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Natural function

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Preface and Introduction

A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord.
BG Preface:

People in general, especially in this Age of Kali, are enamored by the external energy of Kṛṣṇa, and they wrongly think that by advancement of material comforts every man will be happy. They have no knowledge that the material or external nature is very strong, for everyone is strongly bound by the stringent laws of material nature. A living entity is happily the part and parcel of the Lord, and thus his natural function is to render immediate service to the Lord. By the spell of illusion one tries to be happy by serving his personal sense gratification in different forms which will never make him happy. Instead of satisfying his own personal material senses, he has to satisfy the senses of the Lord.

BG Chapters 1 - 6

If the soul is engaged in his natural function of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever he is able to do is good for him.
BG 3.5, Purport:

It is not a question of embodied life, but it is the nature of the soul to be always active. Without the presence of the spirit soul, the material body cannot move. The body is only a dead vehicle to be worked by the spirit soul, which is always active and cannot stop even for a moment. As such, the spirit soul has to be engaged in the good work of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; otherwise it will be engaged in occupations dictated by illusory energy. In contact with material energy, the spirit soul acquires material modes, and to purify the soul from such affinities it is necessary to engage in the prescribed duties enjoined in the śāstras. But if the soul is engaged in his natural function of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever he is able to do is good for him.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 2

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.12), the modes of nature act under His direction only, and as such no natural functions are blind or automatic.
SB 2.1.33, Purport:

The Personality of Godhead is not a dead stone, nor is He inactive, as is poorly thought by some schools. He moves with the progress of time, and therefore He knows all about the past and future, along with His present activities. There is nothing unknown to Him. The conditioned souls are driven by the reactions of the modes of material nature, which are the activities of the Lord. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.12), the modes of nature act under His direction only, and as such no natural functions are blind or automatic. The power behind the activities is the supervision of the Lord, and thus the Lord is never inactive as is wrongly conceived.

A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the supreme whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body.
SB 2.3.10, Purport:

Akāmaḥ is one who has no material desire. A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the supreme whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body. Desireless means, therefore, not to be inert like the stone, but to be conscious of one's actual position and thus desire satisfaction only from the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this desirelessness as bhajanīya-parama-puruṣa-sukha-mātra-sva-sukhatvam in his Sandarbha. This means that one should feel happy only by experiencing the happiness of the Supreme Lord. This intuition of the living being is sometimes manifested even during the conditioned stage of a living being in the material world, and such intuition is expressed in the manner of altruism, philanthropy, socialism, communism, etc., by the undeveloped minds of less intelligent persons.

SB Canto 4

To give birth to a child is the natural function of a woman, and therefore a woman becomes more and more beautiful as she gives birth to one child after another.
SB 4.24.12, Purport:

Generally a woman becomes more beautiful when, after an early marriage, she gives birth to a child. To give birth to a child is the natural function of a woman, and therefore a woman becomes more and more beautiful as she gives birth to one child after another. In the case of Śatadruti, however, she was so beautiful that she attracted the whole universe at her marriage ceremony. Indeed, she attracted all the learned and exalted demigods simply by the tinkling of her ankle bells. This indicates that all the demigods wanted to see her beauty completely, but they were not able to see it because she was fully dressed and covered with ornaments.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of mayā, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task.
CC Adi 8.78, Translation and Purport:

Actually Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is not my writing but the dictation of Śrī Madana-mohana. My writing is like the repetition of a parrot.

