So here, this beginning of spiritual understanding, that spirit, the Supreme Spirit, cannot be cut into pieces. Nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ. Now try to understand. We are thinking, the modern scientists, they are thinking that there cannot be any life in the sun globe. No. There is life. We get information from Vedic literature that there is life. There are also human beings like us. But they're made of fire. That's all. Because we have got teeny experience that "How in the fire a living entity can live?" To answer this problem, Kṛṣṇa says that nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ. (aside:) Why you are sitting there? You come here. Nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ. The spirit soul cannot be burned. If it would have been burned, then according to our Hindu system, we burn the body, then the soul is burned. Actually, the atheists think like that, that when the body's burned, everything is finished. Big, big professor, they think like that. But here, Kṛṣṇa says, nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ: "It is not burned." Otherwise, how it exists? Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Everything is very clearly stated. The soul does not burn; neither it can be cut into pieces. Then: na cainaṁ kledayanty āpaḥ. Neither it is moistened. It cannot be wet in touch with water. Now in the material world we find that anything, however hard it is... Just like stone or iron, it can be cut into pieces. There is separated machine or instrument. It can be cut... Anything can be cut into pieces. And anything can be melted also. It requires a different type of temperature only, but everything can be burned and melted. Then anything can be moistened, can be wet. But here it is said, na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ: neither it can be evaporated. That is eternity. That means any material condition cannot affect the soul. Asaṅgo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ.
Wet (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Just like the example is given that there is fire and the sparks are dancing, but some of the sparks fall down, from the fire falls down on the ground. So one spark falls on the water, one spark falls on the dry grass, and one spark falls on the wet grass. These are three conditions. So when we fall down from the spiritual world... As part and parcel we are in the spiritual, our position in the spiritual world. But when we fall down within this material world, we fall down in such way; some is fallen down on the water, some is fallen down on the dry grass, some is fallen on the wet grass.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
So who will be interested in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? That is mentioned here: harer guṇākṣipta-matiḥ. Kṣipta means madness. Here is a man, kṣipta, means he's mad. So there are two kinds of madness. One madness is for material enjoyment. They are also mad, pramatta. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). The material madness entangles people more and more in the process of birth and death. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has sung, anādi karama-phale paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale taribāre nā dekhi upāya. Anādi karama-phale paḍi' bhavārṇava-jale. Somehow or other, we have fallen in this material world, the ocean of nescience, bhavārṇava. Arṇava means ocean, and bhava means repetition of birth. In this ocean we have fallen. Therefore our prayer should be not for any material opulence, as we generally do. Dhanaṁ dehi rūpaṁ dehi: "Give me money or mitigate my distress." This is very lower stage of devotion, to ask something from the Supreme Lord. Ārto jijñāsur arthārthī . In the beginning, provided one is, background is pious... Because without piety nobody can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. Those who are simply acting piously, such person can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not impious person can... Therefore we shall be very, very careful about impious activities. Impious activities, we know the four legs of impious activities: illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating, and gambling. So therefore we should be very, very careful about these impious activities. You cannot make any spiritual progress by simultaneously acting impiously and at the same time... It may... Not it may—it is sure it will go. But it will go very slow. Just like if you have got dry wood, then the fire ignites very easily. And if you bring wet fuel, it takes time. Of course, as soon as there is fire, the wetness of the fuel will dry. But it will require extra energy. And if you put dry fuel, then it ignites very easily. So in order to keep us dry without being wetted by the impious activities, then spiritual progress will be very quick. We should remember that.
