There are many platforms of our life. Indriyānī parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir (BG 3.42). So ordinarily we are bodily, we think, "I am this body." This is called . . . body means my senses. So civilization based on this bodily concept of life are interested only sense gratification. That is their aim of life. Indriya-tarṣaṇāt, sense gratification. And those who are disgusted with sense gratification, they go little higher on the mental platform, mental speculation, just like philosophy, poetry, like that. Gross means they are working very hard day and night for sense gratification, just like hogs and dogs.
That is stated in the śāstra. Nāyaṁ deha deho bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye (SB 5.5.1). Ṛṣabhādeva says that this human form of life is not meant for working so hard like cats and dogs. That is not recommended. Ayam deha. But the material world, people are so enchanted that working day and night they think, "I am enjoying." This is called māyā. Actually he is working day and night, and he is thinking that, "I am happy. I am making progress." This is called māyā.
So the world situation is very, very downward. Don't think that you are making progress. It is not progress. Śāstra says, parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam (SB 5.5.5). So long a human being is not interested in the subject matter of ātma-tattva, "What I am," then whatever he is doing, he is becoming defeated. He is not victorious; he is defeated. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto. Abodha-jāto. He is a rascal, fool. He does not know what is his interest. He does not know that by nature's law:
- prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
- guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
- ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
- kartāham iti manyate
- (BG 3.27)
By nature's law we have to transmigrate in so many species of life—from aquatics to plants, trees, then insect, then flies, then birds, then beast, then uncivilized human being. Then we have got this civilized form—especially those who are born in India, because in India the varṇāśrama-dharma is here.
India, Hindu . . . "Hindu" is a foreign name given by the Muhammadans. Actually our real position is followers of the varṇāśrama-dharma: four varṇas and four āśramas. This is the stepping stone for civilized life, varṇāśrama: brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; and brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa.
This system of social order, I mean to say, spiritual and material, it is so systematically done that one who follows this system, automatically he becomes at the end Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is his highest objective. Unfortunately, they do not know it. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatim hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ (SB 7.5.31). They are enchanted by the glaring materialistic . . . material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Just like we come from airport to this hotel. This city is very nice. Not only this city, I am traveling all over the world. There are very, very nice cities in Europe, America and other countries also. It is all right. You decorate this city nice, you make your life very comfortable. But if you forget Kṛṣṇa, then you are defeated. Then you are defeated. That is the instruction given by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. Yuddhyasva mām anusmara (BG 8.7). Arjuna did not stop his fighting capacity. He was a kṣatriya. And Kṛṣṇa did not encourage him that, "You should stop fighting." Rather, Arjuna was trying to stop fighting, Kṛṣṇa said: "No. You are kṣatriya. You cannot stop fighting."
So don't think that by becoming Kṛṣṇa consciousness . . . Kṛṣṇa conscious, one becomes a vagabond. No. One gentleman talked with me that "Your Vaiṣṇava philosophy has made our country coward." No. You do not know what is Vaiṣṇava. In India there were two great fights: one, the fight between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, and the another great fight was between these two, Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas. In both the fighting the hero was Vaiṣṇava. The hero, Hanumānjī, Vajrāṅgajī, who fought on behalf of Lord Rāmacandra, he is a Vaiṣṇava. And Kṛṣṇa . . . and Arjuna, who also fought on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, he is a kṣatriya. So they do not know what is Vaiṣṇava philosophy.
Vaiṣṇava philosophy means the Vaiṣṇava is ready to do anything for God's sake. That is Vaiṣṇava. It is approved by God, Kṛṣṇa, then they are ready to do anything. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. It is not that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement everything, our daily routine work, will be stopped. No. I am very glad to see that these small children are being trained here in such a far distant place from India. I thank our Bhūrijana Prabhu for his this work. But this is the aim for training them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness: brahmacārī. And if one becomes very solid in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then his further progress of life . . .
Just like I was quoting the instance of Prahlāda Mahārāja. Prahlāda Mahārāja was a devotee from the very birth, but he was a great king, he was a great ruler. Dhruva Mahārāja, he was also a devotee from the very beginning of his life, but he was a great ruler, a great king. So do not misunderstand that by accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness everything will be stopped. No. Nothing will be stopped.
Simply one has to change the consciousness. That's all. Just like Arjuna did. Arjuna was a fighter in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. He remained a fighter after hearing Bhagavad-gītā. He did not change his position as a fighter, as a kṣatriya. But in the beginning he was thinking non–Kṛṣṇa conscious. He was thinking of his personal interest, personal sense gratification. But at the end he decided to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.