This should be the attitude of all devotees. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead recognizes a devotee, He gives him intelligence and dictates how he may go back home, back to Godhead. This is confirmed in Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā (10.10):

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te

"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." The opportunity to engage in the transcendental loving service of the Lord is open to everyone because every living entity is constitutionally a servant of the Lord. To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of mayā, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task. But if he places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone's heart, dictates how to serve Him (dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam). The Lord gives this direction, and thus the devotee's life becomes perfect.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Practically that is real silence. If you simply engage yourself in activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then automatically your activities in māyā become silent.
Lecture on BG 3.1-5 -- Los Angeles, December 20, 1968:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Purport: "This is not a question of embodied life. It is the nature of the soul itself to be always active. The proof is that without the presence of the spirit soul there is no movement of the material body. The body is only a dead vehicle to be worked by the spirit soul and therefore it is to be understood that the soul is always active and cannot stop even for a moment. As such, the spirit soul has to be engaged in the good work of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise it will be engaged in the occupations dictated by the illusory energy. In contact with material energy, the spirit soul acquires material modes, and to purify the soul from such affinity it is necessary to engage it in the prescribed duties enjoined in the śāstras, or scriptures. But if the soul is engaged in his natural function of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever he is able to do is good for him."

Prabhupāda: Practically that is real silence. If you simply engage yourself in activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then automatically your activities in māyā become silent. Just like the same example I have given. Here is a glass. If you want to fill up with milk, the water will go automatically. You have to throw away the water. You cannot put the water and the milk at the same time in this glass. Similarly, if you become active in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you automatically become silent in material activities. Without any separate endeavor. It is so nice. And if you try artificially to stop, to become silent from material activities, it will not be possible. You may meditate for fifteen minutes or for fifteen hundred minutes or fifteen thousand years, it will not be possible. The mind is very strong. Mind's business is to accept and reject, accept and reject. You accept something, you reject something.

The function of the living entity, the original, natural function is to render service. And when the service is misused, it is rendered where we, where the service should not be rendered, when it is misused, that is called dharmasya glāniḥ. That means discrepancies in the natural function of human life.
Lecture on BG 4.6-8 -- New York, July 20, 1966:

And another mission is to establish what is real religion, what is religion. In the name of religion, so many things are going on, but the real religion is that we must know that our natural function is to render service to the Lord. That's all. That is real religion. And forgetting this, forgetting this principle of life, under designation of this matter, I am serving, giving my service to so many things. That, my, because I am naturally...

Now, just like you take the knife. Now, what is the function of knife? Knife's function is to cut. You can cut a pencil and you can cut your throat. The function of the knife is nothing, but when you cut a throat, then the knife becomes polluted, but when you... (drunk talking and whistling in background) When you... (drunk goes on talking and whistling) Don't disturb. Sit down.

Similarly, the function, the function of the living entity, the original, natural function is to render service. And when the service is misused, it is rendered where we, where the service should not be rendered, when it is misused, that is called dharmasya glāniḥ. That means discrepancies in the natural function of human life.

So when Lord comes, He has three functions. He gives protection to the saintly persons. He vanquishes the, I mean to say, irresponsible or irreligious or demonic persons, and He establishes the real religion, real religion. Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge. He comes down not only once, but He comes down many, many times, many, many times. Because the, this material world is such.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

They say there is no God, but how these things, the natural functions, are being performed strictly, without any deviation?
Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- Los Angeles, August 20, 1972:

The sun is so big, fourteen hundred thousand times bigger than this earth, and so powerful, blazing fire. You know, those who are scientific men, they know, the sun has got his orbit, and little deviation from the orbit can turn the whole world into snow, and turn the whole world into blazing fire. Where is our scientist friend? Is it not a fact? (Svarūpa Dāmodara makes reply) Yes. It is running under certain orbit exactly, because a little deviation from the orbit will create havoc, catastrophe. Immediately. Either fire or snow. So under whose order the sun is so strictly following the demarcation? Such a big body. Our, in our practical experience, if he has got heavy body, he moves like this. He's not steady. But such a huge body is exactly... According to astronomical calculation, they calculate, some one ten-thousandth part of a second, in this way.

So we have to study this, under whose order... They say there is no God, but how these things, the natural functions, are being performed strictly, without any deviation?

