According to śāstra, the effect of pious activity is that you can get birth in a very respectable, aristocratic family, you can get very nice wealthy position, you can become very beautiful, and you can become very learned. These are the four principles of pious activities, according to śāstra. And if you do just the opposite, you take your birth in abominable family or in lower, degraded animal species of life, no education, no beauty, no knowledge. There are so many things. So if you have to believe śāstra, these are the effects of bad and good works. Now for a person who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is not concerned with aristocratic family or abominable family. He wants to stop birth. So suppose one gets birth in aristocratic family or very nice family, what is the gain there? You have to live ten months within the womb of your mother in suffocated condition, either you take your birth in aristocratic family or in abominable family, either in human mother's womb or animal mother's womb. That does not make any difference.
Suffocated (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Vaikuṇṭha means where there is no anxiety. I think about this anxiety we explained to you in our last meeting. So we are, we are getting promotion. We are getting promotion to a life where there is no birth, no death and no disease, no old age. And that means we come to our normal life. Normally, we want. Nobody wants disease. Nobody wants death. Nobody wants old age. Nobody wants to suffer the suf..., I mean to say, the miseries of birth. Oh. There are great miseries when you are in the womb of the mother, all tightly packed up and in a bag, suffocated bag. We do not (know) how do we live even. And if we put again into that position, it will be very difficult. You cannot live for a few seconds. But by the arrangement of nature, or God, we live within the womb of our mother for ten months in that position. But we have forgotten. But just imagine in how much trouble I was. That is, these things are to be thought. That is intelligent thought. Now, here is a chance that you can get rid of these, all these miseries—the miseries of birth, the miseries of death, the miseries of old age and miseries of, I mean to say, disease.
Janma, birth, mṛtyu, death, and jarā, old age, and vyādhi, disease—to get out of this entanglement. Duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam. This is our real miserable condition. We have to die. We have to take birth again, and again we have to become old, and there will be disease. Between birth and death... Birth is very miserable, To remain in the womb of the mother in a packed-up stage within a bag, and... That is miserable. Biting, the worms biting tender skin. We have forgotten, but these were the miseries for birth. In suffocated condition...But we have forgotten. So forgetfulness is not solution. Closing the eyes before the enemies is no solution. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā (BG 7.14). So long you are in material condition, you have to suffer all these miseries, either you become rich man or poor man. You may become American or Indian. The miseries of birth, death, old age and disease, they are all the same everywhere, not only within this planet, but also in other planets also. Ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ. This is the intelligence. They are trying to go to the moon planet, or somebody, by karma-kāṇḍīya consideration, they are trying to go to the heavenly planet. But wherever you go, you must know that these four conditions of material life, they are present. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9).
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So the sun is our eyes, actually. Not only this planet, all the planets within this universe. Therefore it is said in the Brahma..., yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. The gāyatrī-mantra, gāyatrī-mantra, oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ, that is worshiping the sun, sun-god, savitā, savitṛ. So, yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām. Rājā samasta-grahāṇām. Just like there is king, president, similarly, the sun planet is the king of all planets. (aside:) Those who are standing, they can stand near the wall; don't block. Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtiḥ. All the demigods, they are worshiping. This gāyatrī-mantra... Yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ. Unlimited temperature, unlimited temperature. For millions and millions of years it is diffusing temperature, and if it is little more, we become, ninety millions away, ninety millions of miles away, still, little rising of temperature, we become suffocated. Aśeṣa-tejāḥ, unlimited temperature. And moving, yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ, yasyājñayā, "by whose order," bhramati, "is moving," sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ, "the orbit." Sun has got orbit. Sixteen thousand miles per second moving. But moving how? Not a little deviation. Exactly in the line. Because little deviation will cause havoc.
There are three modes of material nature: sattva-rajas-tamaḥ. Those who are in darkness, tamaḥ, completely in darkness, do not know anything. Exactly like the child does not know what is his actual interest. Know to..., not. Generally, everyone who is in this material world, he does not know what is actually, what thing he should capture. He does not know. That is the difficulty. Mūḍha. They are therefore mūḍha. Real interest is to capture Kṛṣṇa. That is real interest. But he does not know. The capturing power and capacity is there. Even a child... In the beginning, the children, there are so many other things. But the child will capture that biscuit, because he knows it is eatable something. But he does not whether it is poison I am giving. He does not know that. That discrimination he hasn't got. But because it appears something to be eatable... The example, as I was giving in walking, that the fish, he has got enough food within the ocean. God has provided. But still, he will capture that tackle, fish-catching tackle, a little something. For taste, he will capture it, and that means lost life. Similarly, the bees, the enter the flower, a big flower like lotus flower, enjoying the smell, but in the evening, with the set of sunset, the petals close and they remain and suffocated, loses their life. For... We have got different senses. So this bee is losing his life on account of this nostril, very powerful, wants to smell.
