When there is miseries, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person takes the responsibility himself, and when there is happiness, it is due to Kṛṣṇa. But the materialistic person is just the opposite. When he is in miseries, he'll say, "Oh, God has put me into such miseries." And when he's happiness, his friend says, "Oh, you are now well-to-do." "Yes, you do not know how much I have worked hard." When he's happiness, he takes the credit for himself, and when he's in distress, he gives the discredit to Kṛṣṇa. "Oh, Kṛṣṇa has put me into such miserable..." But a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, when he's in distress, he'll say, "Yes, due to my misdeeds I should have suffered a hundred times more than this distress, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind, He has given me little. That's all." And when he's happiness, "Oh, it is all given by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore all the opulence should be utilized for Kṛṣṇa's service." This is the difference. He's asking, Arjuna is asking, what are the symptoms of Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Sthita-prajña. Sthita-prajña means steadfast in intelligence. So these are the difference.
Prajna means
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
Naṣṭa-prajñaḥ. The word prajña means "perfect knowledge," and naṣṭa-prajña means "one who has no perfect knowledge." One who does not have perfect knowledge has only mental speculation. By such mental speculation one falls down and down into a hellish condition of life. By transgressing the laws laid down in the śāstras, one cannot become pure in heart. When one's heart is not purified, one acts according to the three material modes of nature.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
You have to understand that you are consciousness, not this body; at the same time, you have to engage your consciousness to the supreme activities. Unless you do that, your life will not be perfect. So Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa says that,
- prajahāti yadā kāmān
- sarvān pārtha mano-gatān
- ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ
- sthita-prajñas tadocyate
- (BG 2.55)
Sthita-prajña mea... Sthita-prajña means one who is steadily situated in the platform of consciousness. Prajña means consciousness, and sthita means steadily fixed up. So this is the only..., that you have haven't got to create mental concoction to become happy. You have simply to dovetail yourself with the supreme will. There will be activities. There will be activities because your consciousness cannot be inactive. But there will be activities. That activity will be standard and without any mistake, without any flaw, because it is dictated by the Supreme. Just like a fa..., a child is given instruction to write "A." So he does not write, does not know how to write. He's doing this way, that way. The teacher says, "My dear boy, kindly do this, this way, this way, 'A.' " So, if he does it, he's nice. It is nice. Similarly, we have to engage our consciousness... There is a supreme plan, supreme plan, all over the creation of the world, supreme plan. Everything is going on under some plan.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
We have been discussing Prahlāda Mahārāja's instructions to his class fellows. Fortunately, we have got some little boys. So it is very interesting. Prahlāda Mahārāja was five years old boy, and he was preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All the boys, and Prahlāda Mahārāja himself, belonged to the atheist class, most materialist. They did not know anything beyond sense enjoyment. That's all. All the fathers of the students, classfellows of Prahlāda Mahārāja, they belonged to the atheist family. In Sanskrit language the atheist is called asura, asurian. And the persons who are God conscious, they are suras or āryans. So they belonged to the family of Assyrian(?) or asura. So Prahlāda Mahārāja is fortunately, although he is born of a father, completely atheist, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and by the grace of his mother, he became a great devotee. From very childhood, from his birth, he was a devotee. Why he became such devotee, that is explained in later chapters. We shall come to that.
So he was agitating in the school amongst his classfellows to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. So he's preaching. Just in the tiffin hour, in the recess hour, as soon as the teacher's gone, he took the opportunity and stood up on the bench and began to agitate his friends, "My dear friends," kaumāra ācaret prājñā, "now we should become Kṛṣṇa conscious from this childhood. Don't wait for your old age." Generally, people think that "When we shall become old, we shall take care of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious or God conscious or go to the church or temple. At present, let us play and enjoy life." So Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "No." Kaumāra ācaret prājñā. Prājñā means intelligent. Intelligent means who does not waste time. Time is very valuable. You are American people. You know very well how to utilize time. But time is very valuable is also accepted in Vedic civilization.
- kaumāra ācaret prājño
- dharmān bhāgavatān iha
- durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
- tad apy adhruvam arthadam
- (SB 7.6.1)
This verse we have been discussing for the last three days. So Prahlāda Mahārāja's argument is that everyone, if he is intelligent... If he's a rascal, that is a different thing. Because the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness is not meant for the rascals. It is meant for the intellectual person. Kṛṣṇa yei bhaje sei baḍa caturā. Unless one is very intelligent, he cannot be God conscious or Kṛṣṇa conscious. Therefore this word is used, prājñā. Prājñā means... Pra means prakṛṣṭa-rūpena, specifically. Jñā, jñā means a man of intellect. So Bhāgavata-dharma, what is that Bhāgavata-dharma? That I have already explained. Again we can repeat. Bhāgavata-dharma means to reestablish our lost relationship with God. This is Bhāga-vata.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja is stressing that this God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be learned from the very beginning of life. Kaumāra ācaret prājña. Prājña means one who is intelligent. So children, they have no intelligence. They have intelligence, but they have to be put into intelligence by the guardians. So if the guardian, if the father and mother is intelligent, if the teacher is intelligent, if the government policy is intelligent, then the process should be to teach the small children from the very beginning of life God consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise this world is going to hell. It has already gone and it will go. The result will be that I'll kill you, you'll kill me. So both of us will be killed. And this human form, or the facility of this human form of life, which was given to us by grace of God or by the mercy of material nature, Prahlāda Mahārāja says that "Don't misuse it. Don't misuse it like animals, simply eating, sleeping, and mating and defending."