Your natural function is to serve Kṛṣṇa. That's all. You have no other business. That is dharma. No other business.
Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969:

Everyone has got some natural symptom. That is dharma. According to Sanskrit meaning, that is dharma. Just like this light is a substance. What is his dharma, religion? To give light, to illuminate. So without illumination, there is no meaning of light. Similarly, your dharma, what is your religion? Your religion is to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is your religion. Now you serve in a different way according to time, circumstances, country. That is a different thing. But your religion is to serve God. That is your religion. Jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately gives you the definition of religion, or your occupation, natural duty, natural function. Always mind that. Just like the light's natural function is to give illumination. Prakāśa. Similarly, your natural function is to serve Kṛṣṇa. That's all. You have no other business. That is dharma. No other business. When we understand this convincingly, then we are situated in our religion. Just like Kṛṣṇa said. In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā He says, dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. Just to reestablish religion. Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. People forget. Nature's, material nature's function is that, to put you into illusion always.

First of all you try to protect yourself, then take to real religion, natural function of the ātmā.
Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969:

So I have to convert from this servitorship to Kṛṣṇa's servitorship. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, dharma-saṁsthāpana. This is dharma. Saṁsthāpana. What dharma, what kind of religion Kṛṣṇa established? He said that "I incarnate to establish religion." He never came to establish Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muhammadan religion or Buddha religion. He established real religion. What is that real religion? Sarva-dharmān parityajya: (BG 18.66) "You give up all these nonsense, so-called religion and faith. You simply surrender unto Me." That is religion. That is real religion. All other, any other religion which does not teach how to surrender unto God, that is pretension. That is not religion. According to Vedic understanding, this is religion. This is natural function.

So, ātmānaṁ sarvato rakṣet tato dharmaṁ tato dhanam.(?) First of all you try to protect yourself, then take to real religion, natural function of the ātmā. Then try to... Because we are in this material condition, we require economic development also. So that is very easy also. Kṛṣṇa has given you enough land—you just little work. The animals are there. The cows will give you milk. If you till a little land, you get some grains. That is sufficient. Economic development. You don't require big factories, big workshop, and whole day and night with motorcar going this way and that way. No. There is no necessity for economic development. This is māyā.

A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the supreme whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being.
Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:

Bhakti-yoga is especially stressed here as the means of all perfection. In the previous chapters it has been stated that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of both karma-yoga and jñāna-yoga, and in the same way in this chapter it is emphatically declared that bhakti-yoga is the ultimate goal of the different varieties of worship of the different demigods. Bhakti-yoga, thus being the supreme means of self-realization, is recommended here. Everyone must therefore seriously take up the methods of bhakti-yoga, even though one aspires for material enjoyment or liberation from material bondage.

Akāmaḥ is one who has no material desire. A living being, naturally being the part and parcel of the supreme whole puruṣaṁ pūrṇam, has as his natural function to serve the Supreme Being, just as the parts and parcels of the body, or the limbs of the body, are naturally meant to serve the complete body. Desireless means, therefore, not to be inert like the stone, but to be conscious of one's actual position and thus desire satisfaction only from the Supreme Lord.

The modern so-called scientists, they say, "There is no demigod. There is no God. This is all natural function." That's all right. Nature is working. But nature is matter. Matter cannot work without the direction of the living being. You cannot say matter works independently. That is not possible.
Lecture on SB 3.25.42 -- Bombay, December 10, 1974:

So mad-bhayād vāti vāto 'yam. These are the very strong sources of fearfulness. If there is cyclone, it is very fearful. It is going on very nicely, but if it is a big cyclone, then it is fearful. So there is necessity of cyclone also. There is necessity of scorching heat. There is necessity of rainfall. So there are different directors and officers, and they are all servant of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta says, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa āra saba bhṛtya (CC Adi 5.142). The only master, supreme master, is Kṛṣṇa, and all others, they are bhṛtya, servant. The demigods, the demigods, they are all servants of Kṛṣṇa. Demigods there are: Sūrya, Candra, Vāyu, Varuṇa, and Bṛhaspati, so many, thirty-three crores of demigods. They have got different planets. But all of them are servants of Kṛṣṇa. Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). The modern so-called scientists, they say, "There is no demigod. There is no God. This is all natural function." That's all right. Nature is working. But nature is matter. Matter cannot work without the direction of the living being. You cannot say matter works independently. That is not possible.

