Go to Vanipedia | Go to Vanisource | Go to Vanimedia


Vaniquotes - the compiled essence of Vedic knowledge


Material miseries (Lect., Conv. & Letters)

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.55-56 -- New York, April 19, 1966:

If you practice in your life, while you are human being, you, if you utilize your life in that way, then at the end, when you give up this body, you go back to Godhead for eternal life, eternal bliss, eternal knowledge, and live happily, without any material miseries. That is the result. It is very difficult to dovetailing our consciousness with the supreme consciousness? Not at all. Not at all! No sane man will say that "It is very difficult problem. Oh, it is not possible." You eat. "Yes. Eh?" So God wants to eat something. Why don't you offer it first to God? Then you eat. "No. If God takes it away, then how shall I eat?" No, no, no. God will not take it. We are offering daily. After preparing our foodstuff, daily to Kṛṣṇa, there is witness, Mr. Paul. We offer Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa does not take it. Whole thing, we eat. You see. He does not regard... He eats! But because His spiritual eating is such that even after His eating, the whole thing is there. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). So we shall not suffer a pinch if we dovetail our desires with the Supreme Lord. Simply we have to learn the art, how to dovetail. That's all. And some of the instances I have already cited to you... Just for the matter of eating.

Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

Just like Arjuna, he was a military man. He became a spiritualist. That means he spiritualized his military activity.

So these are the techniques. So ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ atha bhajana-kriyā tataḥ anartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). Anartha means... Anartha means that creates my miseries. Material activities will continue to increase my misery. And if you adopt spiritual life, then your material miseries will be gradually decreased, and practically it will be nil. And when we are actually free from material affinity, then your real spiritual life begins. Athāsakti. You become attached. You cannot give up any more. When your anartha-nivṛtti, when your material activities are completely stop, then you cannot give up. Athāsakti. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā (Cc. Madhya 23.14-15). Niṣṭhā means your faith becomes more firm, fixed up, steady. Tato niṣṭhā tato ruciḥ. Ruci. Ruci means you will simply hanker after spiritual things. You won't like to hear anything except spiritual message. You won't like to do anything except spiritual activities. You won't like to eat anything which is not spiritualized.

Lecture on BG 2.59-69 -- New York, April 29, 1966:

So this is going on. So without taking any account how the things are going on, if you are actually serious for spiritual emancipation of life, then the, the process recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, as, and as practically demonstrated by Arjuna, if we follow this principle then we shall be proceeding towards the spiritual emancipation of life undoubtedly and without fail. So whole thing is that we have to make the best use of a bad bargain. The, that whole thing is the senses, senses are the cause of my material miseries. Now I cannot avoid the senses in my present status of life. The best thing is that senses may be engaged in the service of the Lord so that automatically they'll be restricted and purified, and my spiritual life will be revealed and the spiritual perfection will sure to come.

Thank you very much. Now if there is any question you can ask.

Lecture on BG 2.62-72 -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

I know this, I am hearing. Still,... Jāniyā śuniyā biṣa... Just like a thief. Jāniyā śuniyā, these words are very significant. Jāniyā means knowing, and śuniyā means hearing. So a habituated thief, he knows that "If I steal I shall be put into jail." And he has heard from scriptures that "Don't steal. Then you'll be put into hell." So he has heard from the scriptures and he has seen practically. He has experienced practically, but still, as soon as he's freed from the prison life, he again commits the same mistake. Jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu. We know, we are hearing from the scriptures, from authorities, Vedic literatures, that "I have got this miserable conditional body, material body, to suffer threefolds of material miseries; still, I am not very much anxious how to stop this repetition of birth and death. I am drinking poison." Jāniyā śuniyā biṣa khāinu. Hari hari biphale janama goṅāinu. These songs are very instructive. Simply purposefully, we are drinking poison. Go on.

Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966:

Then the next installment? Simply, simply understanding that "I am not this body; I am consciousness" will do it? No. That is the first step. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (CC Antya 20.12). If you are actually conscious of being not this body, actually when, then your all material miseries are at once removed. As soon as you come to the real point of understanding that "I am not this body," then the whole misunderstanding of material existence, bhava-mahā-dāvāgni... Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni means... Each and every word is very carefully selected in Sanskrit, and they have got immense meaning, full of meaning. Now, this, why this bhava-mahā-dāvāgni, this very word, I will try to explain. Bhava. Bhava means the situation in which we have to take repeated birth and we accept repeated death. That is called bhava. And that is a kind of mahā-dāvāgni. Mahā means great, and dāvāgni means forest fire. Forest fire. Forest fire, have you seen, any of you? Here you have got many forests, but I don't think you have seen any forest fire. I have seen. Forest fire takes automatically. Nobody goes to set fire in the forest, but by, I mean to say, cohesion of different dry bamboos or woods, fire takes, by electricity fire takes place, and the whole forest is ablaze. That is called dāvāgni. So this material world, nobody wants. Everyone wants peaceful life. But the nature of the material world is that automatically there is fire. Automatically there is.

Lecture on BG 4.6-8 -- New York, July 20, 1966:

God is very compassionate to see our miseries here. We do not know. We do not... We have forgotten what sort... Although we are in miseries, we have, we are trying to adjust the miseries. We are trying to adjust the miseries. But we, we are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Therefore we are not meant for all these miseries. We must know it. We are not meant for all these miseries. But we have voluntarily accepted these material miseries.

And what are these miseries? They are called adhyātmika, adhibhautika and adhidaivika. Adhyātmika means miseries pertaining to this body and mind. Just like today we are feeling too hot. Why? Due to this body. And next moment I shall feel not very happy. My mind is disturbed. So there are miseries due to this body and due to the mind. This is called adhyātmika. And then again, adhibhautika. Adhibhautika. Some other living entity. Just like here, you are hearing the barking of the dog, "Gow! Gow!"

Lecture on BG 4.7-9 -- New York, July 22, 1966:

So this process, this vibration of transcendental sound, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, will cleanse the dust. And, as soon as the dust is cleared, then, as you can see on the mirror the nice face of yours, similarly we can see our real, I mean to say, constitutional position, "what I am." And as soon as I understand that "I am not this body, I am spirit soul, and my symptom is consciousness," and that consciousness, as it is purified by this process, the whole material miseries will be over.

Bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). In Sanskrit language, it is said... Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya's picture you have seen on the showcase. He's dancing, and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare. This sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa, Hare, Rāma, as soon as the mind is cleared off, then we'll see our real position, and the immediate result is bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam. There is a fire always blazing over this material world. Everyone is trying to extinguish it, but it is not possible to extinguish this fire of material miseries unless we are situated in our pure consciousness of spiritual life. That is the whole thing.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Public Meeting -- Rome, May 25, 1974:

The first installment of benefit by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is that your consciousness becomes cleansed. And as soon as your consciousness becomes cleansed, the tribulations or the miserable condition of material life becomes extinguished. The miserable condition of material life is compared to the blazing fire in the forest. As it is very difficult to extinguish the forest fire, similarly, the problems of material life cannot be extinguished simply by material benefits. As the blazing fire in the forest cannot be extinguished by the help of fire brigade or bucketful of water, similarly, by material adjustment, the problems of material miseries cannot be solved.

