Miseries of material existence

Expressions researched:
"material existence full of miseries" |"miserable factors of material existence" |"miserable land of material existence" |"miserable life of material existence" |"miserable material existence" |"miseries in material existence" |"miseries of material existence" |"miseries of our material existence" |"miseries of this material existence" |"misery of material existence"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.65, Translation:

For one thus satisfied (in Kṛṣṇa consciousness), the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one's intelligence is soon well established.

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 9.1, Translation and Purport:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.

As a devotee hears more and more about the Supreme Lord, he becomes enlightened. This hearing process is recommended in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: "The messages of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are full of potencies, and these potencies can be realized if topics regarding the Supreme Godhead are discussed amongst devotees. This cannot be achieved by the association of mental speculators or academic scholars, for it is realized knowledge."

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 18.62, Purport:

A living entity should therefore surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in everyone's heart, and that will relieve him from all kinds of miseries of this material existence. By such surrender, not only will one be released from all miseries in this life, but at the end he will reach the Supreme God. The transcendental world is described in the Vedic literature (Ṛg Veda 1.22.20) as tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. Since all of creation is the kingdom of God, everything material is actually spiritual, but paramaṁ padam specifically refers to the eternal abode, which is called the spiritual sky or Vaikuṇṭha.

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Introduction:

Śrī Advaita Prabhu was the chief cause for the advent of the Lord. When Advaita Prabhu saw that the total human society was full of materialistic activities and devoid of devotional service, which alone could save mankind from the threefold miseries of material existence, He, out of His causeless compassion for the age-worn human society, prayed fervently for the incarnation of the Lord and continually worshiped the Lord with water of the Ganges and leaves of the holy tulasī tree. As far as preaching work in the saṅkīrtana movement was concerned, everyone was expected to do his daily share according to the order of the Lord.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.2.27, Purport:

Material enjoyment should be accepted only up to the point of the bare necessities of life and not more or less than that. To accept more material enjoyment means to bind oneself more and more to the miseries of material existence. More wealth, more women and false aristocracy are some of the demands of the materially disposed man because he has no information of the benefit derived from Viṣṇu worship. By Viṣṇu worship one can derive benefit in this life as well as in life after death. Forgetting these principles, foolish people who are after more wealth, more wives and more children worship various demigods. The aim of life is to end the miseries of life and not to increase them.

SB 1.2.28-29, Purport:

Culture of knowledge leading one to the transcendental plane of meeting Vāsudeva is real knowledge. Physical knowledge in its various branches is condemned in the Bhagavad-gītā as ajñāna, or the opposite of real knowledge. The ultimate aim of physical knowledge is to satisfy the senses, which means prolongation of the term of material existence and thereby continuance of the threefold miseries. So prolonging the miserable life of material existence is nescience. But the same physical knowledge leading to the way of spiritual understanding helps one to end the miserable life of physical existence and to begin the life of spiritual existence on the plane of Vāsudeva.

SB 1.5.33, Purport:

An expert physician treats his patient with a therapeutic diet. For example, milk preparations sometimes cause disorder of the bowels, but the very same milk converted into curd and mixed with some other remedial ingredients cures such disorders. Similarly, the threefold miseries of material existence cannot be mitigated simply by material activities. Such activities have to be spiritualized, just as by fire iron is made red-hot, and thereby the action of fire begins. Similarly, the material conception of a thing is at once changed as soon as it is put into the service of the Lord. That is the secret of spiritual success.

SB 1.7.6, Purport:

Revival of the dormant affection or love of Godhead does not depend on the mechanical system of hearing and chanting, but it solely and wholly depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. When the Lord is fully satisfied with the sincere efforts of the devotee, He may endow him with His loving transcendental service. But even with the prescribed forms of hearing and chanting, there is at once mitigation of the superfluous and unwanted miseries of material existence. Such mitigation of material affection does not wait for development of transcendental knowledge. Rather, knowledge is dependent on devotional service for the ultimate realization of the Supreme Truth.

SB 1.13.25, Purport:

Vidura is trying to open his eyes to see that he cannot live more than his term and that he must prepare for death. Since death is inevitable, why should he accept such a humiliating position for living? It is better to take the right path, even at the risk of death. Human life is meant for finishing all kinds of miseries of material existence, and life should be so regulated that one can achieve the desired goal. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, due to his wrong conception of life, had already spoiled eighty percent of his achieved energy, so it behooved him to utilize the remaining days of his miserly life for the ultimate good. Such a life is called miserly because one cannot properly utilize the assets of the human form of life. Only by good luck does such a miserly man meet a self-realized soul like Vidura and by his instruction gets rid of the nescience of material existence.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.1.2, Purport:

In the age of Kali, all the householders are jealous of one another because they are blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth. They have many subject matters for hearing—political, scientific, social, economic and so on—but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. Factually, the human life is meant for making an ultimate solution to birth, death, old age and disease, but the gṛhamedhīs, being illusioned by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. The ultimate solution to the problems of life is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.16), the miseries of material existence—birth, death, old age and disease—are removed.

SB 2.1.22, Purport:

The dirty things in the heart of a conditioned soul are the root cause of all troubles for him. A conditioned soul is surrounded by the manifold miseries of material existence, but on account of his gross ignorance he is unable to remove the troubles due to dirty things in the heart, accumulated during the long prison life in the material world. He is actually meant to serve the will of the Supreme Lord, but on account of the dirty things in the heart, he likes to serve his concocted desires. These desires, instead of giving him any peace of mind, create new problems and thus bind him to the cycle of repeated birth and death.