So actual civilization means to deny material conveniences. That is actual civilization. That is perfection of civilization. Otherwise the cats and dogs, they are also after food, after sleeping, after sexual intercourse, after defense. Then what is the difference? The difference is the animals after it and the human beings should be not after it. Negation. That is perfection of life. So how we can negate? The Māyāvādī philosophers, they want to negate. Or the Buddhist philosopher. "Make it zero. Make it zero." Śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi and śūnyavādi, almost the same. So they are after negation. But that is not possible. Artificially, if you negate, "I shall not eat," you cannot continue it for very many days. That is not possible. That is not possible. Similarly, eating, sleeping, mating—everything—artificially you cannot do. But you can do it as perfectly, as much possible, simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore it is said here that kim anyair asad-ālāpaiḥ. If we stop hear Kṛṣṇa talking, then that is negation. If we stop artificially these mundane talks, that will be artificial. You cannot sit down. If I say that the so-called meditation... So meditation is artificially stopping mundane activities. That is meditation. But how long you will do that? He is becoming suffocated, "When I shall talk? When I shall talk? I am meditating, meditating, meditating." But how will it stop? That is not possible. Just like these Māyāvādī philosophers, they say, "Become desireless, no more desire." That is not possible. I am a living entity. How can I be desireless? It is not possible.So this negative process will not help us, śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. It will not be helpful.
So actual civilization means to deny material conveniences. That is actual civilization. That is perfection of civilization. Otherwise the cats and dogs, they are also after food, after sleeping, after sexual intercourse, after defense. Then what is the difference? The difference is the animals after it and the human beings should be not after it. Negation. That is perfection of life. So how we can negate? The Māyāvādī philosophers, they want to negate. Or the Buddhist philosopher. "Make it zero. Make it zero." Śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi and śūnyavādi, almost the same. So they are after negation. But that is not possible. Artificially, if you negate, "I shall not eat," you cannot continue it for very many days. That is not possible. That is not possible. Similarly, eating, sleeping, mating—everything—artificially you cannot do. But you can do it as perfectly, as much possible, simply by Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore it is said here that kim anyair asad-ālāpaiḥ. If we stop hear Kṛṣṇa talking, then that is negation. If we stop artificially these mundane talks, that will be artificial. You cannot sit down. If I say that the so-called meditation... So meditation is artificially stopping mundane activities. That is meditation. But how long you will do that? He is becoming suffocated, "When I shall talk? When I shall talk? I am meditating, meditating, meditating." But how will it stop? That is not possible. Just like these Māyāvādī philosophers, they say, "Become desireless, no more desire." That is not possible. I am a living entity. How can I be desireless? It is not possible. So this negative process will not help us, śūnyavādi. Śūnyavādi. Nirviśeṣavādi. It will not be helpful.
Kṛṣṇa says the sufferings of birth... They do not understand, such fools, that what is the suffering of birth. Even if you are not killed, you have to remain compact in a vat, airtight. And the worms, they are biting. So many things. Suffocated. That is one thing. But if he can live at least for ten months, the mother does not kill, abortion, then it has got a chance to come out. Otherwise, there is no chance to come out ever. He dies within the womb, again transferred to another womb, and again it is killed. So those who are too much sinful, those who are causing these abortions, they will get this sort of life. They will never see light. One womb, killed; another womb, killed; another womb, killed; another womb, killed. This is so sinful, this abortion. And the modern civilization and the priestly order, they are passing: "If the mother selects... otherwise, there is no objection, abortion." Such foolish world is going on. You see? There are so many subtle laws of nature.
As soon as birth is taken, the māyā is there; we forget. Immediately, father, mother, other relatives, they take up the child and pats very nice. So in this way we forget that we were in such a precarious condition, almost suffocating. Almost, it is suffocating. After coming out from the womb of the mother, if you are packed up again in such airtight bag, within three seconds you will die. We live under the protection of the Supreme Lord; otherwise that is not a living condition. Just imagine within the womb. So this we forget, and being taken care of, affectionate father and mother, on the lap, we think life is very nice, this life. But this is māyā, this is illusion. Actually, this bhava, to take birth, is very, very unpleasant task. It is blazing fire, bhava-mahā-dāvāgni.