Lecture on BG 4.10 Festival at Maison de Faubourg -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

The idea is that we should not be disturbed by these material miseries, which come and go like this change of season. It is not permanent. At the present moment, the whole human civilization is simply disturbed by the change of this cold and heat. Our all activities are there—how to stop this miserable condition of the body, which is impossible to stop. So if we simply become affected by the miserable condition... The miserable condition in the material world must be there. You cannot stop this miserable condition of material existence. It will come and go away. It will simply disturb you. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhāḥ (BG 2.56). One has to be detached from this coming and going, miserable condition of material existence. And how it is possible? That is also said, man-mayā mām upāśritāḥ. "One has to be absorbed in My thought and has to take My shelter." The jñāna means knowledge. Knowledge means one must know that "I am spirit soul, part and parcel of God. Somehow or other, I have been entangled in this material body."

Lecture on BG 4.11-12 -- New York, July 28, 1966:

Kṛṣṇa is described as nava-yauvana. Some of you must have seen the picture of Kṛṣṇa. He is always just like a boy of twenty years old, although He is the ādi-puruṣa. Ādi-puruṣa means He is the original person of all emanations. He is the oldest. Advaitam acyutam anādim, ādyaṁ purāṇa-pu... Purāṇa-puruṣam means the oldest. Purāṇa means old. Purāṇa-puruṣam; still, nava-yauvanaṁ ca, just like a young man of twenty years old, full energy, full youthfulness.

This is the science of Kṛṣṇa. So simply by knowing this science of Kṛṣṇa, if we can get liberation from these material miseries of life, why should we not try for this? Let us try for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is a very nice subject matter and very easy. We are just trying to propagate this Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We don't ask you to have some troublesome or laborsome gymnastic. No. You simply come and hear, and this hearing, it is followed by nice music and singing. And beginning with music, ending with music, everyone will like it. And we have no means... Of course, whatever means I have got, I am distributing little fruit.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

You are given a chance to act here, but according to your act, it will be judged, what you are going to have in your next life. That is your problem. No, don't make this life of fifty years, sixty years, or seventy years, or hundred years, as all in all. You have got a continuous life of transmigration from one body to another. It is going on. You must know that.

Now here is a chance to stop this nonsense of transmigrating from one body to another and suffer the material miseries. Here is a chance. And how that chance you are going to utilize? That we have already discussed. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). If somebody simply studies critically the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental nature of His activities, simply by knowing this, the benefit will be that tyaktvā deham, after quitting this body, you are not again going to have such a material body, but tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma... (BG 4.9). Punar janma means you are not going to take your birth again in the womb of a mother of this material nature.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

And it is enjoined, you will find in the Bhāgavata, that any family, the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, if they give up this garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, birth-giving ceremony, then that family turns immediately to the classification of the śūdras.

So nowadays, at the present moment, this cultural program... I am speaking of India and everywhere. There is no such cultural program. That cultural program, that program to beget nice children, the whole program is, we must know, the whole Vedic system is to give the human life the greatest chance of self-realization and get free from these material miseries. That is the whole program. It is not... The Vedic culture does not mean that we shall be like cats and dogs, simply eating, sleeping, mating and defending. No. The human society is a systematic program to give everyone the chance of getting free from this material miseries.

Lecture on BG 4.13-14 -- New York, August 1, 1966:

Now, suppose I am suffering from some disease and there are so many ailments, and if some doctor comes: "Oh, let me finish your ailments by killing you," oh, will you agree? You'll say, "No, no, better let me suffer from the disease. I don't want to be killed." Is it not? Will you agree? Suppose you have got too much suffering, miseries of life, and I suggest, "All right, let me cut your throat and kill you, and everything will be finished." "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not agreeable to that." That is the sane man's statement. "Oh, I am not going to be killed for ending my miseries." That is the nature. So the theory that "After making end of all these material miseries, there is nothing, void," oh, that is not attractive. That is not attractive at all.

And that is not the fact. Real fact is that I am sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), part and parcel of the Supreme. The Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and I am qualitatively one with Him. I am also, although I am small... Just like a particle of the sea water, that is also salty. That is also salty. The taste of a small drop of sea water is the same as the taste of the big, vast, big ocean of the, Atlantic Ocean. So the quality is the same. Similarly, I may be small. I may be a spiritual atom. My position is that I am spiritual atom, and the Supreme Spirit is all, the greatest, but that does not mean I am different from the quality. I am of the same quality. So I am not void. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20).

Lecture on BG 4.34-39 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1969:

Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. So here is the knowledge. Then? Go on.

Madhudviṣa: Thirty-six: "Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of material miseries (BG 4.36)."

Prabhupāda: Yes. This material world, conditioned life, because... The other day was explained. Our sinful life means ignorance, due to ignorance. Just like if I touch this flame, it will burn. Somebody may say, "Oh, you are burned. You are sinful." This is common sense. "You are burned. You are sinful. Therefore you are burned." That is, one sense, it is right. "I am sinful" means I do not know that if I touch this flame, I will be burned. This ignorance is my sin. Sinful life means the life of ignorance. Therefore, in this thirty-fourth verse, "Just try to learn the truth. Don't remain ignorant. Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master." Why should you remain in ignorance if there is way and means? That is my foolishness. Therefore I am suffering.

Lecture on BG 4.37-40 -- New York, August 21, 1966:

By good work we get good heritage, birth in a very good place, in a high family, in rich family, aristocratic family. And with bad work we may get our birth even in the animal kingdom or lower grade family, poor family. These are Vedic estimation of good work and bad work. But for a person who is going to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has no need either for good work or bad work because he has no need bondage again.

Suppose I am born in a very aristocratic family, very rich family. That does not mean that I am getting free from the material miseries. Just like we are sitting here. Some of you are very well situated. Some of you coming from rich family and some of you may not be so rich, from middle-class family. But the temperature of this day is equally heating. There is no consideration that "Here is a person who is coming from rich family, so the temperature should be lesser for him." No. Therefore, either we enjoy the reaction of good work, either we enjoy the reaction of bad work, we have to accept this material body. And as soon as we accept this material body, we have to undergo the material miseries.

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

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 therefore ajñānena āvṛtaṁ jñānam. This is, this sort of advancement of knowledge in the material science is also another type of ignorance. The Lord says, ajñānena āvṛtaṁ jñānam: "Real knowledge is now covered. Real knowledge, being covered by nescience," ajñānena tena muhyanti jantavaḥ, "therefore they are actually perplexed." So by the name of so-called advancement of knowledge the whole population of the world, they are now perplexed. Even we do not go into the details, but any sane man will admit that we are not advancing. Actually we are degraded in so many ways.