SB 2.2.2, Purport:

He wants to go to the moon or the planet Venus to exploit resources there. But the Lord has warned us in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.16) about the worthlessness of all the innumerable planets of this universe, as well as those planets within other systems. There are innumerable universes and also innumerable planets in each of them. But none of them is immune to the chief miseries of material existence, namely the pangs of birth, the pangs of death, the pangs of old age and the pangs of disease. The Lord says that even the topmost planet, known as the Brahmaloka or Satyaloka, (and what to speak of other planets, like the heavenly planets) is not a happy land for residential purposes, due to the presence of material pangs, as above mentioned.

SB 2.6.20, Purport:

Any form of religious principles in which the followers are trained to pursue the vow of celibacy is good for the human being because only those who are trained in that way can end the miserable life of material existence. The principles of nirvāṇa, as recommended by Lord Buddha, are also meant for ending the miserable life of material existence. And this process, in the highest degree, is recommended here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, with clear perception of ideal perfection, although basically there is no difference between the process of Buddhists, Śaṅkarites and Vaiṣṇavites. For promotion to the highest status of perfection, namely freedom from birth and death, anxiety and fearfulness, not one of these processes allows the follower to break the vow of celibacy.

SB 2.7.31, Purport:

Actually there was no arrest of Nanda Mahārāja by Varuṇa because the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were always engaged in thinking of Kṛṣṇa, in constant meditation on the Personality of Godhead in a particular form of samadhi, or trance of bhakti-yoga. They had no fear of the miseries of material existence. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is confirmed that to be in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by full surrender in transcendental love frees one from the miseries inflicted by the laws of material nature. Here it is clearly mentioned that the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were extensively busy in the hard labor of their day's work, and due to the day's hard labor they were engaged in sound sleep at night.

SB 2.10.26, Purport:

One can beget hundreds of children and enjoy the celestial pleasure of sexual intercourse, provided he is able to train the children in God consciousness. Otherwise begetting children is on the level of the swine. Rather, the swine is more expert than the human being because the swine can beget a dozen piglets at a time, whereas the human being can give birth to only one at a time. So one should always remember that the genitals, sexual pleasure, the woman and the offspring are all related in the service of the Lord, and one who forgets this relationship in the service of the Supreme Lord becomes subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence by the laws of nature. Perception of sexual pleasure is there even in the body of the dog, but there is no sense of God consciousness. The human form of life is distinct from that of the dog by the perception of God consciousness.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.3.19, Purport:

The Lord was acting freely, as He willed, yet by His practical example He taught not to lead a life which goes against the principles of detachment and knowledge. Attainment of knowledge and detachment, as very elaborately discussed in Sāṅkhya philosophy, is the real perfection of life. Knowledge means to know that the mission of the human form of life is to end all the miseries of material existence and that in spite of having to fulfill the bodily necessities in a regulated way, one must be detached from such animal life. Fulfilling the demands of the body is animal life, and fulfilling the mission of spirit soul is the human mission.

SB 3.5.3, Purport:

To be obedient to the wishes of the Supreme Lord is the natural position of every living entity. But due only to past misdeeds, a living being becomes averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and suffers all the miseries of material existence. No one has anything to do but render devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore any activity other than transcendental loving service to the Lord is more or less a rebellious action against the supreme will. All fruitive activity, empirical philosophy and mysticism are more or less against the sense of subordination to the Lord, and any living entity engaged in such rebellious activity is more or less condemned by the laws of material nature, which work under the subordination of the Lord.

SB 3.5.39, Translation:

The demigods said: O Lord, Your lotus feet are like an umbrella for the surrendered souls, protecting them from all the miseries of material existence. All the sages under that shelter throw off all material miseries. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.

SB 3.5.40, Purport:

There is no want of knowledge in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, the Personality of Godhead. He, the Lord, personally takes charge of dissipating the darkness of ignorance from the heart of a devotee. He confirms this in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te

Empiric philosophical speculation cannot give one relief from the threefold miseries of material existence. Simply to endeavor for knowledge without devoting oneself to the Lord is a waste of valuable time.

SB 3.5.44, Purport:

So many things I possess, and I shall possess more and more. Who can be richer than I in wealth and education? I am the master, and I am God. Who else is there but me?" All these ideas reflect the philosophy of ahaṁ mama, the conception that "I am everything." Persons conducted by such a conception of life can never get liberation from material bondage. But even a person perpetually condemned to the miseries of material existence can get relief from bondage if he simply agrees to hear only kṛṣṇa-kathā. In this age of Kali, the process of hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā is the most effective means to gain release from unwanted family affection and thus find permanent freedom in life.

SB 3.7.17, Purport:

A hog's life is degraded in its standard of happiness, which entails living in a filthy place, engaging in sex enjoyment at every opportune moment, and laboring hard in a struggle for existence, but this is unknown to the hog. Similarly, human beings who are unaware of the miseries of material existence and are happy in sex life and hard labor are the lowest of fools. Yet because they have no sense of miseries, they supposedly enjoy so-called happiness. The other class of men, those who are liberated and are situated in the transcendental position above intelligence, are really happy and are called paramahaṁsas. But persons who are neither like hogs and dogs nor on the level of the paramahaṁsas feel the material pangs, and for them inquiry about the Supreme Truth is necessary.

SB 3.18.4, Purport:

The Lord kills the process of birth and death and keeps Himself invisible. The activities of the Lord's internal potency are inconceivable, but by a slight exhibition of this potency, the Lord, by His grace, can deliver one from nescience. Śucaḥ means "miseries"; the miseries of material existence can be extinguished by the Lord by His potential energy of internal yogamāyā. In the Upaniṣads (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) it is stated, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). The Lord is invisible to the eyes of the common man, but His energies act in various ways. When demons are in adversity, they think that God is hiding Himself and is working by His mystic potency.

