Nobody can say “I have no anxiety”

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.27--
New York, March 6, 1975 [Excerpt...]

Nitai: “Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead, Govinda, because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space.”

Prabhupada:desa-kalartha-yuktanihrt-tapopasamani caharanti smaratas cittamgovindabhihitani me
So this word hrt-tapa upasamani... Hrt means heart, and tapa means miseries or burning, heat. Tapa means burning heat. If there is fire and there is heat, sometimes it is intolerable. So hrt-tapa means the burning fire blazing within the heart.

So that is always. Anyone who is in this material world, he has got this disease, burning fire within the heart, anyone. That means severe anxiety, everyone. Even a small bird, he is also full of anxiety. You give him some grains. It will come. It will eat. At the same time, it will look this way, that way, this way, full of anxiety. Although there is food, he is eating, still, there is anxiety, “Somebody may come, kill me.”

So everyone is full of anxiety. That is the material nature. Nobody can say “I have no anxiety.” That is not possible. If he says like that, he is a liar. That is not possible. Is anyone here who can say that he or she has no anxiety? Of course, when you take to Krsna consciousness, there is no anxiety. That is the distinction. Anxiety there is, but to relieve this anxiety one has to take to Krsna consciousness. Otherwise not. You cannot get relief. (child says, “Prabhupada”) Yes. (laughter)

So you may say that “Sometimes we have got anxiety, and sometimes we are very nice.” So even accepting that, Arjuna says, desa-kala-artha-yuktani. Desa, kala, the time and space within this material world, and artha means purpose, everything, any time... Arjuna does not say that “sometimes.” At any time, if we are materially attached, then this hrt-tapa must be. Hrt-tapa means burning fire, blazing fire within the heart. It will continue.Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says that visaya-bisanale, diba-nisi hiya jwale. This means anyone who is engaged in these material affairs, Visaya... Visaya means material necessities. Everyone has got material necessities: ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithuna, how to eat, how to sleep, where to sleep, where to get apartment, where to secure money to get food, and how to secure sex pleasure, where it is available, man or woman, and how to defend. “I have got so much bank balance. It may not be taken away. I have got this property.”

In this way everyone is suffering. That’s a fact. Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says, visaya-bisanale, diba-nisi hiya jwale: “The heart is burning.” The same word. It is in simple Bengali, and this is in Sanskrit. Visaya-bisanale, diba-nisi hiya jwale, juraite na koinu upay. So if a man simply goes on suffering like this, then he is not a human being. Human being means if there is suffering, he must try to alleviate it, to mitigate the suffering. That is human being.That is... Nature gives us this human form of body, intelligence, that if there is danger, if there is anxiety, he tries to get out of it. The animals also do, but they cannot do very nicely. Just like animals are slaughtered. So they know when they are put into one, what is called, pound and they know that they will be slaughtered, but they have no means to get out of it. So the human being can do that. If I foresee, “There is some danger, I can make some way to get out of it.” That is human intelligence.

Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura says that “Although I had the intelligence to get out of these material anxieties, the blazing fire within the heart, but I did not take it.” And what is that? Now, hari-nama prema-dhana...Devotees: Golokera...Prabhupada: Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana, rati na janmilo kene tay. This is the remedy. Golokera prema-dhana, this hari-nama-sankirtana, chanting of Hare Krsna mantra, this sound vibration, it is not material. Suppose if I would have advised my disciples that “You chant ‘Mr. John, Mr. John, Mr. John,’ ” this movement would not have spread. (laughter) How long one can chant this “Mr. John, Mr. John”?

Therefore it is the proof, that all over the world, we have got about hundred centers. Everywhere, hundred, two hundred, three hundred disciples are there. They’re chanting, dancing, with Hare Krsna mantra. Why? Because it is not material sound vibration. This is the proof. Don’t think that Hare Krsna chanting and chanting the name of Mr. John is the same, no. This is the proof. You can go on chanting twenty-four hours, Still, you will not feel tired. This is the golokera... This is the proof, that this hari-nama-sankirtana, golokera prema-dhana, it is the property for loving. It is the thing which will lead you how to love God, prema-dhana. You will gradually develop your propensity to love Krsna. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said that param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam: “All glories to the chanting of Hare Krsna mantra.”