Lecture on BG 5.26-29 -- Los Angeles, February 12, 1969:

Devotee: "Verse 29: The sages, knowing me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities attain peace from the pangs of material miseries (BG 5.29)."

Prabhupāda: Yes, this is the summary that the sages... Sages means those who have undergone austerities, penance, and many tribulation for attaining perfection, they are called sages. "The sages knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of sacrifice." Now if you perform austerities and penances that is a kind of sacrifice. But yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti. In the Bhagavad-gītā you will find these are explained that yad icchantaḥ. Simply by desiring to go back to home, back to Godhead one is supposed to follow the vow of brahmacārī. Brahmacārī, to live the life of celibacy, this is called brahmacārī. So it has got so nice effect that if anyone from the birth to the death simply observe this life of celibacy he is sure to go back to home. Simply by observing one rule: yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti. It is so nice, brahmacarya. So this is sacrifice. Sacrifice means my senses dictate that "You enjoy," but I am not enjoying. I am not enjoying. This is sacrifice.

Lecture on BG 5.26-29 -- Los Angeles, February 12, 1969:

If you render some service somewhere he pays you, gives you some wages. So if you are engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service do you think you will starve? Why? You cannot starve. He is well-wisher of all living entities. Why not for you? This confidence must be there. If He is well-wisher for everyone and I am engaged in His service, He is not my well-wisher? So we should simply depend on Kṛṣṇa. We shall simply exert our all energies for the service of Kṛṣṇa, everything will be all right. This is called surrender, this is called confidence. Kṛṣṇa will supply everything. Let me engage in His service. Well-wisher. "Attain peace from the pangs of material miseries." And those who are not confident that Kṛṣṇa will protect me, they are in pangs and "Oh, what shall I eat? Where shall I live? What can I do? How shall I protect?" They are always, because...

Therefore the other day I cited the verse from Yāmunācārya. Bhavantam evaṁ ciraṁ nirantaraṁ praśāntaṁ niḥśeṣa gato rathan(?)... Just like the child. The child in the lap of the mother is confident that "My comfort, my food, my dress, everything is there. My mother is there." So natural. Not only human being, even cats and dogs where the mother is there, she is there. It knows that "My protection is there," confident.

Lecture on BG 8.21-22 -- New York, November 19, 1966:

We have already discussed that we are trying to become happy by transferring ourself to the moon planet. Now the present movement is going there. We are thinking that if we can transfer ourself to the moon planet, we shall be happy. Oh, it is useless. Bhagavad-gītā has already informed you that even if you go to the highest planet, ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16), even if you go by some way or other... You cannot go. That is a dream only. But still, if you go by your sputnik or by aeronautic means, but still, the four principles of material miseries, namely birth, death, old age and disease, you cannot avoid. So it is not our business to have our place anywhere within this material world. Either this country or that country or this planet or that planet, you'll never be happy. Here is information. Avyaktaḥ akṣara ity uktas tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim. If you can reach that highest perfectional stage of life, then only you'll no longer be required to come back again to this nonsense material world. Yes. This is the information you get.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

Besides that, Sanātana Gosvāmī was a great scholar in Sanskrit also. Still, he inquired that "What is education? What is education?" Why he inquired like that? He placed before the Lord that "People in general, they call me very educated, and I am also so fool that I accept that I am educated." So the next question is: "Then why do you think that you are not educated? You are great scholar in Sanskrit, you are great scholar in Persian language. Why do you think that you are not educated?" He replied that "I am thinking 'not educated' because I do not know what I am. I do not know what I am. I do not wish to be a suffering member, but these material miseries is enforced upon me. I do not know wherefrom I have come, where I have to go, and still people, they think that I am very much educated and they designate me that I am a great scholar, and I am satisfied. But I am such a fool that I do not know what I am."

Actually, this is the position of our present situation. We are very much proud of our advancement of education. But if you inquire from various persons that "What you are?"

Lecture on BG 9.20-22 -- New York, December 6, 1966:

Sense gratification. But transcendentalists, they have understood that "This sense gratification process will not help me." This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One must understand perfectly well that this process of sense gratification, variyagasan, that will not help me. He is very intelligent. I will have to search out something else, not this sense gratification. So long I have got a pinch of desire for sense gratification, I will have to take this material body. And as soon as I have got this material body, then all of the material miseries are along with it. So those who are serious about, that "I do not want any more..." But we have become callous. We don't think that "What is miseries of...?" But those who are actually in knowledge, those who want to live, those who want to have perfect knowledge, those who want to have blissful life, they understand that "This material existence, either this Svargaloka or the heavenly planet or this planet or that, will never give me happiness. I will have to... As Kṛṣṇa informs herein, that yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6), I will have to enter the kingdom of God, spiritual planet, where going I will have not to return back again to accept this material body."

Lecture on BG 9.27-29 -- New York, December 19, 1966:

Suppose your... As a result of your good action, you are going to take your birth in the Rockefeller family of America. That's all right. But so far your body is concerned, the body itself is miserable. Don't think that because you are getting your body in some rich family, or in other higher planets, in the demigods planet where you can have a long duration of life... But still, you have got the material body. And as soon as you get this material body, the reaction of the material body—threefold miseries and the miseries of birth, the miseries of death, the miseries of old age, and the miseries of disease—will continue. Because you are rich man, so you are not immune from the material miseries. That will affect. Therefore all these material affection will continue either you do good work, either you do bad work.

So here it is said, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, śubhāśubha-phalair evaṁ mokṣyase: "If you dovetail your activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you become liberated from all reactions, either good or bad." Transcendental. Because in Kṛṣṇa consciousness you are not achieving any future reactionary resultant... Your place will be transcendental. You will be transferred to the spiritual world. Therefore you are free from all reactions. Just this Bhagavad-gītā, beginning, Arjuna was thinking of so many reactions for his fighting, but when he understood that "If I fight for Kṛṣṇa, there is no reaction," then he fought. So here it is also clearly stated that if you act for Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 16.5 -- Hawaii, January 31, 1975:

First of all abhayam. Abhayam means we are always afraid. We are always agitated, anxiety, because I am thinking, "I am this body." But if you are completely realized that you are not this body, you are something else, spirit soul, then I am immediately free from anxieties. That is called abhayam, no more fear, no more anxiety. Because everyone is ultimately afraid of being killed. But if he understands fully that he is not this body, then killed or not killed, he is not any attached to this body. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, therefore, deha smṛti nāhi jār, saṁsāra bandhan kaha tār:(?) "If one becomes free from the bodily concept of life, then where is material miseries?" Material miseries does not affect him. He know that... Just like I am putting on this shirt. If it is torn, so am I affected? I am not affected. I am within this shirt. Similarly, if I am fully convinced that I am not this body, then if there is some injury or some disease or some mishap in the body, I am not concerned because I know that I am not this body. That is self-realization.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Montreal, August 3, 1968:

The real aim of life is how to get satisfaction, full, complete satisfaction. And that satisfaction, complete satisfaction, can be achieved only by prosecution of devotional service. There is no other method. If you want to be happy, free from all cares and anxieties, then you have to engage yourself in devotional service of the Lord. That will make you free from all material anxieties and all material miseries. We are all seeking after that position, how to become completely happy. Our whole struggle for existence... Anyone, in any place, any country, they are all struggling for existence, either human being or animal or birds or beasts, how to become happy. This happiness of the mind, ātmā, is only possible when we are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the only remedy. There is no other alternative.