So our natural function is, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). This is our constitutional position, that we are eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa, or maidservant of Kṛṣṇa, as you say.
Lecture on SB 6.1.43 -- Los Angeles, July 24, 1975:

So anyone who has come within this material world, everyone is thinking, "I am puruṣa. I am enjoyer." That is sinful. That is... Just like if a woman artificially dresses herself as a man, that is not very good business. That is not appreciated. So our position is that we are actually maidservant of Kṛṣṇa, but here, in the material world, we are trying to become puruṣa, or enjoyer. This is our disease. That is sinful. That is sinful. Suppose if a woman dresses like man... Of course, nowadays it is very fashionable to have coat, pant, like the... So that is not very, liked very much. It is artificial. So anything artificial we do, that is sinful. This is the description of sin. What is sin? You, if you act naturally, that is good; but if you act artificially, that is sinful. This is the distinction between sinful activities and pious activities. So our natural function is, as described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera 'svarūpa' haya nitya kṛṣṇa dāsa (Cc. Madhya 20.108-109). This is our constitutional position, that we are eternally servant of Kṛṣṇa, or maidservant of Kṛṣṇa, as you say. But we are trying to become master. So that is sinful. So we are creating so many positions, situations, "How I can become the master." Kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare, pasate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare. The living entity, forgetting his real position as maidservant of God or servant of God, when he wants to enjoy this material world, that is māyā. Māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare. Immediately. That is sinful.

People are actually hankering after this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement because it is the natural function of the living entity. It is not artificial.
Lecture on SB 7.9.8 -- Hawaii, March 21, 1969:

So things have to be organized. People are actually hankering after this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement because it is the natural function of the living entity. It is not artificial. The very, I mean to, vivid example are yourselves. Your contact with me is, utmost, for the last two years, but still, you are taking very serious interest in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Why? Because it is the fundamental necessity. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Every living entity is by nature joyful, spiritually, and because he is materially covered, his joyfulness is hampered. That is the real position. Feverish condition, one becomes sick, attacked by fever—his joyfulness goes away. He becomes sick. Similarly, our natural position is joy. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt. Kṛṣṇa is joyful. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa; therefore I must be also joyful. That is natural. If my father is black, then I am also black. If my mother is black, I am also black. So our father, the supreme father Kṛṣṇa, is joyful. Don't you see Kṛṣṇa's attitude? Anywhere you see, Kṛṣṇa is joyful. He is not engaged in some industrial work or in some heavy machine making. He is simply playing on His flute. You see? And Rādhārāṇī is there. That is joyful nature.

General Lectures

You are hankering after satisfaction, full satisfaction. That full satisfaction can be obtained only when you love God. That is the natural function. It doesn't matter whether you are following Christianism or Hinduism or Muhammadanism.
Lecture to College Students -- Seattle, October 20, 1968, Introduction by Tamala Krsna:

The Bhāgavata gives you indication, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje (SB 1.2.6). That is the first-class system of religion, which trains you to love God. And if you have developed that tendency to the fullest extent, to love God, then you are perfect man. And then you will feel perfection within yourself. Yayātmā suprasīdati. You are hankering after satisfaction, full satisfaction. That full satisfaction can be obtained only when you love God. That is the natural function. It doesn't matter whether you are following Christianism or Hinduism or Muhammadanism. Just try to understand how much you have developed your God consciousness to love God. Then in your any religion is nice, very nice. Otherwise it is simply waste of time.

