Material Civilization Is Wrongly Directed To Sense Gratification

kamasya nendriya-pritirlabho

jiveta yavatajivasya

tattva-jijnasanartho yas ceha

TRANSLATION

Life’s desires should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one’s works.

PURPORT
The completely bewildered material civilization is wrongly directed towards the fulfillment of desires in sense gratification. In such civilization, in all spheres of life, the ultimate end is sense gratification. In politics, social service, altruism, philanthropy and ultimately in religion or even in salvation, the very same tint of sense gratification is ever-increasingly predominant. In the political field the leaders of men fight with one another to fulfill their personal sense gratification.

The voters adore the so-called leaders only when they promise sense gratification. As soon as the voters are dissatisfied in their own sense satisfaction, they dethrone the leaders, The leaders must always disappoint the voters by not satisfying their senses. The same is applicable in all other fields; no one is serious about the problems of life. Even those who are on the path of salvation desire to become one with the Absolute Truth and desire to commit spiritual suicide for sense gratification. But the Bhagavatam says that one should not live for sense gratification.

One should satisfy the senses only insomuch as required for self-preservation, and not for sense gratification. Because the body is made of senses, which also require a certain amount of satisfaction, there are regulative directions for satisfaction of such senses. But the senses are not meant for unrestricted enjoyment. For example, marriage or the combination of a man with a woman is necessary for progeny, but it is not meant for sense enjoyment. In the absence of voluntary restraint, there is propaganda for family planning, but foolish men do not know that family planning is automatically executed as soon as there is search after the Absolute Truth.

Seekers of the Absolute Truth are never allured by unnecessary engagements in sense gratification because the serious students seeking the Absolute Truth are always overwhelmed with the work of researching the Truth. In every sphere of life, therefore, the ultimate end must be seeking after the Absolute Truth, and that sort of engagement will make one happy because he will be less engaged in varieties of sense gratification.
[Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.10]

The Supreme Controller Is Krsna

Prabhupada: This is the secret. People are trying to bring in peace and prosperity in the world by so many activities—philanthropism, altruism, nationalism, socialism. And so-called religion also, they are trying to bring in.

The whole idea is the human society should remain in peace and prosperity. And the vivid example is the United Nations in your country. America invited all nations that “Let us form a community of United Nations,” but the America herself is fighting. You see? Because the idea was there to unite, but they do not know the basic principle, how to unite. That is the defect. There is a church in the United Nations, and we tried to get a room there for making our propaganda. The church unity denied to give us. So their crippled mind is not expanded. Sa mahatma... Mahatma means broad-minded. Su-durlabhah.

So mahatma, unless one becomes nonenvious, mahatma, there is no question of so-called unity or fraternity. These are all false propaganda. It is not possible. But they will stick to that proposition, that “We have got this...” For the last twenty years... Why twenty years? More than twenty years. When this United Nations was started?

Visnujana: Even... Right after World War One they began.

Prabhupada: Yes. Sometime 1948, ’47. Hm? Or earlier. Anyway, it is more than twenty-five, twenty years. But what they have done? The people are still fighting. So here is the..., that we have to dovetail our service, we have to make Krsna center. The Communists also, they tried to make by making the state as center. So that is also failure. Or the United Nations also. I do not know what is their center. Their center is politics, that’s all.So in this way there cannot be complete harmony. Complete harmony will be possible only when you bring in Krsna. That will be explained in the next verse. Isavasyam idam sarvam.

Unless you bring Krsna, or isa... Isa means the supreme controller. He is actually controlling. Isa. Isa means the controller. So there is a supreme controller. We see in the, in our experience, that some of the objectives are living and some of them are not living. Animate or inanimate—these two things we see in our experience. But above this animate and inanimate there is supreme animate. That supreme animate is called isa. Isa or isvara means controller.

So there are many isvaras, or controllers, but the supreme controller is Krsna. Isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. There are many controllers. Some of you are also controller, in charge of some department. Similarly, controller over controller, controller over controller—there are many. And go up to Brahma. The first creature within this universe is supposed to be the controller of this universe. But above him, there is another controller. That is Krsna. Yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro. The material scientists, they are finding out the sun is the cause of all material manifestation. Actually, that’s a fact. But what is the sun?