Lecture on SB 1.2.14-16 -- San Francisco, March 24, 1967:

And śrī; śrī means beauty. Or one becomes very beautiful. So these things are obtained by righteous activities. And similarly by acting impious activities we become very ugly, we become fool, we are born in a very low family or animal family and we become very poor. These are the results of different activities.

Now why... One may say, "If I get next life in a very rich family and becomes very rich man and becomes very learned man, very beautiful man, why shall I not take this opportunity?" But intelligent man says that "Even if I get such opportunities, the material miseries are there." It is not that because a child is born of a very rich family, he hasn't got to go into the womb of his mother and suffer the consequence. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). The distress of birth, death, disease and old age equally there, either you become born in a very high family or either you born in a very low family, either you're born in India or you are born in America. This suffering, the four kinds of sufferings are everywhere. Not only India and America, they are in this planet, but even if you go to the moon planet or if you go to the sun planet. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ. Even the highest planet. The modern scientist says that if we want to go to the highest planet it will take forty thousands of years. No. Four hundred thousands of years. Something like that they say. By sputnik.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

Nitāi: Translation: "The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this. Therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth." (SB 1.7.6)

Prabhupāda: Anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣāt. Anartha means... Artha means which is essential, artha. So anartha means just the opposite. So our present material condition is that we have increased some unwanted things, anartha. Therefore we have been entangled. Just like yesterday I was speaking with that president. He was thinking the problem of economics. And what is the problem? There is no problem. Anywhere, any part of the world, you live, you just have some land, and some animals. Animals means cow. Other animals also, you can keep. There is no harm. But cows must be there, animals. And you cannot destroy the cows. If you want to eat meat... That is the Indian system. Indian system, for meat-eaters, there is concession. Just like for sex life there is concession, similarly, for meat-eater also, there is concession. And for drunkards there is concession. Not impractical. Supposing one is drunkard, meat-eater, if I say all of a sudden, "Stop it," if he is not sober, he will not accept it. Just like in India there was prohibition.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 18, 1975:

Nitāi: (recites verse word for word with devotees responding; then line by line twice with devotees responding)

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
(SB 1.7.6)

(break) "The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth."

Prabhupāda:

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
(SB 1.7.6)

Vidvān. Vid means vetti veda vido jñāne. Vid means jñāna, knowledge. So one who has knowledge... Knowledge means ultimately to understand the originally source of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). This is knowledge, to... Everyone is... The scientists, the philosophers, everyone is searching out what is the original cause. Just like modern scientists. They are searching out what is the original cause of life. That is good enquiry. But because they are surrounded by anarthas, they cannot know it. That is called māyā. So long one is illusioned by the māyā he cannot have perfect knowledge.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 23, 1975:

Nitāi: "The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth."

Prabhupāda:

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
(SB 1.7.6)

Sātvata means eternal, and saṁhitā means Vedic literature. Vedic literature... Veda means knowledge. There are two kinds of knowledge: material knowledge and spiritual knowledge. Material knowledge means regarding these necessities of this body. So our educational system, the university, everything, that is simply imparting material knowledge. But material knowledge is superfluous because this body is also superfluous. Every one of us, we know that this body is nonpermanent. It is temporary. We create a certain type of situation, and we get a particular type of body, and we enjoy or suffer. There is no question of enjoyment; it is suffering. Just like we are running on this fan because the body is suffering. Otherwise, there is no necessity of this fan. And we require this light because without light the eyes will suffer.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, September 5, 1976:

Devotee:

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
(SB 1.7.6)

"The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth."

Prabhupāda: We were discussing this verse yesterday. Anartha. This anartha means this material civilization. There is no need, and still we have accepted it. That is called anartha, meaningless. So there are hundreds and thousands of anarthas, as it is stated that śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ (SB 2.1.2). Sahasraśaḥ means thousands and thousands. Because we have created anartha, unnecessary necessities of life, therefore we have to know, we have to learn, we have to teach so many unwanted... Just like there is a problem now, especially in the Western countries, unwanted population. They do not want, but it is increasing. Similarly, unwanted necessities. This is called anartha. Simple thing.

Lecture on SB 1.7.22 -- Vrndavana, September 18, 1976:

Pradyumna:

arjuna uvāca
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa mahā-bāho
bhaktānām abhayaṅkara
tvam eko dahyamānānām
apavargo 'si saṁsṛteḥ
(SB 1.7.22)

"Arjuna said: O my Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, You are the almighty Personality of Godhead. There is no limit to Your different energies. Therefore only You are competent to instill fearlessness in the hearts of Your devotee. Everyone in the flames of material miseries can find the path of liberation in You only."

Prabhupāda:

arjuna uvāca
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa mahā-bāho
bhaktānām abhayaṅkara
tvam eko dahyamānānām
apavargo 'si saṁsṛteḥ
(SB 1.7.22)

Saṁsṛteḥ, this material world is called saṁsṛti, continuously suffering. That we cannot understand. This is called ignorance. Continuously suffering. They are thinking, "We are very happy," but this material world means continuously suffering. So one living entity is dying, and his gross body is left and the subtle body, mind, intelligence, ego, carrying him in another body through the semina of the father to the womb of the mother. Then it is placed, and the body again forms, and when the body is formed, then he comes out. And within the womb of the mother there is so much suffering, we know that.

Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:

The gopīs loved the Lord without any return, and this is the perfect exhibition of the akāma spirit. Kāma spirit, or the desire for one's own satisfaction, is fully exhibited in the material world, whereas the spirit of akāma is fully exhibited in the spiritual world.

Thoughts of becoming one with the Lord, or being merged in the brahma-jyotir, can also be exhibitions of kāma spirit if they are desires for one's own satisfaction to be free from the material miseries. A pure devotee does not want liberation..."

Prabhupāda: Prahlāda Mahārāja said that "I don't want my liberation alone. Unless I deliver all these fools who are rotting in this material world, I do not want my personal liberation." This is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are going to Himalayas or some secluded place for personal benefit. But a Vaiṣṇava, he has no desire for personal benefit. The personal benefit is already there in Vaiṣṇava because he's in touch with the Supreme Lord by his service.

