Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.7

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [break] [Prabhupāda and devotees chant verse] [break]

nirviṅṅā nitarāṁ bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt yena sambhāvyamānena prapannāndhaṁ tamaḥ prabho [SB 3.25.7]

[00:58]

"Devahūti said: I am very sick of the disturbance of my material senses, for because of this sense disturbance, my Lord, I have fallen into the abyss of ignorance."

Prabhupāda:

nirviṅṅā nitarāṁ bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt yena sambhāvyamānena prapannāndhaṁ tamaḥ prabho [SB 3.25.7]

So this material world is described in the Vedic literature as darkness. And actually it is darkness. Therefore we require the sunlight, the moonlight, the electric light. If it had not been darkness, then why so many light arrangement? Actually, it is darkness. Artificially, we made it light. Therefore Vedic injunction is that "Don't keep yourself in the darkness." Tamasi mā jyotir gama. "Go to the light." That light is the spiritual world. That is directly the effulgence, or bodily rays, of Kṛṣṅa.

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi- koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs 5.40]

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.]

So real business of..., especially of human being... The animals, they do not know. They have no capacity to know that we are in the darkness—darkness of knowledge and actually darkness. So one has to be..., become nirviṅṅā, disgusted. One, intelligent man, should be disgusted. One must be intelligent to know that "I am eternal." Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. It is the preliminary study of Bhagavad-gītā. Kṛṣṅa is instructing about the constitutional position of the soul: na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre, na jāyate na mriyate kadācit [Bg 2.20]. Kadācit, at any time, the soul does not take birth, does not die. And more explicitly it is said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. The covering..., the body is the covering. So after destruction of this body, the soul is not destroyed. Just like if I change my shirt and coat or somehow or other the shirt and coat is destroyed, I, the person who put on this dress, I am not destroyed. This simple knowledge is instructed in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā. There are so many big, big scholars, big, big leaders, and still, they cannot understand that "I am not this body." This is the result, because they do not study Bhagavad-gītā in the proper way. We have got so many leaders, big, big leaders, they are teaching Bhagavad-gītā. But nobody is fully aware or convinced that "I am not this body." This is called darkness. This is called darkness. And when one becomes disgusted with this darkness, or this position in the darkness, that is human life. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21].

[Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.]

Such person who has become disgusted with this material existence, he requires the instruction of a guru.

So here Devahūti, because she is the wife of a great yogī, she understands what is the constitutional position of herself, and she has got her son, the incarnation of God. So she is putting her, I mean, problem to the teacher. It doesn't matter... Because Kapiladeva is the son of Devahūti, Devahūti does not deny to take instruction from Him. She does not say, "Oh, He is my son. What He can instruct me? I am His mother. I shall instruct." No. Instruction has to be taken from the person who is in knowledge. It doesn't matter what is his position. It doesn't matter, whether he's son or a boy or a śūdra or a brāhmaṅa or a sannyāsī or a gṛhastha. It doesn't matter. You should take instruction from a person who knows, who is in the knowledge.

That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. He said, when He was talking with Rāmānanda Rāya... Rāmānanda Rāya was a śūdra by caste. We have got the four division: brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. So he was, Rāmānanda Rāya, was by caste a śūdra, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a high-class brāhmaṅa. Not only brāhmaṅa, He was a sannyāsī, the most exalted post. First of all He's brāhmaṅa. Of course, unless one is brāhmaṅa, he cannot take sannyāsa. That's a fact. So He was, from social point of view, He was son of Jagannātha Miśra, grandson of Nīlāmbara Cakravartī. Personally, He was learned scholar, born in a very high-class brāhmaṅa, very beautiful body, young man—all qualified. And He was taking instruction from Rāmānanda Rāya, who was a śūdra. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you'll find. So Rāmānanda Rāya, he was not only śūdra, he was gṛhastha. And he was a politician, governor of Madras. Governor of Madras. But he was very exalted in spiritual knowledge. So after converting Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu decided to go to the southern part of India, South India, at that time... Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he was a very learned scholar, logician, nyāyī. So he wanted to teach Caitanya Mahāprabhu, because He was a young man. But later on he accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu as his guru. He was impersonalist, Māyāvādī. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to him the Vedānta-sūtra, that Vedānta-sūtra is personal philosophy. So he was convinced, and he became His disciple.

