If you have sex life in regulated married life, fixed-up husband and wife, then it is austerity. If you don't . . . smoking or intoxicating, we never learned it from our childhood, from our birth. From childhood, we require milk to drink and live. But we have learned by bad association or good association. Similarly, we can give up also these habits by bad association or good association.
So tapo divyam. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ śuddhyet (SB 5.5.1). "My dear boys," Ṛṣabhadeva says, "if you accept this austerity, the principles of austerity, then your existence will be purified." The same example, just a man is suffering from fever. If his fever is cured, then he gets healthy life. And when he's in healthy life, he's free to eat, move, and everything of his business. But so long he's not in healthy life, he's restricted by the physician. Similarly, our present existence, conditional life, is due to this material body.
I'll not expand my lecture, how we are suffering from this material body, but several times I have explained that this body is subjected to so many conditions. Just like adhyātmika: we have got some bodily pains, mental inequilibrium and so many things. That is called adhyātmika, pertaining to the body and the mind, suffering. Similarly, there are suffering imposed by other living entities. Similarly, there are suffering imposed by natural phenomena. So because we have got this body, we are subjected to threefold miseries of life. And we are hankering after eternal life, blissful life, life of knowledge.
If you want to attain that perfectional stage of life, which is called brahma-saukhyam—Brahman, Brahman means the greatest—then you have to follow some regulative principles of austerity so that your existence will be purified and, Ṛṣabhadeva says, then you'll be eligible to enjoy eternal life. Brahma-saukhyam anantam (SB 5.5.1). Anantam means unlimited.
We are hankering after happiness, but due to our material condition, the happiness is not eternal, neither blissful. But there is life where happiness is eternal, never disturbed. Unlimited. There is life of full knowledge, there is life of full bliss, and there is life of eternal. So our whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is targeting to that eternal brahma-saukhya, or the unlimited, great happiness. And for that, we have to prepare in this life by following a simple method, a regulative method of austerities.
So this lecture I began in Buffalo, and I am continuing that. So my request is that . . . we have got many centers. This is also center, one of the centers. We are not meant for giving you any bluff, that "You give me some fee," or "I shall give you some mantra, and whatever you like you can do, and if you meditate or do that, then you'll become one with God." These things are not our business. We are following strictly the principles of Vedas, the principles laid down by great authorities, and if we accept them, then we'll get the required perfection of life. And they are not very difficult. They are not very difficult. Just like our process is simply to chant. Simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, gradually you'll develop your spiritual life, without any pain.
So Ṛṣabhadeva says: "My dear boys," mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ (SB 5.5.2). "If you at all . . . if you are at all desirous or eager to attain that perfectional stage of life, then the path is mahat-sevā. You associate or you serve great personality who are devotees of the Lord." Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimukteḥ. Mahat means great soul. Who is great soul? A great soul is a great devotee of the Lord. That is great soul. Who has captured the Supreme Soul, he's great soul.
We are . . . we are very small. Our identity, magnitude, as stated in the Vedic literature, it is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. It is very small. You cannot even imagine. So we are very small, but we can become the greatest, almost as good as God, if we engage ourself in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.