Lecture on SB 2.9.9 -- Tokyo, April 25, 1972, Informal Class in Room:

Pradyumna: "...Personality of Godhead, being thus very much satisfied with the penance of Lord Brahmā, was pleased to manifest His personal abode, Vaikuṇṭha, the supreme planet above all others. This transcendental abode of the Lord is adored by all self-realized persons freed from all kinds of miseries and fearfulness of illusory existence."

Prabhupāda: These five kinds of... Is it explained there? Five kinds of?

Śyāmasundara: Five kinds of material miseries?

Pradyumna: "The material body is overcast with five kinds of miserable conditions, namely ignorance, material conception, attachment, hatred, and absorption. As long as one is overwhelmed with these five kinds of material miseries, there is no question of entering into the Vaikuṇṭhalokas."

Prabhupāda: Another five kinds of misery is pavarga. Pa, pha, ba, bha, ma.

Pradyumna: Oh, yes. Pa, pha, ba, bha, ma.

Prabhupāda: Pavarga. And to counteract is called apavarga. Apavarga-vartmani. Pavarga, pa means hard labor. If you want to exist here you have to work very, very hard. Just like this man. With hard labor collected some money, constructed this house. Now there is no tenant. Another hard labor to find out tenant. Is it not hard labor?

Lecture on SB 3.25.23 -- Bombay, November 23, 1974:

Nitāi: "Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sādhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities."

Prabhupāda:

mad-āśrayāḥ kathā mṛṣṭāḥ
śṛṇvanti kathayanti ca
tapanti vividhās tāpā
naitān mad-gata-cetasaḥ
(SB 3.25.23)

Na etān. Generally, people, they are suffering. There is nobody in the world, those who are materially engaged, can say boldly that "I am not suffering." Is there anybody? I challenge anyone. Can anyone say that "I am not suffering"? So everyone must be suffering. Now, why these Anacin tablets are advertised, "pain-killer"? Because they are suffering. And not in this country, but in the Western countries, America, one takes at least one dozen tablet daily for mitigating suffering—tranquilizer, this, that, so many. They are advertised, and they take. At last, for sleeping. Because they are more advanced. We are less advanced; therefore we are satisfied only one tablet, Anacin. (laughter) But they are not satisfied with one tablet. They have dozens of tablet. I have seen it. It is advertised in the subway trains.

Lecture on SB 3.26.47 -- Bombay, January 22, 1975:

This is your real misery of life." What you are thinking of this misery or that misery? They are all temporary. They are all under the laws of material nature. You cannot get out of it. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). Prakṛti will force you to do something because you have contaminated the material modes of nature. Therefore you have to act under the direction of this prakṛti, material nature. And so long you are under this material nature, you have to accept this birth, death, old age and disease. This is your real misery. We are thinking temporary miserable condition. Śāstra says that "You don't require to adjust temporary material misery or happiness, because they will come and go. You are destined to certain type of miserable condition of life, certain type of so-called happy life. That will automatically come and go just like seasonal changes." Āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. We are very much happy when we are in a very good condition of life. But that will also not stay. That will also go away. Then miserable condition. Cakravat parivartante sukhāni ca duḥkhāni ca. Sometimes happy, sometimes miserable.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-2 -- Paris, August 12, 1973:

This is called material existence. If we want to get out of this entanglement, then we must take to the service of great saintly personalities. So, that is the way for liberation, mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam. There are two, just like we are in the crossroad, which way we shall go? That can be understood in this human form of life. This human form of life, we have come to this point by evolution. Now we are on the, just on the crossroad, whether we shall go this way or that way. If we want to be free from the entanglement of material misery, then here it is recommended, mahat-sevām. We must render service to the holy, saintly person and if you want to go deeper and deeper in the darkest region of existence, then we should turn our face for sense gratification.

So the instruction is very long, so (to) make it shorter I beg to inform you that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to save person from going to the way of darkness. (break) ...go farther and farther on the path of darkness we become more and more entangled. More entanglement means: there are 8,400,000 forms of body. So after death we have to accept another body. (break) ...in the Bhagavad-gītā, tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13), as we are passing from one body to another in this life... I was a child, you were a child, everyone, but that child body is no more existing. I am existing in a different body, and I have to pass through many different bodies. So this is also dehāntara-prāptiḥ, changing the body.

Lecture on SB 5.5.3 -- Boston, May 4, 1968:

Then you will have peace. And that is the best type of civilization. Plain living, high thinking. Now, in the modern days, the high living and plain thinking. Eating, sleeping, mating. This is plain thinking. This thinking also in the animals. They are also thinking what to eat, where to live, how to defend, how to have..., have semen or sex life. These are problems in animal life also. So if we keep that animal life problem, at the same time we claim that we are civilized, is it very nice? Civilization means how to get out of this material miseries—birth, death, disease and old age. That is real advancement of civilization. If there is any way and means to get out of this problem, then we must adopt in this human form of life. And that is possible in this human form of life. In no other life.

Lecture on SB 5.5.7 -- Vrndavana, October 29, 1976:

Pradyumna: "Even though one may be very learned and wise, he is mad if he does not understand that the endeavor for sense gratification is a useless waste of time. Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries. In this way one is no better than a foolish animal."

Prabhupāda:

yadā na paśyaty ayathā guṇehāṁ
svārthe pramattaḥ sahasā vipaścit
gata-smṛtir vindati tatra tāpān
āsādya maithunyam agāram ajñaḥ
(SB 5.5.7)

So, one has to be vipaścit, learned, to understand the interest of life, self-interest. Everyone is working, especially the karmīs, the jñānīs, the yogis, and mixed devotees, they are working for self-interest. The devotees also, so long there is self, there is self-interest also. So there is little difference, that the devotees, they work for Super-self-interest. There is self, but it is Super-self-interest. And the karmīs, jñānīs, yogis they work for individual self-interest. Self-interest there must be.

Lecture on SB 7.9.44 -- Delhi, March 26, 1976:

Otherwise they are so dull and miserly, they do not understand that Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very, very important for them. They have no sense even to understand. But the preacher who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he knows that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness these people are condemned. They cannot be happy. They cannot be liberated. They will simply remain within this material world, accepting one body after another. And whichever material body we accept, it is meant for suffering. It is not meant for any happiness. Tri-tāpa-yātana. The three kinds of material miseries-adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika—he has to undergo.