The sun is also being controlled. That is stated in the Brahma-samhita: Yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah. Yac-caksur esa savita. Savita means the sun is the eye of the Supreme Lord, seeing everything. You cannot hide anything. The sun, the moon, the day and the night, everyone is seeing your activities. And besides that, the Lord is within you also. So where you shall hide your sinful activities? You cannot hide anything. You can hide from the state laws, but you cannot hide yourself from God’s law. That is not possible. Isavasyam idam sarvam.

Everywhere He is present. So, yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam. Actually, the sun is the eye of all the planets. Now we are in this planet, earthly planet. So actually our eyes are the sun. When there is sunrise, then we can see, “Oh, here it is, here it is, here it is.” So, yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam. All the planetary systems that are existing within this universe, the sun is the eye because he is the eye of the Supreme Lord. Yac-caksur esa savita sakala-grahanam raja. It is the king of all planets. Raja samasta-sura-murtir asesa-tejah. Asesa-tejah, unlimited temperature. Unlimited temperature. Asesa-tejah. And it is so powerful and so important, but what is his position? Yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrta-kala-cakro. Under the direction of the Supreme, it is rotating in its own orbit.

The sun has its own orbit. Just like this earth has its own orbit, similarly, sun, sambhrta-kala-cakro, yasyajnaya... The sun cannot go beyond that orbit. Just like we go to the sea. The order is, “My dear Pacific Ocean, you may be very great, but you cannot come beyond this.” We are walking daily on the beach. Just four feet away, the water is there, but it cannot touch because the order is, “No, you cannot come. Up to this, that’s all.”

So everyone is ... Just like you have seen the horse is controlled by the driver, similarly, all of us are being controlled. So we should remain controlled. That is life. We should not declare that “No. I don’t want to be controlled.” Then you’ll fall down immediately. If you remain in your position, being controlled, being predominated... Don’t try to be predominator. Oh, then immediately fall down, because you are not predominator. It is a false claim that “I want to predominate. I am God. I am predominator. I am this. I am that.” These are all rascaldom. Simply you remain yourself predominated. Agree to be controlled by Krsna, and your life is successful.Thank you very much. (end)

Lecture Excerpt--Los Angeles, June 7, 1972

Chanting With Krsna

. . .when you chant Krsna, Hare Krsna, actually the fact is Krsna is dancing on your tongue by sound vibration. Krsna is not away. It is stated in the scriptures, naham tisthami vaikunthe. He is addressing Narada, Narada, a great devotee of Krsna. He is explaining to Narada, naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu ca. The yogis, the mystic yogis, they try to find out the Supersoul within themself. That is the yoga system. Yoga, actual yoga system, is to concentrate the mind, to focus the mind on the Supersoul. That is yoga system. So Krsna says that naham tisthami vaikunthe. In the scriptures we find that kingdom of God, that is called Vaikuntha. Vaikuntha means vigata-kuntha yatra. Kuntha means anxieties. The place where there is no anxieties, that is called Vaikuntha. So Krsna says that naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu ca: “My dear Narada, do not think that I am staying in the Vaikuntha, in the kingdom of God only, or in the heart of the yogis only. No.” Tat tat tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah: “Wherever My devotees sing or chant the glories of Me, I stand there. I go there.”

[Bhagavad-gita 4.20-24--New York, August 9, 1966]

Knowledge Beyond Samsara

Krsna specifically states that this process of Krsna consciousness is susukham, very pleasant and easy to practice. Indeed, the devotional process is very pleasant; we melodiously sing with instruments, and someone will listen and also join (sravanam kirtanam).

Of course the music should be in relation with the Supreme Lord, in glorification of Him. Hearing Bhagavad-gita is also part of devotional service, and in addition to hearing it one should be eager to apply it in his life. Krsna consciousness is a science and should not be accepted blindly. There are nine processes of devotional service recommended (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, praying, serving, engaging as a servitor of the Lord, establishing friendly relations with the Lord, offering everything to the Lord).