SB 3.22.32, Translation and Purport:

Having entered the city of Barhiṣmatī, in which he had previously lived, Manu entered his palace, which was filled with an atmosphere that eradicated the three miseries of material existence.

The material world, or material existential life, is filled with threefold miseries: miseries pertaining to the body and mind, miseries pertaining to natural disturbances and miseries inflicted by other living entities. Human society is meant to create a spiritual atmosphere by spreading the spirit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The miseries of material existence cannot affect the status of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is not that the miseries of the material world completely vanish when one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but for one who is Kṛṣṇa conscious the miseries of material existence have no effect. We cannot stop the miseries of the material atmosphere, but Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the antiseptic method to protect us from being affected by the miseries of material existence.

SB 3.25.24, Purport:

Because a devotee is freed from all contaminated material association, he is not affected by the miseries of material existence. Even though he appears to be in the material world, he is not affected by the miseries of the material world. How is it possible? There is a very good example in the activities of the cat. The cat carries her kittens in her mouth, and when she kills a rat she also carries the booty in her mouth. Thus both are carried in the mouth of the cat, but they are in different conditions. The kitten feels comfort in the mouth of the mother, whereas when the rat is carried in the mouth of the cat, the rat feels the blows of death. Similarly, those who are sādhavaḥ, or devotees engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the transcendental service of the Lord, do not feel the contamination of material miseries, whereas those who are not devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness actually feel the miseries of material existence.

SB 3.31.21, Purport:

The miseries of material existence begin from the very day when the spirit soul takes shelter in the ovum and sperm of the mother and father, they continue after he is born from the womb, and then they are further prolonged. We do not know where the suffering ends. It does not end, however, by one's changing his body. The change of body is taking place at every moment, but that does not mean that we are improving from the fetal condition of life to a more comfortable condition. The best thing is, therefore, to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 3.32.1, Purport:

Here the Lord is speaking about the gṛhamedhī, or the person who wants to remain in this material world. His activity is to enjoy material benefits by performing religious rituals for economic development and thereby ultimately satisfy the senses. He does not want anything more. Such a person works very hard throughout his life to become very rich and eat very nicely and drink. By giving some charity for pious activity he can go to a higher planetary atmosphere in the heavenly planets in his next life, but he does not want to stop the repetition of birth and death and finish with the concomitant miserable factors of material existence. Such a person is called a gṛhamedhī.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.7.35, Purport:

If persons who are suffering in the forest fire of this material existence will only enter into the nectarean river of the description of the pastimes of the Lord, they will forget all the troubles of the miserable material existence. The Siddhas do not care for fruitive activities, such as performing sacrifices and achieving the good results. They simply merge in the transcendental discussions of the pastimes of the Lord. That makes them completely happy, without care for pious or impious activities. For those who are always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is no need to perform any kind of pious or impious sacrifices or activities. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is itself complete, for it includes all the processes praised in the Vedic scriptures.

SB 4.22.24, Purport:

As long as the body is there it is subjected to the influence of climatic changes, disease and natural disturbances, the threefold miseries of material existence. We cannot avoid them. Sometimes we receive letters from neophyte devotees questioning why they have fallen sick, although pursuing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They should learn from this verse that they have to become tolerant (dvandva-titikṣayā). This is the world of duality. One should not think that because he has fallen sick he has fallen from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness can continue without impediment from any material opposition. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa therefore advises in Bhagavad-gītā (2.14), tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata: "My dear Arjuna, please try to tolerate all these disturbances. Be fixed in your Kṛṣṇa conscious activities."

SB 4.26.8, Purport:

"By forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has become materialistic since time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa is giving him different types of miseries in material existence." (CC Madhya 20.117)

māyā-mugdha jīvera nāhi svataḥ kṛṣṇa-jñāna

jīvere kṛpāya kailā kṛṣṇa veda-purāṇa

"When a living entity is enchanted by the external energy, he cannot revive his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness independently. Due to such circumstances, Kṛṣṇa has kindly given him the Vedic literatures, such as the four Vedas and eighteen Purāṇas." (CC Madhya 20.122) Every human being should therefore take advantage of the Vedic instructions; otherwise one will be bound by his whimsical activities and will be without any guide.

SB 4.28.27, Purport:

This is a description of material existence. Material existence is experienced when one becomes attached to a woman and forgets his real identity as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa (naṣṭa-smṛtiḥ). In this way, in one body after another, the living entity perpetually suffers the threefold miseries of material existence. To save human civilization from the darkness of ignorance, this movement was started. The main purpose of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to enlighten the forgetful living entity and remind him of his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way the living entity can be saved from the catastrophe of ignorance as well as bodily transmigration.