So only the devotee, Kṛṣṇa conscious devotee, he can deliver them. He goes from town to town, village to village, house to house, to bring this message of Kṛṣṇa and deliver him. Prahlāda Mahārāja is promising, naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumuksa eko: "I do not wish to go alone. Give me some strength so that I can deliver some of them. It is not possible to deliver all of them." But that is a very important engagement for Vaiṣṇava. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has written in his Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta, we can understand a Vaiṣṇava very nicely when we see that he has converted so many conditioned soul into Vaiṣṇava life. That is the estimation of a Vaiṣṇava. If I simply try for myself—I may be very advanced devotee—that is not very much appreciated by Kṛṣṇa. Prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā. Everyone is interested. There are goṣṭhy-ānandī and bhajanānandī. Bhajanānandī is interested for his own welfare, or they think it that he is not competent enough to preach; therefore he does not go for preaching work. Sva-vimukti-kāmā: "Let me look after my own affairs." "Oil your own machine."

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.76-81 -- San Francisco, February 2, 1967:

That Sanātana Gosvāmī, he was great scholar in Sanskrit. He was great scholar in Parsi and Urdu. And he was minister, very learned man, and very man of position. But when he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he said that "Ordinary people, they say that I am very learned man. And I am such a fool that I also accept their version. I think that I am learned man." "What is the objection? You are already learned. You are very good scholar." "Yes. Now I understand that I am fool because I do not know what I am. I may be materially advanced in learning, but if somebody asks me, 'Can you say what you are, wherefrom you have come, where you are going after death, why you are suffering all these material miseries? Can you have any remedy?' oh, there is no answer. So what sort of learned man I am? I cannot answer all these things. Therefore I have come to You." Similarly, Arjuna, when he was arguing with Kṛṣṇa, "Oh, if I kill my grandfather, then such and such thing will occur me. Oh, if I kill my brothers, the, my brothers' wives, they will be widow and they'll be corrupted, and there will be unwanted children," so many things. He was arguing rightly. That was not... That is from materialistic point of view. From materialistic point of view, you may be very great learned man. But every one of you must know that spiritually, you are damn rascal, nothing! Spiritually, all these persons who are very proud of their learning, they're all damn rascals. Asat. Simply rascals. Simply rascal. So you must know that "I am simply rascal" if you want to make progress in spiritual life. And what do you know about spiritual life? You do not know anything.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.100-108 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

You cannot know, 'What I am?' " Just like Arjuna did not know what he is. He thought that "I am this body, and these persons who are in relationship with my body, they're my own men, they're my kinsmen." That was his knowledge. So you cannot know, we cannot know "What I am." A superior authority will let you know what you are. You cannot know. This is the mistaken idea, that "I shall find out what I am." No. You cannot know. Just see. Sanātana Gosvāmī said that ke āmi: "Kindly, as You have very kindly delivered me from this illusory position, now I am surrendered soul to You. Please let me know what I am." Ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya. Tāpa-traya means three kinds of material miseries. Tāpa means miseries; traya means three. So, "What I am, and why I am placed in this miserable condition of material nature?" This is called jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. This inquiry should be in the human form of life. Then his life is perfect. Ke āmi. In the Brahmā Sūtra it is called athāto brahma jijñāsā, and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: (SB 11.3.21) "One who is inquisitive to inquire, to understand about his real position, he should accept a spiritual master." Not a formality.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-142 -- New York, November 29, 1966:

I am in distress; I am in poverty-stricken. Suppose I get immediately some large amount of money. Immediately my distress gone. So exactly like that, dhana pāile yaiche sukha-bhoga phala pāya, then automatically he becomes happy, a poor man when he gets money. Similarly, as soon as we have little taste of this devotional service, at once all our miserable life becomes happy at once. Yes. Sukha-bhoga haite duḥkha āpani palāya. And if there is happiness, where is the question of misery? If there is light, where there is question of darkness?

So a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he cannot be in distress of material miseries. It goes automatically, automatically. Taiche bhakti-phale kṛṣṇe prema upajaya. Similarly, by execution of this devotional service, gradually you develop love of God, love of God. And preme kṛṣṇāsvāda haile bhava nāśa... And as soon as you get a taste for Kṛṣṇa, you at once lose all this nonsense taste, culminating into sex life. The material taste means we want to gratify senses in so many ways, and the supermost point is sex life. So as soon as you get into touch with Kṛṣṇa and you develop Kṛṣṇa love, all this nonsense finished. Then you are liberated. And so long you are attached even to a pinch of material taste, there is no question of liberation from material miseries; you have to continue this transmigration from one body to another, and body means material miseries. The material body means material misery. You may get the body of a king or you may get the body of Brahmā or Indra, Candra or the ant or the insignificant animal. Any body, any material body, that is meant for miseries, miseries, tāpa-traya, threefold, threefold material miseries, and, besides that threefold miseries, ultimately birth, death, old age and diseases.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.137-142 -- New York, November 29, 1966:

"Now I am materially happy. My all distress, my all poverty, has gone by Kṛṣṇa, by devotional service of Kṛṣṇa," or "I have become liberated." No. These are by-products. To become liberated and to become materially happy by prosecution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a by-product. You have to attempt further thing. And what is that? Prema-sukha-bhoga: you shall be absorbed in love of Kṛṣṇa. That is the... That is here recorded that that should be your ultimate goal of life. So we should not stop: "Oh, now I am very happy. Now I have no material miseries," or "I am liberated. Now this material contamination does not affect me." No. When you will be so much absorbed in love of God, just like Lord Caitanya showed... Cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me, govinda-viraheṇa me: "Oh, I am crying. Just My tears coming, just torrents of rain from My eyes." Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvam: "I am seeing everything vacant." Why? Govinda-viraheṇa me: "In separation of Govinda." That is highest stage of life. Govinda-viraheṇa me. Just like in this material world, if you love somebody and if he is dead and passed and gone, you see everything vacant. That is a test of that govinda viraha. But we are foolish. We know that everything will be finished here. Why should I give so much attachment to this nonsense? Give your attachment to Kṛṣṇa. He will never be finished. So that is love of Kṛṣṇa. We have to attain that stage. Yes. That is the perfection of life.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation Lecture -- Los Angeles, December 19, 1968:

There are innumerable varieties of planet. The higher planetary system, they are resided by demigods, very powerful. They are also human beings, but they are very beautiful; they are very powerful. So you can go there. The moon planet, sun planet—that is clearly stated—if you act accordingly, as they are prescribed, that "If you want to go to the moon planet, you have to do like this," then after leaving this body, you can go there. Similarly, you can go any planet. Similarly, you can go to the planet of Kṛṣṇa. So those who are intelligent, they are not concerned with..., any more with any planet within this material world. Because wherever you go, the four principles of material miseries, namely birth, death, old age, and disease, will follow. Either you go to the moon planet or sun planet or Venus planet or any planet. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). But that planet where going no more comes back in the material world, that is the most sublime planet. So we are... Kṛṣṇa consciousness means we are preparing living entities directly going back to Kṛṣṇa planet. The highest perfection. So this is opportunity. You have got human form of life. Now you have got our association. You have got all information from the Bhagavad-gītā. So the opportunity is there. Now if you don't utilize it, then you can commit your suicide. Nobody can check you. Otherwise you can utilize all these facilities and go directly to Kṛṣṇa.