These are all easy to practice and should be joyfully performed.Of course if one thinks that Bhagavad-gita and the Hare Krsna mantra are part of the Hindu system and doesn’t want to accept them because of this, he can nonetheless attend the Christian church and sing there. There is no difference between this process and that process; the point is whatever process one follows, he must become God conscious.

God is neither Moslem nor Hindu nor Christian—He is God. Nor are we to be considered Hindu, Moslem or Christian. These are bodily designations. We are all pure spirit, part and parcel of the Supreme. God is pavitram, pure, and we are also pure. Somehow or other, however, we have fallen into this material ocean, and as the waves toss, we suffer. Actually we have nothing to do with the tossing waves of material miseries. We must simply pray, “Krsna, please pick me up.” As soon as we forget Krsna, the ocean of illusion is there, and it at once captures us.

The chanting of Hare Krsna is most important in order to escape from this ocean. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is a sound (sabda) that is non-different from Krsna. The sound Krsna and the original Krsna are the same. When we chant Hare Krsna and dance, Krsna is also dancing with us. Of course we may say, “Well, I do not see Him,” but why do we put so much stress on seeing? Why not hearing? Seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, and hearing are all instruments for experience and knowledge. Why do we put such exclusive stress on seeing? A devotee does not wish to see Krsna; he is satisfied by simply hearing of Krsna. Seeing may eventually be there, but hearing should not be considered any less important.

There are things which we hear but do not see—the wind may be whistling past our ears, and we can hear it, but there is no possibility of seeing the wind. Since hearing is no less an important experience or valid one than seeing, we can hear Krsna and realize His presence through sound. Sri Krsna Himself says, “I am not there in My abode, or in the heart of the meditating yogi but where my pure devotees are singing.” We can feel the presence of Krsna as we actually make progress.It is not that we should simply take things from Krsna and offer Him nothing. Everyone is taking something from God, so why not give something? We are taking from Krsna so much light, air, food, water and so on. Unless these resources are supplied by Krsna, no one can live. Is it love to simply keep taking and taking and taking without ever offering anything in return?

Love means taking and giving also. If we just take from someone and give him nothing in return, that is not love—it is exploitation. It is not that we should just continue eating without ever offering anything to Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna says:patram puspam phalam toyamyo me bhaktya prayacchatitad aham bhakty-upahrtamasnami prayatatmanahyat karosi yad asnasiyaj juhosi dadasi yatyat tapasyasi kaunteyatat kurusva mad arpanam“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it. O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Bg. 9.26–27)

In addition to giving and receiving, in the execution of devotional service one has to submit to Krsna whatever distress or confidential problem he has. He should say, “Krsna, I am suffering in this way. I have fallen in this tossing ocean of material illusion. Kindly pick me up. I understand now that am simply put here, as if thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. I may not in any way identify with the Atlantic Ocean, but I am subject to the tossing of the ocean. Actually I am a spiritual spark, a fragmental part of You.”

To our misfortune, we try to identify with this ocean and stop its tossing. We must not try to stop the tossing. It is not possible. In any case, the tossing will go on, for that is the law of nature. Only the foolish try to adjust to this world; the real problem is how to get out of it. Those who do attempt to adjust and who never turn to Krsna are continually subject to transmigration in the ocean of birth and death.asraddadhanah purusadharmasyasya parantapaaprapya mam nivartantemrtyu-samsara-vartmani“Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world.” (Bg. 9.3)

By definition, religion is that which connects us with God. If it is not capable of connecting us with God, it is no religion. Religion means searching for God, understanding God and establishing a relationship with God. This is religion. Those who are engaged in devotional service are acting for Krsna or God, and since in this way there is connection with God, Krsna consciousness is a religion.It is not possible to manufacture a religion.

A true religion must come from an authorized source, and that source is either God or His representative. Religion has been called the law of God. It is not possible for a person to manufacture a State law. The law is there, and it is given by the State. One may create some bylaws for his own society, but these laws must be sanctioned by the law of the State. Similarly, if we wish to make some principle of religion, it must be sanctioned by the Vedic authority.