So if we can cleanse our heart during this life ... This is that opportunity. It is not possible ... When I take birth as an animal, cats and dogs, that is not possible. But as I have got now this human form of body, we should not be again misled. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni ... (CC Antya 20.12). If we can cleanse our heart, then this blazing fire of repetition of birth and death can be extinguished. But the illusory energy is so strong that we forget our last death-time miseries.
So why if they have gone to the spiritual world and stays in the Brahman effulgence and still they are māninaḥ, not certain? Yes. Why? Because they cannot stay there. This is very logical argument and statement of the Vedic literature. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ (SB 10.2.32). They fall down because they do not get ānanda. Spiritual effulgence is simply eternity. So suppose if you live eternally without any ānanda, how long you will like to live like that? Is it possible? That you cannot do. Suppose somebody lives eternally in the sky without any death. Rather, he will try to commit suicide. It is not possible. It is not possible. Just like we have got experience. If you remain for very long time—I have got experience—in the sea or in the air, you feel very uncomfortable. You want to land down, land down, another air station, another port, and feel very uncomfortable. The airplane men, they come down and they take rest on the ground. It is not our nature because it is impersonal. In the air there is no variety, simply air. Similarly, in the sea there is no variety, simply water. So it becomes suffocating. Similarly, those who are aspiring to go to the Brahman effulgence... Brahman effulgence is spiritual world, certainly, but there is no variety. There is no Kṛṣṇa's enjoying with the cowherds boys or Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. You cannot find there. You simply remain in the Brahman effulgence.
Mādhavendra Purī was a great devotee in this Gauḍīya-sampradāya, and in this Govardhana, there was Gopāla covered by dirty and jungles and trees. So the Gopāla... When Mādhavendra Purī was in Vṛndāvana, the Gopāla in dream expressed Himself, "Mādhavendra Purī, I am very much suffocated. I am covered by this dirt and jungles. Please re-excavate Me from this condition and install Me in the temple." So Mādhavendra Purī, with the help of villagers, he excavated the earth and found this Gopāla mūrti. And this Gopāla mūrti was installed by the help of the villagers very luxuriantly. For so many days there was festival. That is the way of installing Deity. At least for seven days there must be festival. So after some days, Mādhavendra Purī was informed in dream that "Since I was long within the earth, My body is very much heated. So you kindly bring some sandalwood from Jagannātha Purī and smear all over the body the pulp of sandalwood, then I shall be happy."
Jail life is for punishment. Similarly, in this material world everything is punishment, but by the illusory energy you are thinking, "This is all right." Every step there is punishment. Just study your life or my life. What is that? That beginning from the womb of my mother, when the body is formed, the soul, spirit soul, is injected in the womb of the woman, and then the formation of the body takes place. So the body grows. And now imagine when we are in the womb of the mother, how much difficult position packed up in a bag, airtight bag. If we, at the present moment, if I put into some airtight condition, within three minutes I shall die. Within three minutes. But similarly, just like packed the child remains within the womb of the mother. It is very, very painful. But by the grace of God he lives. He lives. Otherwise it is suffocating. Just imagine if you are put in a airtight box, tied up, hands and legs. How long you can live? So we remain in that condition, unconscious stage. Then, when the body is formed, we get our consciousness. Therefore at the age when the child is seven years, er, seven months old, it moves because he feels the pains. So in this way we have to remain within the womb of the mother. And when the body is formed, time is right, then by nature's way the child comes out. But he forgets that "I was in such condition. Now I am relieved." But he forgets. The mother or the father or the relative takes him. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung these different conditions. So we forget. That is spell of māyā.
It is, according to Vedic scripture, the sinful persons are taken to the superintendent of death, and there, according to his different volumes or proportion of sinful activities, a living entity is punished. The spirit soul is taken in that planet where the Yamarāja is there, and in the subtle form... Subtle form means the spirit covered in the subtle form of mind, intelligence and false ego, he is put into various trouble. Sometimes, just like we are also, even in this life, we are put into such troublesome position in dream. That is our experience. Suppose we are put into some narrow space and I am just going to be suffocated, or I am in the face of some dangerous animal, or deep into the ocean. Sometimes we dream like that. A similar punishment is given after death, and when the living being or the living entity becomes accustomed to such habit, then he is put into the womb of a certain type of animal or man where that suffering will continue. He is made into practice.