So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to South India for His touring, he specially requested Him that "I neglected this person, Rāmānanda Rāya. He was talking with me about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, and that I thought that he was a sentimentalist, so I neglected him. But I can understand now that he is a very exalted personality. When You are going to South India, please meet him. Please try to meet him. You'll be very much pleased." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, at Kabur, He met Rāmānanda Rāya, and He was talking about spiritual subject matter, very highly elevated, simply. So because he was born in a śūdra family and a gṛhastha and a politician, so he was hesitating, that "Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a brāhmaṅa and sannyāsī. Such exalt..." Hesitating. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that,

kibā vipra kibā śūdra nyāsī kene naya yei kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya [Cc Madhya 8.128]

[Whether one is a brāhmaṅa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa.]

"Don't hesitate. Why you are hesitating because you are a gṛhastha or you are in politics or you are a..., born a śūdra family? Why you are...? I am learning from you." This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching. He did not think anyone negligible. Anyone who is qualified with Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he can become guru. It doesn't matter where he is born, what is his family and identification. It doesn't matter. He must know the science. It is very practical. Just like when you go to consult an engineer or a medical man or some lawyer, you do not ask him whether he's a brāhmaṅa or a śūdra. If he's qualified, if he can help you in the particular subject matter, you consult with him, you take his help. That is practical. So similarly, in the spiritual matter it doesn't matter what he is. If he knows Kṛṣṅa, then he can become guru. It doesn't matter.

So here also, Devahūti, she was taking lesson from her son because the son knew the science of Kṛṣṅa. It doesn't matter whether one is son or one is something else, or born in śūdra family or brāhmaṅa family or a sannyāsī. We are concerned with the science of Kṛṣṅa. That is required. Cāṅakya Paṅḍita also. He was a politician. You know Cāṅakya Paṅḍita. Under his name there is, New Delhi, quarter: Canakya Puri. He was a great politician, prime minister of Ma..., Samrat[?], Emperor Candragupta. He also advises. He has got a moral instruction, Cāṅakya-śloka. He says that viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam: "In the poison pot, if there is nectarine, you should accept it." Don't neglect it because it is on the poison pot. You are concerned with the nectarine. Take it. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam. In a filthy place... Suppose in your lavatory, in a very filthy place, there is gold. So it doesn't matter. You should take it, gold. It is not that the gold is in the filthy place, therefore you should not touch it. Other metal you cannot touch. That is the Vedic injunction. But gold you can take. Amedhyād api kāñcanam. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam, nīcād api..., duṣkulād api. You can take some teachings, even one is born in lower-grade family. And the wife you can accept even she is, if she is qualified, and... Strī-ratnaṁ duṣkulād api. Strī-ratnam. Ratna means jewel. If one girl is very qualified or beautiful, even she is born of lower family, you must accept. You can marry. This is Cāṅakya Paṅḍita. Strī-ratnaṁ duṣkulād api. Viṣād amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam, nīcād apy vidyā. If a man born in nīca, in lower-grade family, but if he's qualified, it doesn't matter. That is practically being done.

So this is Vedic system. Not that one is lower in the estimation of the society by birth or so on. But he must be qualified. So here also it doesn't matter. This is going on. That is Vedic system. Devahūti does not deny to take instruction from her son. It is the system. [indistinct] It doesn't matter whether he's inferior. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... Yei kṛṣṅa-tattva-vettā sei guru haya [Cc Madhya 8.128]:

[Whether one is a brāhmaṅa, a sannyāsī or a śūdra—regardless of what he is—he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa.]

"You will accept anyone as guru if he knows the science of Kṛṣṅa." That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's... And Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed everyone to become a guru. The world is suffering for want of Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That was His mission. He wanted that from India everyone should become a guru and preach outside, because there is no Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' sarva-deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128].

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

Or tāra' ei deśa. "You become a guru on My order, and you deliver your country or other countries." "So I have no so qualification, I have no education. How I can become guru?" Now, Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, āmāra ājñāya: "By My order." "Then what is Your order, Sir?" "Now, My order is yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]. This is My order. You simply explain what Kṛṣṅa has said or what has been said about Kṛṣṅa." That is kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṅa-upadeśa means what Kṛṣṅa is instructing.