SB 4.29.23-25, Purport:

Knowing the basic misery of material existence, one should be induced to get out of the material clutches and return home, back to Godhead. Actually the living entity is not at all happy in this material body. Because of the body, he suffers thirst and hunger and is influenced by the mind, by words, by anger, by the belly, by the genitals, by the rectum, and so on. Manifold miseries encircle the transcendental living entity simply because he desires to satisfy his senses in this material world.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.14.25, Translation:

Being unable to protect himself from the threefold miseries of material existence, the conditioned soul becomes very morose and lives a life of lamentation. These threefold miseries are miseries suffered by mental calamity at the hands of the demigods (such as freezing wind and scorching heat), miseries offered by other living entities, and miseries arising from the mind and body themselves.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.15.25, Purport:

In the Fifth Canto (5.5.4), while instructing his sons, Ṛṣabhadeva said, asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ: the body, although temporary, is the cause of all the miseries of material existence. As already discussed in the previous verse, the entire material creation is based on mental concoction. The mind sometimes induces us to think that if we purchase an automobile we can enjoy the physical elements, such as earth, water, air and fire, combined in forms of iron, plastic, petrol and so on. Working with the five material elements (pañca-bhūtas), as well as with our five knowledge-gathering senses like the eyes, ears and tongue and our five active senses like the hands and legs, we become involved in the material condition.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.6.16, Purport:

The real vidvān is one who tries to understand his own position within this material world. For example, when Sanātana Gosvāmī submitted to the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his first question was 'ke āmi', 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya'. In other words, he wanted to know his constitutional position and why he was suffering from the threefold miseries of material existence. This is the process of education. If one does not ask, "Who am I? What is the goal of my life?" but instead follows the same animal propensities as cats and dogs, what is the use of his education? As discussed in the previous verse, a living being is entrapped by his fruitive activities, exactly like a silkworm trapped in its own cocoon.

SB 7.13.28, Translation:

In this way the conditioned soul living within the body forgets his self-interest because he identifies himself with the body. Because the body is material, his natural tendency is to be attracted by the varieties of the material world. Thus the living entity suffers the miseries of material existence.

SB 7.15 Summary:

One who is not satisfied with the mind must fall to degradation. One must conquer lusty desires, anger, greed, fear, lamentation, illusion, fright, unnecessary talks on material subjects, violence, the four miseries of material existence, and the three material qualities. That is the objective of human life. One who has no faith in the spiritual master, who is identical with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, cannot get any benefit from reading śāstra. One should never consider the spiritual master an ordinary human being, even though the members of the spiritual master's family may think of him as such.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.4, Purport:

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore trying to train qualified preachers to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā throughout the entire world, so that people in general in all parts of the world may take advantage of this movement and thus be relieved of the threefold miseries of material existence.

The instructions of Bhagavad-gītā and the descriptions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are so pleasing that almost anyone suffering from the threefold miseries of material existence will desire to hear the glories of the Lord from these books and thus benefit on the path of liberation. Two classes of men, however, will never be interested in hearing the message of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—those who are determined to commit suicide and those determined to kill cows and other animals for the satisfaction of their own tongues.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.2.49, Translation:

Within the material world, one's material body is always subject to birth and decay. Similarly, the life air (prāṇa) is harassed by hunger and thirst, the mind is always anxious, the intelligence hankers for that which cannot be obtained, and all of the senses are ultimately exhausted by constant struggle in the material nature. A person who is not bewildered by the inevitable miseries of material existence, and who remains aloof from them simply by remembering the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is to be considered bhāgavata-pradhāna, the foremost devotee of the Lord.

SB 11.3.2, Translation:

Although I am drinking the nectar of your statements about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, my thirst is not yet satiated. Such nectarean descriptions of the Lord and His devotees are the actual medicine for conditioned souls like me, who are tormented by the threefold miseries of material existence.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 1.91, Purport:

None of the above-mentioned three religious paths can deliver a person from the threefold miseries of material existence, namely, miseries caused by the body and mind, miseries caused by other living entities, and miseries caused by the demigods. The process of religion described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, however, is able to give its followers permanent relief from the threefold miseries. The Bhāgavatam describes the highest religious form—reinstatement of the living entity in his original position of transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord, which is free from the infections of desires for sense gratification, fruitive work, and the culture of knowledge with the aim of merging into the Absolute to become one with the Supreme Lord.

CC Adi 8.43, Translation:

I fervently appeal to everyone to adopt the method of devotional service given by Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda and thus be freed from the miseries of material existence and ultimately achieve the loving service of the Lord.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 6.155, Translation:

“‘O King, the kṣetra-jña-śakti is the living entity. Although he has the facility to live in either the material or spiritual world, he suffers the threefold miseries of material existence because he is influenced by the avidyā (nescience) potency, which covers his constitutional position.

CC Madhya 20.120, Purport:

A conditioned soul is one who has forgotten Kṛṣṇa as his eternal master. Thinking that he is enjoying the material world, the conditioned soul suffers the threefold miseries of material existence. Saintly persons (sādhus), Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord, preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness on the basis of the Vedic literature. It is only by their mercy that the conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When awakened, he is no longer eager to enjoy the materialistic way of life. Instead, he devotes himself to the loving transcendental service of the Lord.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 3:

The Lord was pleased by Sanātana's submissive behavior, and He replied, "You have already received benediction from Lord Kṛṣṇa, and therefore you know everything and are free from all the miseries of material existence." The Lord further pointed out that because Sanātana was in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he was naturally, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, already conversant with everything. "Because you are a humble devotee," the Lord continued, "you are asking Me to confirm what you already know. This is very nice." These are the characteristics of a true devotee. In the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra it is said that one who is very serious about developing Kṛṣṇa consciousness has his desire to understand Kṛṣṇa fulfilled very soon by the grace of the Lord.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 4:

Since no one can trace the history of the living entity's entanglement in material energy, the Lord says that it is beginningless. By beginningless it is meant that conditional life exists prior to the creation; it is simply manifested during and after the creation. Due to forgetfulness of his nature, the living entity, although spirit, suffers all kinds of miseries in material existence. It should be understood that there are also living entities who are not entangled in this material energy but are situated in the spiritual world. They are called liberated souls and are always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, devotional service.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 4:

In the material world the conditioned spirit soul is subjected to various rewards and punishments. When he is rewarded for his righteous activities, he is elevated to the higher planets where he becomes one of the many demigods, and when he is punished for his abominable activities, he is thrown into hellish planets where he suffers the miseries of material existence more acutely. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives a very nice example of this punishment. Formerly a king used to punish a criminal by dunking him in the river, raising him up again for breath and then again dunking him in the water. Material nature punishes and rewards the individual entity in just the same way.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

On the other hand, those who are eternally conditioned are always divorced from the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa and are thus subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. Due to the conditioned soul's eternal attitude of separation from Kṛṣṇa, the spell of material energy awards him two kinds of bodily existence—the gross body consisting of five elements, and the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and ego. Being covered by these two bodies, the conditioned soul eternally suffers the pangs of material existence known as the threefold miseries. He is also subjected to six enemies (such as lust, anger, etc.). Such is the everlasting disease of the conditioned soul.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 17:

Due to the propensity for material enjoyment, the living entity becomes contaminated by the material world. When a living entity is dominated by a desire for material enjoyment and becomes entangled in material life, he is subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. He is just like a seed sown in the earth. If a seed is overpowered by too much water, there is no possibility of its fructifying. Similarly, if a man is captivated by material enjoyment, and even if the seed of such enjoyment is within the heart of the conditioned soul, he can be overpowered by a flood of transcendental activities performed in love of God.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

Life there is perpetual and full of knowledge and bliss. That is what is known as sanātana-dharma. It is therefore natural to conclude that the living entities must return home, back to Godhead, to enjoy life in the sanātana-dhāma with the sanātana-puruṣa, or the puruṣottama, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They must not remain to rot in this miserable land of material existence. There is no happiness in the material sphere—even in Brahmaloka—so plans and activities for elevation to higher planets within the material universe are carried out by those who are less intelligent. Less intelligent men also take shelter of demigods and only derive benefits which endure for a limited period.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 11:

All the cowherd men, including Nanda Mahārāja, used to talk of the wonderful activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, and they were always so much absorbed in those talks that they forgot the threefold miseries of this material existence. This is the effect of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. What was enjoyed five thousand years ago by Nanda Mahārāja can still be enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa conscious persons simply by talking about the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and His associates.

Krsna Book 46:

If we do this, then our lives become successful without any doubt. But if we keep our minds always absorbed in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, then naturally at the time of death we shall think of such activities and again be forced to enter material, conditioned bodies to suffer the threefold miseries of material existence. Therefore, to remain always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness was the standard of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, as exhibited by Mahārāja Nanda, Yaśodā and the gopīs. If we can simply follow in their footsteps, even to a minute proportion, our lives will surely become successful, and we shall enter the spiritual kingdom, Vaikuṇṭha.

Krsna Book 51:

"For many, many births I have been suffering from the threefold miseries of this material existence, and I am now tired of it. I have been impelled only by my senses, and I was never satisfied. I therefore take shelter of Your lotus feet, which are the source of all peaceful life and which can eradicate all lamentation caused by material contamination. My dear Lord, You are the Supersoul of everyone, and You can understand everything. Now I am free from all contamination of material desire. I do not wish to enjoy this material world, nor do I wish to take advantage of merging into Your spiritual effulgence, nor do I wish to meditate upon Your localized aspect of Paramātmā, for I know that simply by taking shelter of You, I shall become completely peaceful and undisturbed."

Krsna Book 63:

Similarly, less intelligent men claim that there is no God, but when the manifestation of different living entities and their activities is visible, enlightened persons see You present in every atom and through the via media of Your external and marginal energies. Your unlimitedly potent activities are experienced by the most enlightened devotees, but those who are bewildered by the spell of Your external energy identify themselves with this material world and become attached to society, friendship and love. Thus they embrace the threefold miseries of material existence and are subjected to the dualities of pain and pleasure, sometimes drowning in the ocean of attachment and sometimes being taken out of it.

Krsna Book 64:

"There are many great mystic yogīs who have the eyes to see You through the Vedas and Upaniṣads. To achieve the elevated position of realizing that they are equal in quality with You, they always meditate on You within their hearts. But although such exalted saintly persons may see You constantly within their hearts, they still cannot see You face to face. Therefore I am very much surprised that I am able to see You personally. I know that I was engaged in so many activities, especially as a king. Although I was in the midst of luxury and opulence and was subject to so much of the happiness and misery of material existence, I am so fortunate to be seeing You personally. As far as I know, when one becomes liberated from material existence, he can see You in this way.”

Krsna Book 86:

"The curtain of yogamāyā cannot cover the eyes of the devotee of Your Lordship, but it can cover the eyes of the nondevotee. The nondevotee is unable to see You face to face, just as a person whose eyes are blocked by the covering of a cloud cannot see the sun, although persons flying above the cloud can see the sunshine brilliantly, as it is. My dear Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. My dear self-effulgent Lord, I am Your eternal servitor. Therefore, kindly order me—what can I do for You? The conditioned soul feels the pangs of material contamination as the threefold miseries as long as You are not visible to him. And as soon as You are visible by development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all miseries of material existence are simultaneously vanquished.”