So anyway, we should take care of our health also. Sanātana Gosvāmī, he was suffering from itches, very much, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was embracing him. So the, the itches were wet itches. There are two kinds of itches, wet and dry. Sometimes itching spot is dry, and sometimes it is wet. After itching, it becomes wet. So Sanātana Gosvāmī's body was all covered with wet itches, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was embracing him. So the wetness, the moisture, was sticking to the body of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he felt it very much ashamed, that "I am suffering from itches, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu's embracing, and the wet thing is smearing over the body. How much unfortunate." So he decided that "Tomorrow I shall commit suicide instead of allowing me to be embraced by Caitanya Mahāprabhu." So next day Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired that "You have decided to commit suicide. So do you think this body is yours?" So he was silent. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "You have already dedicated this body to Me. How you can kill it?" Similarly... Of course, from that day, his itches were all cured and... But this is the decision, that our body, those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious, those who are working for Kṛṣṇa, they should not think that the body belongs to him. It is already dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. So it must be kept very carefully, without any neglect. Just like you are taking care of the temple because it is Kṛṣṇa's place. Similarly... We should not take overcare, but some care we should take so that we may not fall diseased.
So the mahī, the land, the land is there. Just like in America or in Australia there are so much land. In Africa, so much land lying vacant. But they do not know that this land can produce all the needs of life. Sarva-kāma-dughā mahī. Sarva-kāma, whatever you want. Actually we are getting... Just like this Western civilization has created so may slaughterhouse for eating purposes. But wherefrom they are getting? From mahī, from the land. If there is no pasturing ground, grazing ground, wherefrom they will get the cows and the bulls? That is also... Because there is grass on the land and the cows and bulls eat them, therefore they grow. Then you cut their throat, civilized man, and eat, you rascal civilized man. But you are getting from the mahī, from the land. Without land, you cannot. Similarly, instead of cutting the throat of the cows, you can grow your food. Why you are cutting the throat of the cows? After all, you have to get from the mahī, from the land. So as they are, the animal which you are eating, they are getting their eatables from the land. Why don't you get your eatables from the land? Therefore it is said, sarva-kāma-dughā mahī. You can get all the necessities of your life from land. So dughā means produce. You can produce your food. Some land should be producing the foodstuff for the animals, and some land should be used for the production of your foodstuffs, grains, fruits, flowers, and take milk. Why should you kill these innocent animals? You take. You keep them mudā, happy, and you get so much milk that it will moist, it will make wet the ground. This is civilization. This is civilization.
Sudāmā: I don't think it will take place because it is supposed to be held in a large park.
Śyāmasundara: It is very wet. Shall we go to Hawaii today?
Prabhupāda: Yes, why not? (laughter)
Devotee: Maybe we'll find a big umbrella.
He's giving very nice example—kuñjara-śaucavat. Kuñjara means elephant. In your country you don't see elephant. We are... In India, we have seen. Not nowadays. Still, there are some, but fifty years before there were many elephants. Especially the zamindars, the landlords and the native princes, they used to keep so many elephants. They used to spend for it... To keep elephant means it is very expensive job. So elephant, there is a particular type of lake where elephants are allowed to take their bath. So if anyone has not seen it, the elephant will take bath very nicely, wash the body very nicely. And as soon as he come over the land, he takes some dust from the land and throws over the body again. Immediately. In that wet body he will cover the whole body with dust. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja is giving very nice example, kuñjara-śaucavat: just like cleansing the body of an elephant. It cleanses very nicely, that's all right, but as soon as come out of the water... We have to study all these things from nature. The elephant is so big, and it is supposed to be the biggest animal. And he has got great strength, but how fool he is, just see. Just after taking bath it will cover the whole body with dust.
So, Prahlāda Mahārāja has very nicely analyzed the characteristics of the soul by twelve items: ātmā, nitya, avyaya, śuddha, eka, kṣetra-jña, āśraya, avikriya, sva-dṛk, hetuḥ, vyāpaka, asaṅgī, anāvṛta. These things I have explained in Calcutta. Again we may repeat. These are important points. The characteristic of ātmā, either ātmā or paramātmā, the same characteristics are there. Exactly like gold bar and gold particle. The chemical composition of the gold bar and the gold particle is the same. So, ātmā nitya eternal. The materialistic scientists, they have no information of the ātmā. They think that this material combination of elements evolved some living force. That is their theory. As such they think that in other planets, where the atmosphere is different, they think there is no life, because they do not know that life means presence of the ātmā, and the ātmā, the soul, can live in any condition of material existence, any condition. Even in fire the ātmā can live because according to the information we receive from Bhagavad-gītā, the ātmā is never burned even in the fire. It is never moistened in the water. It cannot be cut into pieces. These things are there. This material body can be cut into pieces, it can be burned, it can be wetted in water, but ātmā, spirit soul, is different from this body.