We do not understand that this deha, this body, is always kleśada. Kleśada means giving pains. For the time being, we may feel some pleasure, but actually it is a reservoir of pain, not pleasure. The example is given in this connection... Formerly, this was done by the government servants to criminal, to take a man in the middle of the river and drown him, and catching his hair, and when he's almost suffocating, then they again draw from the water and he takes little rest and again put him into the water. So that was the system of punishment. Similarly, whatever little pleasure we are feeling, that is exactly similarly the man, when he's taken from the water, that's all. Again he's to be drowned. This material world is like that.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So if you want to merge into the Brahman effulgence, it is not difficult, because you are a small particle of spiritual identity. If you don't want your individuality, you can stay in the Brahman effulgence. That is not very difficult for Kṛṣṇa, if you want to merge into the Brahman effulgence. But what is the profit? There is no profit. Suppose if you are placed in the sky, in the sunshine, and if somebody asks, "Now, you remain in the sky," would you agree? Huh? Will anyone agree that "Let me remain in the sky as a small particle of the sunshine"? No. You can agree out of some sentiment, but you cannot stay there. That is not possible. Therefore, those who merge into the existence of Brahman, impersonal Brahman, they again fall down. Just like they are going moon excursion, Mars excursion. "Stay there." They cannot stay. Because, actually, whether they are going or not—that's another thing—but there is no staying place. Simply rotating in the sky is not very pleasant thing. We have got experience in the airplane. If we go five or six hours in the planes, we become suffocated. So it is not possible. Therefore those who merge into the Brahman effulgence, they again fall down, because they have no engagement in Kṛṣṇa's business.
So daṇḍya-jane rājā yena nadīte cubāya. The example is very nice, that a culprit is drowned in the water, again taken for some time to take breathing. He was suffocating. Nature... He's not meant to be killed, but he is to be given suffering in that way. So material nature is giving us suffering, miseries like that.
General Lectures
This misconception, this misleading philosophy, that after death there is nothing, void, is killing the human civilization. Is killing practically. They do not know "What is my next life?" The next life is there. As there are, you can see so many varieties of planets, so there are lives also, different grades of lives, different standard of life. Take for example the moon planet. What do they know about moon? They are trying to reach there by some mechanical means. That is not possible. Anyway, even if it is possible, one should know what is the standard of life there. That you can get from Vedic literature. There is very vivid description. They are not ordinary human being like us. The scientist says that the temperature is 200 degree less than zero. Even here, in your Western countries, although sometimes the temperature goes down below zero, if it is below ten degree or twenty degrees, you become suffocated. So how you can go there and live in a place where the temperature is below zero degree, 200 degree below the zero? So it is not possible. Even if you go, it is not possible to live there. If you have to live, then you have to dress yourself nicely.
Ultimately, all the miseries are summarized in four things: the misery of birth... We do not... We have forgotten how much miserable condition we passed during our stay in the womb of mother, in a suffocated condition. You just imagine. Some of you might have seen the picture how the child remains within the womb of the mother. It is air-tight packed. And there are many germs who are biting the delicate skin of the child. And when the child is little grown up, at seven months, it feels too much pain. Therefore the mother can feel that the child is moving. It wants to come out, and prays... One who is fortunate, he can pray to God, "Please give me relief from this condition. This time I shall try my best not to come again in this position of life." So there is severe pain of birth. Similarly, there is severe pain during death. And for disease and old age, everyone has got experience. When you are diseased, simple, if you have got some headache... So these miseries are there always. If we forget and if we think that we are living very comfortably, this is called illusion.
We should not be illusioned. We should know that there is, I mean to say, distresses when we take birth. We have forgotten. We do not know how much suffering we had to undergo when we were within the belly of our mother. It is very miserable condition. We had to remain there in packed-up condition like this in a bag, and it is suffocating. And because we are... At that time, the skin is very tender. There are many worms and germs within the belly, mixed up with stool and urine; they bite. We have forgotten that, the actual position. Anyone who knows how a child remains within the womb of his mother... The medical profession, they also know how much it is suffocating. Suppose you are packed up in a bag... It is simply by the mercy of God, Kṛṣṇa, that we can remain in that condition. If you are put again into that condition, you will immediately die. So we have forgotten what is the distress to remain in the womb of mother. And that also, sometimes a child is killed. At the present moment, advanced civilization, pregnancy is killed sometimes. So we cannot see even light. We die within the womb of a mother and again enter another womb. And it may be we die again. So just try to understand what is the miserable condition of birth. But because we forget, we think we are very happy.