Krsna Book 87:

When the living entity wants to lord it over the material energy by imitating the position of Kṛṣṇa, he is immediately captured by the material energy and, according to his desire, is offered one variety of the 8,400,000 different kinds of bodies. Although undergoing the threefold miseries of material existence, the illusioned living entity falsely thinks himself the master of all he surveys. Under the spell of the material energy, represented by the threefold material qualities, the living entity is so entangled that he is not at all able to become free unless he is graced by the Supreme Lord.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 39, Purport:

During the absence of Kṛṣṇa, the entire day would appear to the gopīs to be as unbearable as a hot day in autumn. The Lord so much appreciated this natural feeling of the gopīs that He declared His inability to repay their intense love. Lord Caitanya recommended the feeling of the gopīs as the highest mode of worship that can be rendered to the Lord. The conclusion is that the regular practice of bhakti-yoga will lead the devotee to the plane of intense love for the Lord, and that is the single qualification by which the conditioned soul is allowed to reenter the eternal life of bliss in the kingdom of God. The threefold miseries of material existence are at once nullified by intense love of God, which is the ultimate goal of cultivating the human spirit.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 7, Purport:

The Parabrahman is as much a person as the individual entities. Neither the Lord nor the living entities are impersonal. Such transcendental personalities are full of transcendental bliss, knowledge and life eternal. That is the real position of spiritual existence, and as soon as one is fully cognizant of this transcendental position, he at once surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Being, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But such a mahātmā, or great soul, is very rarely seen because such transcendental realization is achieved only after many, many births. Once it is attained, however, there is no longer any illusion or lamentation or the miseries of material existence or birth and death, which are all experienced in our present life. That is the information we get from this mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad.

Sri Isopanisad 9, Purport:

In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence. All such activities are aimed toward sense gratification. But above the senses is the mind, and above the mind is the intelligence, and above the intelligence is the soul. Thus the aim of real education should be self-realization, realization of the spiritual values of the soul. Any education which does not lead to such realization must be considered avidyā, or nescience. And to culture such nescience means to go down to the darkest region of ignorance.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

All mundane philosophers, religionists, and people in general, who are constantly suffering from the threefold miseries of material existence, can get freedom from all such troubles simply by chanting and glorifying the holy name, fame, and pastimes of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord, the Absolute Truth, is all spirit, and therefore His name, fame, and pastimes are nondifferent from Him. All of them are identical. In other words, the holy name of the Lord is the Lord Himself, and this can be understood by realization. By chanting the holy names of the Lord, which are innumerable, one can actually associate with the Lord personally, and by such constant personal touch with the all-spiritual Lord, one will become spiritually self-realized.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG Lecture Excerpts 2.44-45, 2.58 -- New York, March 25, 1966:

Other things is dangerous for him. Now, if that typhoid patient desires to eat some solid food and if somebody, out of compassion, gives him some solid food, then it is death for him because in that condition he cannot enjoy. His enjoyment is forbidden. Therefore, in our diseased condition of this bodily conception of life, if we increase our so-called enjoyment, enjoyment of the body, oh, then we shall be more and more entangled in this conditional life of material existence. If you really want freedom from this material existence and miseries of material existence, then we must minimize the bodily enjoyment. We must minimize. Just like a diseased man is given some liquid food. He is forbidden... He is forbidden to take any food because any food will aggravate his disease, but still, because he has to exist, he is given some glucose water, some barley water, some fruit juice, little.

Lecture on BG 2.49-51 -- New York, April 5, 1966:

Śrī means beauty. And bad work is just opposite. Now, good work or bad work, now, when you take your birth in a good family, when you are very much educated, very much beautiful, but still, you have to accept the, I mean to say, triple miseries of material existence. That you cannot avoid. That you cannot avoid. Because you are very rich man, you cannot avoid your death. You cannot avoid your disease. You cannot avoid your old age. Similarly, as the man who is poor man, he is also cannot, he also cannot avoid old age, he cannot avoid death, he cannot avoid disease. Similarly, the troubles of material existence is there, both in good life and bad life.

Lecture on BG 3.13-16 -- New York, May 23, 1966:

Now, if I want to get rid of this bodily encagement or the threefold miseries of material existence, then I must put myself under treatment. Just like a diseased man goes to a physician for treatment to get out of, get relief from the sufferings of the disease, similarly, our material existence consisting of threefold miseries and birth, death, old age, and diseases... If we are actually conscious for our happiness, we must make a permanent solution of these miseries. That is the mission of human life. So for making that mission fulfilled, we have got developed consciousness than the animals. That developed consciousness should not be misused only for the animal propensities of life. That is the whole thing.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

I mean, the technique of death. At the time of death, whatever you are thinking, that means you are preparing your next life like that. Therefore the whole life shall be so processed but at the same time, at the end of our life we can at least think of Kṛṣṇa. Then sure and certain you go back to Kṛṣṇa. This practice has to be done. Because unless we practice while we are strong and stout and our consciousness is right thinking. So instead of wasting time in so many things for sense gratification, if we go on concentrating on Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that means we are making a solution of all the miseries of our material existence. That is the process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 3.21-25 -- New York, May 30, 1966:

The human life is meant for realizing, self-realization. If any civilization, that is checking people's progress in the matter of self-realization, that is the most virulent type of violence because people are being checked from the natural advancement of life. This human life is the point when one has to end all the miseries of material existence. That is the aim of human life. If people are not educated to that light, if people are misled in other ways, that is the greatest violence committed to the population. And according to the scripture, they are called ātma-han. Ātma-han means the greatest violence committed to the population. And according to the scripture, they are called ātma-han. Ātma-han means suicidal, suiciding.

Lecture on BG 4.1 and Review -- New York, July 13, 1966:

We have discussed this point that our material bondage is due to hankering and lust for dominating over the resources of matter. We are, in essence, we are pure souls, but circumstantially we are now fallen in this material bondage and therefore we are undergoing threefold miseries of material existence. And the whole Bhagavad-gītā scheme is how to get out of this material entanglement and be situated in your real spiritual life of bliss, knowledge and eternal life. That is the whole scheme of Bhagavad-gītā.