Bhagavad-gita is also religion. Great authorities like Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnusvami, Lord Caitanya, Sankaracarya, and so many others have accepted Bhagavad-gita as the supreme principle of religion and Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no doubt about it. In the West also Bhagavad-gita is accepted as a great book of philosophy, and many great scholars and philosophers in the West have read it and commented upon it. Despite acceptance by the scholars and acaryas, there are persons who do not accept Bhagavad-gita and who have no faith. They do not accept it at all as authority, for they think that it is some sentimental exaggeration by a man known as Krsna. Thus Krsna states in the above quoted verse that those who reject Bhagavad-gita as authority cannot have any connection with Him, and because they have no relation to Him, they remain in the cycle of birth and death.

Aprapya mam nivartante mrtyu-samsara-vartmani. Being subjected to samsara, the cycle of birth and death, does not guarantee that one will necessarily get a similar facility for understanding Bhagavad-gita in the next life. One may not necessarily be born again as a human being, or in America, or in India, or even on this planet. There is no certainty; it all depends on our work. On the path of birth and death we take our birth, remain for some time, enjoy or suffer, then again give up this body and enter into the womb of a mother, either human being or animal, then prepare another body to come out and begin our work again. This is called mrtyu-samsara-vartmani.

If one wants to avoid this path, he must take to Krsna consciousness.When Yudhisthira Maharaja was asked, “What is the most wonderful thing in the world?” he replied, “The most wonderful thing is that every day, every moment, people are dying, and yet everyone thinks that death will not come for him.” Every minute and every second we experience that living entities are going to the temple of death. Men, insects, animals, birds—everyone is going. This world, therefore, is called mrtyuloka—the planet of death. Every day there are obituaries, and if we bother to go to the cemetery or crematorium grounds we can validate them. Yet everyone is thinking, “Somehow or other I’ll live.”

Everyone is subject to the law of death, yet no one takes it seriously. This is illusion. Thinking we will live forever, we go on doing whatever we like, feeling that we will never be held responsible. This is a very risky life, and it is the densest part of illusion. We should become very serious and understand that death is waiting. We have heard the expression, “as sure as death.” This means that in this world death is the most certain thing; no one can avoid it. When death comes, no longer will our puffed-up philosophy or advanced degrees help us. At that time our stout and strong body and our intelligence—which don’t care for anything—are vanquished. At that time the fragmental portion (jivatma) comes under the dictation of material nature, and prakrti (nature) gives us the type of body for which we are fit. If we want to take this risk, we can avoid Krsna; if we don’t want to take it, Krsna will come to help us.

Free From The - ism - Concept

Presently so many “ism’s” are being developed according to the bodily conception—nationalism, communism, socialism, communalism and so on. In Calcutta during the 1947 Hindu-Muslim riots, there was more suffering because everyone was thinking, “I am a Hindu” or “I am a Muslim.” But, if one is advanced in Krsna consciousness, he will not fight according to such conceptions, A Krsna conscious person knows that he is neither Hindu nor Muslim but the eternal servant of Krsna.

. . .

Now this sravanam kirtanam is taking place all over the world through the Krsna consciousness movement.Even in ordinary life it is possible for the mind to be absorbed in such a way that even a surgical operation may not disturb a man. Years ago, when Stalin had to undergo a surgical operation, he refused the use of chloroform. If this is possible even in an ordinary materialistic life, what to speak of spiritual life? One’s mind should always be absorbed in Krsna consciousness, in thinking of Krsna. It is Krsna’s injunction, “Always think of Me.” The European and American youths in the Krsna consciousness movement have been accustomed to many bad habits since birth, but now they have given these up.

Many people think that it is impossible to live without illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. One famous Marquess told one of my Godbrothers, “Please make me a brahmana.” My Godbrother said, “Yes, it is not a very difficult thing. Simply give up these bad habits—intoxication, illicit sex, meat-eating and gambling. Then you can become a brahmana.” The Marquess then said, “Impossible! This is our life.” Actually we have seen that in Western countries older men cannot give up these habits, and because of this they are suffering, yet many young boys and girls have given them up, and there is no suffering. This is due to Krsna consciousness.

[excerpts from The Teachings of Lord Kaplia]