Parīkṣit Mahārāja had no time more than seven days. Therefore he finished the whole Bhāgavata hearing in seven days. The another instruction is that Parīkṣit Mahārāja had notice for seven days' duration of life, but we do not know whether seven days or seven minutes. It may be I am speaking now, immediately I can stop, because I am completely under the control of the material nature. You know perhaps that one big officer of Indian government, I think he was the Commander in Chief or something like that, he was eating in the feast in Japan, and on the table he died while eating. There was some trouble in the throat by eating fish, and some trouble was there, and he suffocated, died immediately.
So we cannot say whether we are going to live for seven days or seven minutes or seven hours. There is no guarantee. Immediately you can die. Therefore our duty is, before the next death comes, we must develop our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We must be very serious.
So actually my position is that I can go everywhere. Just like we are trying. Because I have got the desire to go the moon planet, to the Venus planet, or any other planet, and they are trying with our, scientific knowledge. But because it is gross material, we are not yet successful. But the point is that I have got the desire to go this planet, to that planet. Just like we make tour, even on this planet. We want to go this place, that place, that place. So this is natural. Therefore here in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, sarva-gataḥ. You can go anywhere, everywhere. There are innumerable universes, and there are innumerable planets of different nature. And you can go. Sarva-gataḥ, sthāṇur acalo 'yam. So according to the different features, we get... Just like the aquatics. They have got a different type of body. They can very easily and very pleasingly, they can live within the water. But if you are pushed within the water, you'll die. You'll suffocate. So by nature's way, there are different types of body. They are going to the moon planet, but to live in the moon planet, you require a different type of body. That we get information from Vedic literature.
Philosophy Discussions
Māyā, this spiritual and material conception is māyā; except māyā there is nothing. Na ghaṭetārtha-sam... Otherwise, except māyā there is no such thing as material. Na ghaṭetārtha-sambandhaḥ. It is just like the example in Bhagavad-gītā, nice example, svapna-draṣṭur ivāñjasā. Just like I am dreaming so many things, I am dreaming; there is nothing such thing, still I am dreaming. I am feeling that I am fallen in a dark well and I am now suffocating. But actually there is no well, there is no suffocation, but I'm thinking because I've fallen or I am absorbed in dream, therefore all these conceptions, material conceptions, māyā, exactly like dreaming. Dreaming, this is the best example. When one dreams he factually suffers, he is put into some dark place and he is trying to get out, he cannot get out; there is no such dark place, he has not fallen, everything is (indistinct). He is suffering, he is suffering, he is crying, "Save me." So actually there is nothing material. But due to our dreaming that I am separate from Kṛṣṇa, "I'm Mr. American, I'm Mr. Indian, I'm Mr. This, I have got this duty, I have got that duty." All this māyā. You have no other duty than to serve Kṛṣṇa because you are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, that's all. When that consciousness comes, then spiritual (indistinct). So you have to change the consciousness, that's all. (indistinct) Everything is spiritual.
Śyāmasundara: He says that happiness is a negative state. It only means a momentary suspension of suffering.
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, janme jana rage jana (Bengali). That a man is destined to be punished, he is put within the water. When he is almost on the point of suffocation, he is taken out. He feels how happy. He does not, "Oh, again I am down. Again I will be down." If I have happiness here, it is temporary relief. But if he is intelligent enough, then he will not do something which may put him into that unhappiness condition.
Purports to Songs
The body's supposed to be conducted by three elements, kapha pitta vāyu, cold, and bile, and air. So when these three elements work simultaneously, there is no disease in the body, but, as soon as there is overlapping disruption of these three elements, the body becomes diseased. And when it is not possible to bring them again in their regulative principle, a man dies. That is the verdict of Āyurveda śāstra. So death takes place when these three elements become overlapped with one another. And the symptom is that there is a sound on the throat which is called: garhh, garhh. That means the patient cannot speak. The throat is choked up and he becomes suffocated and dies. So this is the last stage, symptom of his body.
So King Kulaśekhara says that "I cannot wait up to that time when everything will be topsy-turvied. Now my mind is sound. Let me enter immediately in the stem of your lotus feet." That means he's praying: "Let me die in the sound condition of my life so that I can think of your lotus feet." In other words, he's giving us lessons that if we do not practice to engage our mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa when our mind is sound, how it is possible to think of Him at the time of death?
| Page Title: | Suffocated (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 04 of Aug, 2009 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=24, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 24 |