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

People, they are naturally following leadership, but they do not want to follow the leadership of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Because they want immediate relief from the miseries of this world. They do not want a permanent solution of all miseries. Kṛṣṇa, if we accept the leadership of Kṛṣṇa, then in this very life we can make a solution of all the miseries of material existence.

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

Karma-jā means those who are acting here on the line of fruitive activities. Suppose... You have experienced that there are so many political leaders. They follow some particular leader, and they capture the governmental machinery, but after some time they are taken away from the scene. Just like in our country, recently, within one year, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he's also shifted away, Shastri is also shifted away. In your country, the President Kennedy is also shifted away. We do not take into account that after shifting this position, again we are going to enter into the miserable life of material existence. If we do not make a solution in present life, then we are again going to enter.

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

In Bhāgavata you will see that Ṛṣabhadeva says that "One should not become the spiritual master, one should not become the father, one should not become the mother, one should not become the husband—who cannot give relief from these miseries of material existence". It is the husband's duty also. Because the wife is under the protection of the husband, he has got so much responsibility.

Woman class and children class, they are taken in the same category. They require protection. They require protection. That is the Manu-saṁhitā. Na striyaṁ svatantratām arhati. Women should be under the protection. They should be given all protection. So the system of taking... Just like the Hindu system is... Just like a girl. Before attaining the age of puberty, she is handed over to a suitable boy to take charge before she gets youthful energy.

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

Suppose you'll learn something to play wonderful. What you'll do with that? How it will help you? Your problem is how to get out this, get out of this material entanglement. Suppose if you play something wonderful in the... There are so many wonderful men here. They are showing. So a man who is after Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they are not after these wonderful things. Because they know it perfectly well that "All this display will not save me." What is that? If I get anything I desire? That may be something wonderful for you, but how do I benefit. Oh, what I want here? I want simply to get myself, get free from these miseries of material existence. That can be done only by Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 8.28-9.2 -- New York, November 21, 1966:

Jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitam. Vijñāna-sahitam means this knowledge is not theoretical, but it is scientific. Whatever knowledge we get from Bhagavad-gītā, we should not think that it is sentimentalism or fanaticism. No. They're all vijñānam, science. Jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ yaj jñātvā: "If you become well versed in this confidential part of knowledge, then the result will be mokṣyase aśubhāt." Aśubhāt. Aśubha means inauspicious. Our stage of life, our existence in this material world, is aśubha, inauspicious, always miserable. Mokṣyase: "You shall be liberated from this miserable life of material existence if you understand this knowledge."

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

So here Kṛṣṇa says, kaunteya pratijānīhi: "Please declare in the world that anyone who has taken to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness will never be destroyed. He will never go back again to that material life of sense gratification and pull on this material existence full of miseries. He will be taken out. He will be taken out sooner or later. As he has taken to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will be never destroyed." Our destruction is... You always remember: our destruction means material existence is the destruction of our spiritual existence.

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

Self-realization does not mean something humbug. Self-realization means to understand his real constitutional position, what I am. Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī approached Śrīla Gaurasundara, Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He asked, ke āmi: "Who I am?" Ke āmi... Ke āmi, kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya: "What is my constitutional position? Why I am suffering the three-fold miseries of this material existence?" This is the enquiry. Everyone is suffering. Somebody is in ignorance. Although he is suffering, he is thinking that he is very well. This is called māyā. Māyā means you are accepting something which is not. This is called māyā. Mā yā: "What you are accepting, that is false." This is called māyā.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 5.5.10-13 -- Vrndavana, November 1, 1976:

This is the position. And Kṛṣṇa says, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ. And similarly down, there are different lokas—Tala, Atala, Talātala, Vitala, Sutala, like that. This is the constitution. But here Ṛṣabhadeva says that anywhere you go, the threefold miseries of material existence, that will continue. You cannot get free. Even Brahmaloka, the Brahmā, he is subjected to die. He is also undergo the principles of death, and what to speak of others. Nobody will exist here. Ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16).

Lecture on SB 7.6.16 -- New Vrindaban, June 30, 1976:

The real vidvān is one who tries to understand his own position within this material world. For example, when Sanātana Gosvāmī submitted to the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his first question was 'ke āmi', 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya'. In other words, he wanted to know his constitutional position and why he was suffering from the threefold miseries of material existence. This is the process of education. If one does not ask, "Who am I? What is the goal of my life?" but instead follows the same animal propensities as cats and dogs, what is the use of his education? As discussed in the previous verse, a living being is entrapped by his fruitive activities, exactly like a silkworm trapped in its own cocoon.

Lecture on SB 11.3.21 -- New York, April 13, 1969:

The whole Vedic instruction is just to deliver all suffering humanity from the threefold miseries of material existence. That is the aim and object of Vedic civilization. That means this human form of life is meant for finishing all kinds of troubles. That should be the effort of human being. Actually, they are doing so. Everyone is trying to minimize the miseries of life and get happiness of life. That is the impetus of all activities. But unfortunately, they do not know how to do it.

