may be, it is not possible—only by love and devotion in service He can be approached. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). Kṛṣṇa has explained in the Bhagavad-gītā all systems-jñāna-yoga system, haṭha-yoga system, karma-yoga system, rāja-yoga system.

Purports to Songs

Now, then the devotee says that durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taroho e bhava-sindhu re. Now, this body, this human body, is durlabha. Durlabha means very valuable.

Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana -- New York, March 30, 1966:

Now, then the devotee says that durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge taroho e bhava-sindhu re. Now, this body, this human body, is durlabha. Durlabha means very valuable. It is obtained with, after a great struggle of existence. We have to come through so many species of life: aquatics, birds, then trees, then reptiles, then beasts... There are so many, so many. There are eighty-four lakhs, means 8,400,000 species of life, and we had to pass through by gradual evolution. This theory is accepted by Darwin also, evolutionary theory. So this human body is very valuable. So he requests, "My dear mind,..." Mind, of course, in the lower animal life the mind is there also. Also mind is not developed, but they have got mind.

And he says also that durlabha mānava-janama. Durlabha means very rare to obtain. Mānava-janma means this human form of life.

Purport to Bhajahu Re Mana -- San Francisco, March 16, 1967:

And he says also that durlabha mānava-janama. Durlabha means very rare to obtain. Mānava-janma means this human form of life. It comes after a very long rotation. Once chance is given to become Kṛṣṇa conscious so that one may get out of the cycle of birth and death. Therefore he advises that this life, this human form of life, is very important, durlabha. Durlabha means... Duḥ means with great difficulty, and labha means obtainable. So foolish people, they do not know what, how much important this human form of life. They are simply wasting in sense gratification like animals. So this is very instructing, that he is training his mind that "You engage your mind in the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa." Durlabha mānava-janama sat-saṅge.