Initiation Lecture and Bhagavan dasa's Marriage Ceremony -- New Vrindaban, June 4, 1969:

The better, the best condition of life is to mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate. "If anyone," Kṛṣṇa says, "if anyone comes to Me, he hasn't got to come back again to take this cycle of birth and death." So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to give that highest, topmost position, that no more coming to this material world, either this planet or that planet. We may go to the moon planet, but that will not solve our real problem. The real problem is birth, death, old age, and disease. Anywhere you go in the material planet, either by sputniks or by your tapasya or by meditation, if you, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ (BG 8.16), even if you go to the highest planet, there the four principles of material miseries are there. But if you go, mad-dhāma gatvā punar janma na vidyate. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. These are very nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. You try to understand what is the problem of life.

General Lectures

Lecture to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968:

"My dear Arjuna, if somebody comes to Me..." "Me" means here the Supreme Personality of Godhead is saying, Kṛṣṇa. "If somebody comes to Me, then he hasn't got to take birth again in this miserable material condition." Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). Duḥkhālayam means the place of miseries. We are thinking that we have made a paradise, but actually the place is miserable, because the threefold miseries, they are there. Either in America or in India or in any other country, China, or any other planet, the material miseries which are three kinds, ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika... Ādhyātmika means miseries pertaining to the body and the mind. Sometimes we are feeling headaches, sometimes we are feeling some other pains. Any things which are pertaining to the body and mind, there is some pain. These are called ādhyātmika. Similarly, there are other pains, inflicted by other living entities. They are called ādhibhautika. Similarly, other pains also, which is offered by the nature, by the laws of nature. All of a sudden there is earthquake, all of a sudden there is famine, or similar other which we have no control over. So these three kinds of miseries are always there. But under the spell of illusion we are thinking that we are happy.

Lecture on Teachings of Lord Caitanya -- Seattle, September 25, 1968:

Sanātana's inquiry was 'What is the position of the living entities? Why are they always undergoing these three kinds of miseries?' Sanātana has admitted his weakness. Although he was known by the mass of people as a greatly learned man, and actually he was a highly learned Sanskrit scholar, and although he accepted the designation of a very learned man given him by the mass of people, yet he did not actually know what his constitutional position was and why he was subjected to the threefold miseries. The necessity of approaching a spiritual master is not a fashion, but is for he who is seriously conscious of the material miseries and who wants to be free of them. It is the duty of such a person to approach the spiritual master. We find similar circumstances in the Bhagavad-gītā..."

Conway Hall Lecture -- London, September 15, 1969:

Therefore the intelligent man should try to know, "What is my constitutional position? Why I want to stay, but some superpower kicks me out of this stage? Why?" (Why?) This is question. This is called brahma-jijñāsā. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. The Vedānta-sūtra instructs that every human being, not the animals but human being, you should not be bewildered. You should question, "Why I am suffering threefold miseries? Why... I do not want death. Why death overcomes me?" Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). An intelligent man should always keep before him four principles of material miseries: birth, death, old age and disease. These are instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā. One who is making progress in knowledge, he must keep before him these four problems—birth, death, old age and disease. You may be very much proud of your scientific advancement of knowledge, but here is the real science. If you can overcome birth, death, old age and disease, then you can say your science is triumphant.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Talk with Bob Cohen -- February 27-29, 1972, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Momentum. But as soon as he stops, no more movement. Similarly, a devotee who has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, even he's found that he's suffering from material consequences, that is temporary. Therefore a devotee does not take any material miseries as misery. He takes as Kṛṣṇa's, God's, mercy.

Bob: But what about a perfected soul, a devotee, a pure devotee?

Prabhupāda: Perfected soul means twenty-four hours engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is perfection. Transcendental position. Perfection means to be engaged in his original consciousness. That is perfection. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, "Anyone who comes to Me, that is the..." Saṁsiddhiḥ labhate param. Saṁsiddhi. Perfection, complete perfection. Saṁsiddhi. Siddhi and saṁsiddhi. Siddhi is perfection. That is Brahman realization. And saṁsiddhi means devotion, after Brahman realization.

Bob: Could you just say that last thing again please?

Prabhupāda: Saṁsiddhi.

Bob: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Sam means complete.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 26, 1973, Jakarta:

Devotee: Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram, suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati (BG 5.29). "Translation: The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, obtain peace from the pangs of material miseries."

Prabhupāda: Purport.

Devotee: "The conditioned souls in the clutches of the illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. They do not know the formula for peace which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gītā. The greatest peace formula is simply this. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. In the Vedas the Supreme Lord is described as param īśvarānāṁ paramaṁ maheśvaram. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey. But actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature."

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Richard Webster, chairman, Societa Filosofica Italiana -- May 24, 1974, Rome:

Nitāi: Page 324.

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād
bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś
cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
(SB 1.7.6)

Translation: The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

Purport: Śrīla Vyāsadeva saw the all-perfect Personality of Godhead. This statement suggests that the complete unit of the Personality of Godhead includes His parts and parcels also. He saw, therefore, His different energies, namely the internal energy, the marginal energy and the external energy. He also saw His different plenary portions and parts of the plenary portions, namely His different incarnations also, and he specifically observed the unwanted miseries of the conditioned souls, who are bewildered by the external energy. And at last he saw the remedial measure for the conditioned souls, namely, the process of devotional service. It is a great transcendental science and begins with the process of hearing and chanting the name, fame, glory, etc., of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Morning Walk -- June 19, 1974, Germany:

Prabhupāda: That is devotee's sincerity, that he does not go to Kṛṣṇa for some material profit. Any condition, he is Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is his humbleness. And a devotee, actual devotee, he doesn't want. But it happens. Otherwise how Kṛṣṇa says, janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti (BG 4.9). It will take automatically. But he is not, I mean to say, very serious, that "I must go to Kṛṣṇa and be saved from these material miseries." A devotee never says like that. He wants that "Never mind miseries. Let me chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." That is his position.

Satsvarūpa: For us, is the perfection to be absorbed in preaching to others?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Satsvarūpa: Rather than thinking "I want to go and play with Kṛṣṇa"?

Prabhupāda: No. Your... Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa (CC Madhya 7.128). That is Caitanya. Yes.

Satsvarūpa: To everyone, tell them about Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Satsvarūpa: Not thinking, "Oh, when will I go to Kṛṣṇaloka?"

Room Conversation -- August 12, 1975, Paris (with French translator):

Yogeśvara:

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
(BG 5.29)

(reads French Translation) So here in this verse that Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes, Kṛṣṇa says, "Knowing Me to be the ultimate goal of all sacrifices and all austerities, the Lord of all planets and of all demigods, the friend and well-wisher of all living beings, the sage finds relief from all material miseries."