Kaumāra means from five years to fifteen years. From sixteenth year, one becomes, one's youthfulness begins, say, up to forty years. Then middle age up to sixty years. Then after sixty years, one is old. This is the definition of different ages. So kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ. If one is intelligent, if one is wise... Prājña means wise. If he's a fool, rascal, it is not for them. Caitanya-caritāmṛta therefore says, kṛṣṇa yei bhaje sei baḍa caturā. Caturā means very intelligent. Unless one is very intelligent, he cannot understand the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if you try to find out intelligent class of men, naturally the number will be very small. If you want that in this street find out some boys who have passed their M.A. examination and Ph.D. examination, hardly you will find one or two. But if you try to find out the illiterate or without any education, you will find many. So we should not judge by the number. We should judge by the quality. What is the quality.
So what he's advising? Kaumāra ācaret prājño. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). He's advising, "My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be practiced from the childhood." From the childhood. So, why childhood? Because if one is intelligent, he says prājñaḥ... Prājñaḥ means intelligent. If one is intelligent, he can understand that "There is no certainty whether this is my childhood or old age." Because generally we think that when we are old we die. But who can say that I'm not old enough to die in the next moment? If I have to gain something supernatural which will give me the ultimate benefit of my life, then why shall I wait for old age? Immediately let us begin. If Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very nice thing and if it will give us the highest benediction of my life, then if I am intelligent, then I must begin it immediately. Without any delay. Because generally people think that childhood or youthhood should be enjoyed.
The Śaṅkarācārya he was passing on the road and he's singing. He was lamenting, what is that? Balas tavad krida sakta. Oh, all these boys are playing. Generally, when you pass a road you see the boys are playing, very much busy, and they're very jolly in playing. Bālas tāvad krīḍāsaktas taruṇas tāvad taruṇī raktaḥ. And young boys, they're after young girls. You see? Taruṇas tāvad taruṇī-rakto vṛddhas tāvad anta-magnaḥ. And the old man they are very much morose, what is to be done next. Parame brahmaṇi ko 'pi na lagnaḥ. Oh, everyone is busy. Nobody's interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual life. Everyone is busy. How they are spoiling their life! That is the version of Śaṅkarācārya. He's lamenting, that the boys, the youths, the old man, they are very happy in their materialistic way of life, but a spiritualistic man like Śaṅkarācārya or Lord Jesus Christ, they are unhappy, "Oh, what foolish things they are doing." That is the thankless task of persons who are spiritually enlightened. They can see it plain that how they are spoiling their valuable life. Simply for sense gratification.
General Lectures
This Bhāgavata-dharma should be taught to our children. There is no use of calling ourself that we are secular. What does it mean? Dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ. If you have no dharma, then what is the difference between you and the animal? You must have. That is the advice of Prahlāda Mahārāja also. Prahlāda Mahārāja appeared some millions of years ago, and he was a five-years-old boy, Vaiṣṇava. He says, kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ. Prājñaḥ means one who knows very perfectly things, prājñaḥ. Kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha (SB 7.6.1). There are different types of dharma, but he specifically mentioned dharmān bhāgavatān iha. Iha means in this life, in his human form of life. Why in this life? Durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma. This life, this human form of life, is very difficult to obtain again. You do not know what life you are going to accept next. There is no certainty, because when you die, then you cannot be puffed up that "I don't care for God, I am God." Then you are under the grip of the material nature.
Now everything has deteriorated. So we find from the history of this conversion, from the śūdra class, lower than the śūdra class, not very many from the higher class. So still, that was based on bribing, giving some social help, political help, financial help. But our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement I started in 1966. I came here with seven dollars and a few books. So it was not possible for me to bribe these educated young boys and girls. That was not possible. But they accepted the philosophy very seriously and gradually it is growing. Now there are many Indians, they are not here, but other than the Indians, they are here. So the thing is I am very glad that you take something very seriously. That is very good. So for the children also, kaumāra ācaret prājñaḥ. Prājñaḥ means one who is intelligent. He should begin learning Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the child life. That is our basic principle of this Gurukula. We are trying to generate some population fully Kṛṣṇa conscious so that they may preach in future very nicely.
| Page Title: | Prajna means |
| Compiler: | Rishab, Surabhi, Visnu Murti |
| Created: | 11 of Jan, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=9, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 10 |