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
So unless we come to the standard of pure goodness, without any tinge of passion and ignorance, it is not possible, God realization. Therefore bhakti means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167), jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). Jñāna is the platform of goodness, and karma is the platform of passion and ignorance. So bhakti means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ (CC Madhya 19.167), without any material desires, devoid of, freed from all kinds of material desire and uncovered by ignorance, passion and goodness. Goodness also. To become very good man in this world, that does not mean that he is freed from this material contamination. He's contaminated by the goodness quality. Just like Arjuna. He wanted to be very good man. Kṛṣṇa said, "Now fight." He said, "Oh, how can I fight? Oh, they are my brothers, they are my grandfathers. No, no, no. Better I shall beg. I don't want this kingdom." So this is material goodness. People appreciate very much: "Oh, just see. Arjuna is giving up claim on the kingdom." But what Kṛṣṇa replied? Kṛṣṇa said, "Wherefrom you got this foolish idea?" Kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṁ viṣame samupasthitam, anārya-juṣṭam: "This is for non-Aryans, not for Aryans." So this so-called goodness, so-called gentlemanliness, has no value in the spiritual world. Spiritual world—complete love of God, without any attachment for this... So Arjuna, this goodness, means attachment for his family. That's all. He was becoming a good man. Why? Because there is attachment for his family, for his grandfather, for his brother, nephews. So, so long there is attachment for this material world, either in the form of goodness or passion or ignorance, they're all the same. In the transcendental platform... Therefore Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that in this material world, the divisions that "This is good, and this is bad," they are simply mental concoction. The same example: the stool dried up is good, and the wet is not good. Stool is stool. That's all. For a devotee, this is stool. Either it may be dried up or moist, it doesn't matter. So those who are in ignorance and passion, they're little moist, and those who are in goodness, they're dried up. But after all, it is stool. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). There is no consideration of this goodness or badness. You have to give up all material attachment. And abhorrence. Abhorrence is also another negative attachment. "I don't like this." That means I have attachment for this "don't like." You see? (break) A devotee is simply attached to the service of the Lord and... (end)
Festival Lectures
This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. (aside:) Please ask them to wait for prasādam. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti. This is the invitation. Mām eti: "He comes back to home, back to Godhead." This is the whole instruction of Bhagavad-gītā. And at the end He said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). Why you are bothering yourself, manufacturing so many plans to adjust material life? That is not possible. Here it is not possible. Here so long you are in material association, then you have to change the body. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni... (BG 3.27). Prakṛti-stho. What is that verse? Puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho 'pi...
Hṛdayānanda: Bhuñjate prakṛti-jān guṇān.
Prabhupāda: Ha. Bhuñjate prakṛti-jān guṇān. So long the living entity is in this material world, he has to associate with the different modes of material nature. The same example. Just like the fire spark falls down on the ground. So ground, they have got different situation. One situation is dry grass, one situation is wet grass, and one situation is simply ground. So similarly, there are three position: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So sattva-guṇa means if the spark falls down on the dry grass, then it ignites the grasses. So in the sattva-guṇa, prakāśa, this fiery quality is demonstrated. But if it falls down on the water, wet ground, then it is completely extinguished. Three stages. Similarly, when we come down to this material world, if we associate with the sattva-guṇa, then there is some hope of spiritual life. And if we are rajo-guṇa there is no hope, and tamo-guṇa, there is no hope. Rajas-tamaḥ. Rajas-tamo-bhāva kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye. Rajas-tamaḥ. If we associate with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa, then our desires will be lusty and greediness. Kāma-lobhādayaś ca. Tato rajas-tamo-bhāva kāma-lobhādayaś ca. And if we increase our sattva-guṇa quality, then this kāma-lobhādaya, these two things, will not touch us. We may be little aloof from kāma-lobha.