Festival Lectures

Janmastami Lord Sri Krsna's Appearance Day -- Montreal, August 16, 1968:

So Lord Kṛṣṇa for this reason has appeared. He wants to call the conditioned souls back to Godhead. He wants us to realize that He is the source of the whole universe, He is the owner of the universe, He is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme knower of everything, and that we are always welcome to associate with Him by the grace of His devotees, by the grace of a spiritual master. And so He has appeared, and we are now celebrating the Janmāṣṭamī day, the day when Lord Kṛṣṇa came to this conditioned plane out of His own transcendental power, with His full spiritual potency, in order to reveal the supreme nature of sac-cid-ānanda vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1), eternal knowledge, consciousness, and bliss, to all the conditioned souls so that they might be attracted to Him, and so that they might come out of the miseries of material existence and of ignorance.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Lecture -- Gainesville, July 29, 1971:

So as soon as we shall require any material things, the Kṛṣṇa will give us opportunity. But that is not very good proposal. In the material life, either your very rich man or demigod, or in the higher planetary system, or as insect or any royal person anywhere, the threefold miseries of material existence there must be. Every intelligent man should be aspiring for Kṛṣṇa only and should be satisfied as Kṛṣṇa likes him to do. That's all. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. You try to understand. Take to it. You'll be happy. That is our proposal.

General Lectures

Press Release -- Los Angeles, December 22, 1968:

I shall speak. Record it. "Manifesto of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness." The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is a movement aiming at the spiritual reorientation of mankind through the simple process of chanting the holy names of God. The human life is meant for ending the miseries of material existence. Our present-day society is trying to do so by material progress. However, it is visible to all that in spite of the extensive material progress, the human society is not in peaceful condition. The reason is that a human being is essentially a spirit soul. It is the spirit soul which is the background of development of the material body. However the materialist scientist may deny the spiritual existence in the background of the living force, there is no better understanding than accepting the spirit soul within the body.

Lecture at Boys' School -- Sydney, May 12, 1971:

This struggle for existence of the human being is due to his lack of knowledge of God. He does not know how God is great. There is no educational institution all over the world to discuss this subject matter, how God is great, how He is omnipotent, how I am servant of God. These things are not discussed. But when we forget our relationship with God we become subjected to the threefold miseries of material existence. Take for example... Just like an Australian citizen. He is under the laws of the state of Australia. But if he says, "I don't care for the government," he becomes lawless, and sometimes he becomes criminal, and he is put into the prison life.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Sri-Sri-Gurv-astakam -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1969:

They are planning to be very comfortable in this material existence, but they are still more being confused and failure. That peace movement, that United Nation movement, everything is failure. Why? These miseries of this material existence cannot be stopped by any material means. One has to take shelter of spiritual means. Just like the blazing fire in the forest has to wait for the cloud in the sky, similarly, one has to wait for the merciful cloud as the spiritual master. That is described. Trāṇāya kāruṇya-ghanāghanatvam, prāptasya kalyāṇa-guṇārṇavasya **. So the spiritual master is not self-made. It is not that if anyone comes before you and bluffs you that "I have attained spiritual perfection, and I have realized something by some method." No. The spiritual master, bona fide spiritual, means he has to receive the power from authority.

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to R. Prakash -- Allahabad 22 June, 1951:

According to Vedic scriptures the present age is called Kali-yuga and almost all human beings are now degraded to the standard of the mode of ignorance and therefore the greater number of population are subjected to the pangs of the threefold miseries of material existence in the most horrible manner.

In such rabid condition of human being the panacea is "Krishna sankirtana" recommended in all scriptures. By this process, the forgetfulness of human being of his eternal relation with Godhead, is removed altogether.

Letter to Sir -- Delhi 15 April, 1961:

Present advancement of material civilization, in the opinion of the Indian sages, is going in the wrong way because it has neglected the spiritual side of human constitution. All living beings are spiritual sparks covered by material encagement. In his pure spiritual form a living being eternal, cognizant and blissful, but being covered by matter he is suffering threefold miseries of material existence.

The human form of life is the highest developed stage in the evolutionary process and thus a civilization based on spiritual culture is the right type of human civilization.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Makhanlal -- Seattle 21 October, 1968:

I am very glad to learn that your Sankirtana party in San Francisco is doing very well, and similarly you will be pleased to know that here Sankirtana, led by Jayananda and Tamala Krishna, they are also doing very nice. Average, they are collecting about $50 a day, and selling about 50 to 75 copies of Back to Godhead. Similarly, you also try to sell copies of Back to Godhead. This is propaganda. If we can sell some copies of our publications, books and literature, and we can maintain our establishment, somehow, we shall think it is a great success. We don't want anything more. Neither we want any big bank balance. Our mission is that people should understand their relationship with Krishna, and thus let him become Krishna Consciousness so that he may be relieved from the three-fold miseries of this material existence.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Gargamuni -- Tittenhurst 18 October, 1969:

We shall always pray to Krishna that we are weak and Maya is very strong. So seek for His protection in every step so Maya may not inflict upon us her trident injuries. Perhaps you have seen the picture of Durga carrying the trident in her hand, which is a symbol of the 3-fold miseries of material existence. Maya's most attractive feature is women and money. We Krishna Conscious men have to deal with women and money in course of preaching work, and the only prophylactic measure to save us is not to accept them for our sense gratification. Then we shall remain strong enough. Materialistic people take everything for sense gratification and Krishna Conscious people take everything for Krishna's satisfaction. There is no fault in the thing as it is; namely women and money, but it becomes faulty by improper use.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Tarun Kanti Ghosh Babu -- New Delhi 11 March, 1974:

So bhakti is such a nice think. Bhakti is transcendental. When one is situated in bhakti life his mission of life is successful. That is called "ceto darpana marjanam bhava maha davagni nirvapanam (CC Antya 20.12)." Everyone of us is suffering from the three fold miseries of material existence. Coming to the platform of bhakti, pure devotional service, one immediately ceases the blazing fire of material existence. That is the effect of Sri Krishna Sankirtana. The whole world is in chaotic condition without understanding this philosophy.