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Meditation on Visnu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life

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"Meditation on Viṣṇu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Meditation on Viṣṇu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life. There was no flaw. Then came the Tretā-yuga, when they were perfect three-fourths and the duration of life reduced to ten thousand years.

There are many instructions in Vedic literature. So here also the same thing is repeated. Tat-prayāso na kartavyo yata āyur-vyayaḥ param: you should not try to spoil your life, spoil your valuable life, for something which is not very much beneficial for you. And what is that thing beneficial? Self-realization. Self-realization, "What I am."

This is the product of meditation. If you want to meditate, meditation means to attempt to understand oneself, "What I am." That is real meditation. Meditation does not mean that. . . .Of course, this voidness, meditation in voidness, is another negative attempt that This body is nothing. But actually, I am not void; I am spirit soul. And because I have no information of the spirit soul, therefore I simply try to think of the negative side of this bodily existence. That is called voidness.

Simply negative . . . now, I am not this body. I am not this body. I am not this body, that's all right. But that is not perfect self-realization. When I understand that I am not this body; I am spirit soul, that is partial self-realization. And when I understand that I am not only spirit soul, but I have got spiritual activities, that is still more advancement. And when you are actually situated in spiritual activities, that is the perfection of life. Just try to understand.

First thing is, I am not this body. That's all right. Then what you are, or what I am? The next stage is to understand that I am not this body; I am spirit soul. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The exact Sanskrit language is that to understand that I am spirit soul. All right, then is that finished? No. Still you have to go further.

Then I am a spirit soul. So the spirit soul in this material body has so much activities. Now, regarding this body, I have got so many activities. And when the body is finished, is it correct that the spirit soul stops to act? No. It does not stop to act. Because that is the active principle. Because the spirit is there within this body, therefore the body's acting.

Now, suppose I am not this body. Then does it mean that the spirit has no activity? So this is now wrong theory. Spirit has various activities, but you do not know. That is illusion. So meditation means to understand oneself, that I am not this body; I am spirit soul, and further advancement of that meditation is to know that what are the activities of the spirit soul, and when one is actually engaged in those spiritual activities, that is the perfection of meditation.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is direct engagement of spiritual activities. This is the concession. This is the concession of this age. We have got very little opportunity in the present age to meditate. It is very difficult. The so-called meditation for fifteen minutes and twenty-three hours all kinds of nonsense activities will never help you. Therefore meditation is out of question at the present age. I am not speaking from my own whims; it is stated in the śāstra.

In the śāstra it is said that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). Meditation on Viṣṇu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life. There was no flaw. Then came the Tretā-yuga, when they were perfect three-fourths and the duration of life reduced to ten thousand years.

The next yuga, next millennium, is called Dvāpara-yuga, when the life of people, half religious, half pious, half vicious, and the duration of life reduced to one thousand years. And this age is called Kali-yuga, the age of quarrel and misunderstanding. The duration of life has reduced to one hundred years. Not even one hundred years; fifty years, sixty years, seventy years utmost, but within. And so far life is concerned, three-fourths of the life irreligious, one-fourth only religious. That is also doubtful.

So therefore in this age, the śāstric injunction . . . that means the injunction of the authorized scripture is that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. In the golden age, when people used to live for 100,000's of years, meditation was possible. Because we understand Vālmīki Muni, he got perfection by meditation after meditating 60,000's of years.

And similarly, Kardama Muni, he got perfection by meditation after 10,000's of years' meditation. So meditation process is difficult process, and it is not possible in this age. This is the injunction of the śāstra. Simply we can waste our time by so-called meditation, but real meditation is not achievable at the present age.

Therefore the prescription is kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ (SB 12.3.52). In the first millennium, meditation was possible. In the second millennium, sacrifice . . . big, big yajña, or sacrifice, was performed by people. And the third millennium, temple worship. And in the fourth millennium, kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt: in this age of Kali, simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa you can attain the perfection. So these are the prescription. We have to follow.

So our policy, those who are serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they should not waste their time for sense gratification. And because the body is there, we are not free from the body, there are demands of the senses. So that should be controlled. That is the process in every line of action, either you meditate or you perform sacrifices, do anything. The real process is to control the senses. So try to control the senses as far as possible and utilize your time for advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the process is very simple—simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Page Title:Meditation on Visnu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-10-17, 13:11:48
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1