We are trying to expand our feeling socially, communally or nationally or internationally or universally or some way or other. This is going on. We try to do it. That is our natural function, especially in the human form of life—expanded consciousness, broader consciousness.
Lecture to International Student Society -- Boston, December 28, 1969:

You have heard the word mahātmā. That is a Sanskrit word, or Indian word, which is applied to a person whose mind is expanded, whose feelings, the circle of his feelings, is very expanded. He is called mahātmā. Mahā means big or great, and ātmā, ātmā means soul. Who has expanded his soul very wide, he is called mahātmā. So this Bhagavad-gītā gives the definition of the person who has expanded his feeling very wide. Who is that? It is said there, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). We are trying to expand our feeling socially, communally or nationally or internationally or universally or some way or other. This is going on. We try to do it. That is our natural function, especially in the human form of life—expanded consciousness, broader consciousness. We try, we try to do some service to the whole humanity, to society, to the country. That is expanded consciousness. But Bhagavad-gītā says that bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. Bahu means many, and janma means birth. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante: at the end of. At the end of many, many births. Perhaps you know that we believe the theory—not theory, the fact—of transmigration of soul. We are changing bodies one after another. There are 8,400,000's of different species of life, and we are evolving. And at last we come to this form, human form of life. This is also called bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (BG 7.19). After many, many births. Labdhvā su-durlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte.

Philosophy Discussions

The thing is that these people, they do not understand what is religion. Religion you cannot avoid. That is characteristic. Just like we gave several times this example, that everything has got a particular characteristic. Just like salt, salt is never sweet, and sweet is never salt. It has got a characteristic.
Philosophy Discussion on Carl Gustav Jung:

Hayagrīva: But he feels that socialism or Marxism, Communism, cannot possibly replace religion in the proper traditional sense.

Prabhupāda: No, it is not religion. It is simply mental speculation—how to adjust material things. It will never be able to adjust it. That is their simply imagination. It will all fail at the ultimate end.

Hayagrīva: He says, "A natural function which has existed from the beginning like the religious function cannot be disposed of with rationalistic and so-called enlightened criticism."

Prabhupāda: The thing is that these people, they do not understand what is religion. Religion you cannot avoid. That is characteristic. Just like we gave several times this example, that everything has got a particular characteristic. Just like salt, salt is never sweet, and sweet is never salt. It has got a characteristic. A chile is pungent. Similarly, living entity, we are..., what is our characteristic? Our characteristic is to render service. Either you take Communism or this "ism" or that "ism," your real characteristic to render service, that will not change. The, in the capitalist country they are asking people that "You work in the factory and work for me, and whatever I say, you do," and the same thing is being dictated by the Communist leaders. Where is the difference? There is no difference, but it is only difference of nonsensical idea. Therefore a mass of people, they have to render service, either to Mr. Lenin or Mr. Roosevelt, it doesn't matter. He has to render service. But both the services are not being profitable to the mass of people. Therefore we suggest following the footprints of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that you serve Kṛṣṇa. Service is your essential duty, but because your service is wrongly being executed, you are not happy. But if you render your service to Kṛṣṇa, that is natural and you will be happy. So our Kṛṣṇa conscious men, they are happy when rendering service to Kṛṣṇa, or God. So individually or collectively, if every state, every individual person renders service to Kṛṣṇa, then that is perfect stage of life. He has to render service to somebody, but because it is misplaced, he is never happy, but when the service is rendered to Kṛṣṇa, then he will be happy. Service you have to render, without any failure, but he does not know where to render service. That is the difficulty. Communist dictating, "You, sir, render service to me," and the capitalist dictating, "Give me service, sir." But Kṛṣṇa says, "No. No service to this, no service..." Sarva-dharmān parityajya: (BG 18.66) "You simply give your service to Me, then ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo, you will become free from all sinful reaction of life." That is our position.

Page Title:Natural function
Compiler:Rati, Visnu Murti, MadhuGopaldas
Created:08 of Dec, 2008
Totals by Section:BG=2, SB=3, CC=1, OB=0, Lec=12, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:18