Initiation Lectures
Ten kinds of offenses, they are mentioned in the paper. You should avoid, and follow the regulative principles. Just like if you ignite fire, if the wood is dry, then the fire very quickly takes place. And if it is moist, wet, then it takes time. So, so avoiding these ten kinds of offenses and following the rules and regulation will quickly ignite the fire of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is powerful, even one is contaminated, but it will accelerate if you follow the rules and regulations and avoid the offenses. Therefore... So what are these ten kind of offenses? What is the first, first offense?
Devotee: Blaspheming the Lord's devotee?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Those who are engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord, they should never be defamed. That is the greatest offense. Then next?
So the boys and girls who are now being initiated, they are entering the path of understanding God in this way. So there are some regulative principles. I think you have explained to them that no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication. God is pure. He is the purest. Therefore if we want to approach God, we must be pure. Just like without high temperature, nobody can enter into the fire, similarly, God is the topmost temperature. We must acquire that temperature; then we can enter into the kingdom of God. So if you want to increase the temperature, you cannot pour water again on it. Just like if you have got wet wood, you cannot burn it very nicely, but if you collect dry wood, you can ignite very easily. So our material life is now saturated with all kinds of sins. The four pillars of sinful life are these: illicit sex, meat-eating and intoxication and gambling. So if we stop these voluntarily, this is called austerity, austerity, tapasya. Austerity means voluntarily accept some painful condition. So those who are habituated to all these things, namely illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling, to give up these habits, it may become little painful in the beginning. But if you practice and pray to Kṛṣṇa that He will help, it is not difficult to give up these habits. And as soon as you give up this wetting process, the sinful life, then immediately you become fifty percent purified to approach God. Then, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, you make further, further, more and more progress. And when you are completely free of all sinful reaction, then you understand God and you love him. In the contaminated stage, you are trying to love so many things, but you are frustrated. So if you can love God, then you will never be frustrated and your loving desires will be fulfilled. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We are teaching all our students how to love God. That's all right.
General Lectures
This living entity, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, how he has got this condition of material life? That can be explained in this way. Just like this fire spark. As long as it is in the fire, it is also just like fire, glowing, glowing. Only it is spark, it is glowing. But, if it falls down from the fire, then immediately it becomes extinguished. The glowing quality becomes extinguished, and there are three kinds of different position of the living entity according to the quality of this material nature he associates. Kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgaḥ asya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu. The living entity is the same, but when he comes into this material world, he associates with three kinds of material qualities, sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. So one who is in sattva-guṇa, brahminical qualification, actually, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). One who has got the brahminical qualities by work and actually in life, satya, śama, dama, titikṣa, ārjavam, jñānaṁ-vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). So he can understand. Brahma jānāti iti brāhmaṇaḥ, he can understand, so how, what is my relationship with the Supreme Lord. So similarly, one who is in the rajo-guṇa, the example is given. There is a spark. When it falls down on dry grass, the dry grass becomes blazing. Although the spark is fallen, it causes the atmosphere lighten(?). And if the spark falls on the wet ground, then it is, the sparking, the glowing quality may remain for sometime, but it will be extinguished. And if it falls down on the water, it is extinguished. Similarly, when the living entity comes to this material world, if by chance he is in the association of the goodness, he keeps God consciousness. And if he is in the association of passion, he is materially busy. And if he associates with the quality of ignorance, he becomes animals or animal-like man. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving everyone the chance of to become again (indistinct) by association of Kṛṣṇa. The same spark, that extinguished charcoal, or karma, if you put into the fire, it will be again light. Similarly this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to bring forth again the dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness in every living entity.
| Page Title: | Wet (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, MadhuGopaldas |
| Created: | 17 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=13, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 13 |