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What is meant by madness?

Expressions researched:
"What is meant by madness"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Just as don't you see all these people of the world, they are mad? What they are doing? They whole day the cars going on this side, that side. What is the aim of life? They're mad. Simply wasting petroleum, that's all.
Lecture on BG 2.27-38 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1968:

Jaya-gopāla: There are six things such as anger, lust, false pride, envy. What are the other two? I've heard...

Prabhupāda: Illusion and enviousness. Kāma, krodha, lust, lust, anger, lust is also. Kāma krodha lobha moha mātsarya and mada. Mada means illusion, mātsarya. First thing is kāma—lust; second krodha—anger; third—greediness. Kāma krodha lobha moha—illusion; mada—madness. Kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada... mātsarya—enviousness. These are six. So anything more?

Jaya-gopāla: What is meant by madness?

Prabhupāda: Just as don't you see all these people of the world, they are mad? What they are doing? They whole day the cars going on this side, that side. What is the aim of life? They're mad. Simply wasting petroleum, that's all. What they're doing? Huh? Suppose a cat and dog goes this side and that side, yow, yow, yow, and he goes some motorcars. What is the difference? There is no difference because the aim of the life is the same. Therefore they are mad. That is explained. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti (SB 5.5.4). Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ, pramattaḥ means mad. Prakṛṣṭa rūpeṇa mata, sufficiently mad. And why? Kurute vikarma. They're acting which they should not act. They're acting in a way in which they should not have done. So what is the aim of their acting? Indriya-prītaya, simply for sense gratification. That's all.

So Ṛṣabhadeva says, na sādhu manye, "This is not good." Na sādhu manye yato ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ. These madmen do not know that this is the cause of getting this miserable material body. The sufferings of humanity is due to this material body and the cause of vikarma, acting for sense gratification. So this life is meant for acting for liberation, but they are acting for sense gratification. Therefore they are mad. They do not know the aim of life. Life after life, they are working. The cat's life, the dog's life, the horse life, the man's life or even demigod's life, simply for sense gratification. And so long he will continue these activities of sense gratification, he will have to accept some sort of material body in the 8,400,000 of species either as demigod or as dog. So this is going on. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva (CC Madhya 19.151). They are encircling or circumambulating in this cycle of birth and death. Out of many, many millions of such persons, if one is fortunate, he comes in contact with Kṛṣṇa's representative, and by which he becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, and his life becomes sublime. So this is madness. Simply for sense gratification. They have no other business. This is madness. What do you think? This is not madness?

Devotee: We see it every day.

Prabhupāda: Yes. There is no difficulty to find out a madman. Any man you find out, he's a madman. And that is medical version also. That is medical version. In India, there was a case. A man was murdered, and the criminal lawyer pleaded that he was in madness. So the expert medical practitioner was invited and he was asked to examine whether this man is in madness. So he said that "So far my experience goes, I have studied, every man is a madman, more or less." Every man in the material concept of life is a madman because he does not know his identification. Therefore he's a madman. Piśācī pāile yena mati-cchana haya. Just like a ghostly-haunted man. His father is standing before him and he's calling the father by ill names, because he's ghostly-haunted. Similarly, a living entity who is entrapped by this material energy, illusion, he's a madman. And the whole treatment is to get out of this disease of madness, misidentification, misconception of life. So it is not difficult to find out a madman. Any man is a madman. Yes?

Page Title:What is meant by madness?
Compiler:Mangalavati, Rishab
Created:20 of Mar, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1