Prabhupāda: So long I think that I am the friend or father of my children, I will have to give..., help them, so I am thinking falsely responsible. Actually I cannot do anything. Therefore, the so-called responsibility is māyā. My real responsibility is how to realize God. That is my real. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa says openly, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam. (aside:) Find out.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Press Conference -- July 9, 1975, Chicago:

Prabhupāda: That means we get different types of body. There are 8,400,000 different types of body. So if we do not properly use this human form of body, if we become subjected to sinful life, then we get a different type of body, very—animal life, tree's life, plant's life, aquatic's life, insect life. Or even we are promoted to the higher standard of life, as in higher planets the demigods, the four principles of material miseries, namely birth, death, old age and disease, we cannot avoid, either in the higher planetary or in the lower planetary system. But if we want eternal life of bliss and knowledge, then we must endeavor in this life how to go back to home, back to Godhead. And such persons who are endeavoring for this purpose, they are called first-class men. And they are called brāhmaṇas or the first-class men. So society must be divided into four classes: first-class, second-class, third-class, fourth-class. That is general. Those who are endeavoring for realizing God, they are first-class men.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Garden Conversation -- June 9, 1976, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: 'The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.' Simply by understanding these three facts—that the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, is the proprietor of the entire creation, that He is the best well-wishing friend of all living entities, and that He is the supreme enjoyer of everything—one becomes peaceful and happy. For this transcendental happiness, the living entity has wandered throughout the universe in different forms of life and different planetary systems, but because he has forgotten his intimate relationship with Viṣṇu, he has merely suffered, life after life. Therefore, the educational system in the human form of life should be so perfect that one will understand his intimate relationship with God, or Viṣṇu. Every living entity has an intimate relationship with God. One should therefore glorify the Lord in the adoration of śānta-rasa or revive his eternal relationship with Viṣṇu as a servant in dāsya-rasa, a friend in sakhya-rasa, a parent in vātsalya-rasa or a conjugal lover in mādhurya-rasa. All these relationships are on the platform of love. Viṣṇu is the center of love for everyone, and therefore the duty of everyone is to engage in the loving service of the Lord.

Room Conversation -- July 27, 1976, London:

Harikeśa: "The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyasadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth."

Prabhupāda: So here is vidvān, and there is a rascal. He does not know how people will be helped. Where you got these beads?

Bhagavān: Vṛndāvana.

Prabhupāda: Purchased?

Bhagavān: Someone gave them as gift, tulasī.

Prabhupāda: In Hawaii there are so many tulasīs dry wood. We can make those.

Bhagavān: In our preaching this is good point, that we do not alienate the communists and stress on the differences between us and them.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- February 16, 1977, Mayapura:

Pradyumna: It's Canto Five, Chapter Five, verse number seven. "Even though one may be very learned and wise, he is mad if he does not understand that the endeavor for sense gratification is a useless waste of time. Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries. In this way one is no better than a foolish animal."

Prabhupāda: Yes. Maithunyam agāram ajñaḥ. The selection of words in Bhāgavata are, from even literary point of view, perfect. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na... This is literary. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavam. Again plavaṁ plavam. Anuprāsa. This is literary, anuprāsa. Samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ. Padam. Bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām. Just see literary arrangement. And full of meaning. This is Bhāgavatam. Any way you study, from literary point of view, from knowledge, from philosophy, from social, every-perfect. Therefore lokasya ajānato vidvāṁś cakre. Vidvān. One who has learned, Vyāsadeva, vidvān, the first-class learned person. The sātvata-saṁhitām—for the devotees, Vedic cream. Nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ idam (SB 1.1.3). Nobody can be like Vyāsadeva; He's incarnation of Nārāyaṇa. Where is such scholar throughout the whole world? Is there?

Correspondence

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Nandarani -- New Vrindaban 23 May, 1969:

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is advised that nobody should become a father or mother if he or she is not capable to raise children to the perfectional stage of stopping repeated births and death. This process of birth and death can only be stopped by awakening Krishna Consciousness. As you have read in the Bhagavad-gita, simply by understanding how Krishna appears and performs His transcendental activities, one can immediately become eligible to enter into Krishna's Abode. And one who enters this Abode of Krishna never comes back again to suffer all sorts of material miseries. That is the sanguine process to stop repeated birth and death of the living entity. Simply by awakening the dormant love for Krishna, Who is known as Vasudeva, one can stop the material contamination of accepting a material body.

Letter to Turya -- New Vrindaban 5 June, 1969:

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.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Radhavallabha -- Bombay 6 January, 1972:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your first and second copies of your letter dated December 18th, 1971 which were sent to Bombay and Madras respectively. I am very glad to know that you are seriously taking to Srimati Tulasi Devi worship. Tulasi Devi is a pure devotee of Krishna and she should be treated with the same respect given to all Krishna's pure devotees. Simply by worshiping her faithfully, a devotee can get himself free of from all material miseries. In the Nectar of Devotion I have given two verses from the Skanda Purana, one of which is: "Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about, or simply by sowing the tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the Tulasi tree in the above mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world." So from this verse we can understand how pure is the service which Tulasi offers to Sri Krishna. So we should always endeavor after becoming servant of Tulasi Devi. I do not know who has taught you that part of a Tulasi plant may be cut off and then replanted? From the Tulasi plant you can cut off only leaves for offering them to Krishna, never for cutting and planting. That is an offense. The manjaris (seeds) can be offered in water and it makes the water fragrant and tasteful. And the manjaris can be planted for growing new Tulasi plants.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Tulsi -- Bombay 18 December, 1975:

He cannot eat nuts and bolts, however nicely they may be manufactured. We live by food grains, vegetables and milk products as it is stated in the Bhagavad gita "All living bodies subsist on food grains which are due to rains come by proper proformance of sacrifice" Human life is meant for sacrifice to please Visnu. Bhoktaram yajna-tapasam, sarva-loka-mahesvaram (BG 5.29), "The sages knowing me to be the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices, the Supreme Lord of all planets, and the well wishing friend of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries"

So if we want to be happy in this life and the next we have to worship Visnu. But Gandhi did to satisfy Visnu? He was trying to satisfy his country, and his country killed him. He manufactured so many things which were never found in Bhagavad-gita. Throughout the Bhagavad-gita Krishna is encouraging Arjuna to fight, and Gandhi manufactured non-violence from Bhagavad-gita. Everyone in India knows the Mahabharata, the great battle of Kuruksetra, 640,000,000 soldiers gave up their life in that battle, and Krishna was personally instructing Arjuna to fight, and Gandhi took Bhagavad-gita and preached non-violence. So what was his understanding. At the end of his life he frankly said, "I don't believe there was ever such a historical person as Krishna". So what did Gandhi know about Bhagavad-gita?

Page Title:Material miseries (Lect., Conv. & Letters)
Compiler:Mayapur, RupaManjari
Created:05 of Oct, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=47, Con=9, Let=4
No. of Quotes:60