The Bhagavad-gītā, the Supreme Personality, Kṛṣṅa, He is instructing. That is kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is speaking about Kṛṣṅa. That is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Kṛṣṅasya upadeśa iti kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, and Kṛṣṅa, subject matter Kṛṣṅa and upadeśa, that is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that "You simply preach kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. Then you become guru."

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

Not only that. He has empowered all Indians.

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

This Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement, to spread this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is the best welfare activity in the human society. The best. There is no more better welfare... There are so many welfare activities in the human society, but this kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, to instruct people about the primary principles of Bhagavad-gītā in the human society, that is the best para-upakāra. People do not know how to become happy. They are... Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]. They are simply making struggle for existence by mental concoction. Manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṅi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati [Bg 15.7]. In this material world, they are simply struggling. There is no solution. Therefore the every Indian should study Bhagavad-gītā and, if possible Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and assimilate it and preach all over the world. This is the duty of India. India has no other duty. Para-upakāra.

So with our one man's endeavor, teeny effort, you..., we can see that so many outsiders, they're attracted to Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Unless there is something substance... They are not illiterate. They are not fools. They are not poor. Why they are attracted? There is something to be learned from Kṛṣṅa consciousness. So if this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement is spread all over the world regularly, then the face of the world will change. That's a fact. Sarve sukhino bhavantu. This is the Vedic mission: "Let everyone become happy." And how he'll be happy? He cannot become happy by mental concoction. That is not possible. Manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ [SB 5.18.12].

[All the demigods and their exalted qualities, such as religion, knowledge and renunciation, become manifest in the body of one who has developed unalloyed devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. On the other hand, a person devoid of devotional service and engaged in material activities has no good qualities. Even if he is adept at the practice of mystic yoga or the honest endeavor of maintaining his family and relatives, he must be driven by his own mental speculations and must engage in the service of the Lord's external energy. How can there be any good qualities in such a man?]

If one is situated on the mental platform, speculating, he will simply go to the asat. Asat means this material world. Asato mā sad gama. Vedic says, "Don't remain in this asat. Come to the sat. Oṁ tat sat."

So if one is on the mental speculation, manufacturing something for the welfare of the human society, that is not possible. Human society cannot be happy without Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That's a fact. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā,

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati [Bg 5.29]

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

If you want śānti, individually or collectively, nationally or internationally, then you must become Kṛṣṅa conscious. What is that Kṛṣṅa consciousness? The summary is that Kṛṣṅa is the supreme enjoyer: bhoktā. We are not bhoktā. We are simply servant. Just like anywhere, there is a master and the servant. The master is the enjoyer, and the server, servant, is helping the master enjoyment. This is the process. So we living entities, we are eternal servant of God, or Kṛṣṅa. When we speak of Kṛṣṅa, it means God. So we are eternal servant of God. So our duty is to help the master to enjoy. Just like here is Kṛṣṅa. The Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī, She is the topmost servitor of Kṛṣṅa. So Her business is to keep pleased always Kṛṣṅa. That is... That is the symbolic representation. Rādhā. Rādhā means anaya[?] ārādhyate. She is serving, the best service. Anaya[?] ārādhyate. Therefore Kṛṣṅa is very much fond of Rādhārāṅī, because She gives the best service to Kṛṣṅa in so many ways. She has got sixty-four qualification. That is mentioned. Therefore She is so, I mean to say, pleasing to Kṛṣṅa. Anaya[?] ārādhyate iti rādhā.

So our business is also like that. We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa, and we should give, render, we should render service to the best of capacity. That is our real, constitutional position. But here Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt. Asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt. At the present moment in this material world, we are busy to enjoy these material senses. This is our position. Everyone is satisfying. Indriyāṅi parāṅy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ, manasas tu parā buddhiḥ... [Bg 3.42].

[The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.]

In this way, you go, and when you go beyond the range of buddhi, that is soul. That is spiritual platform.

In the ordinarily we are, in the material platform, we are interested in gratifying senses: "I like it. I must have it." But that sense gratification means we are becoming implicated, implicated in the laws of nature. That is also stated in the śāstra.

nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṅoti na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ [SB 5.5.4]

This is the instruction in the Vedic literature, that the people in this material world, they are very, very busy. Not only men—even the animals, even the birds, beasts, insect. We see on the beach, there are so many dogs, and they are assembled there for sex. So this is the material world, indriya-prīti. Therefore śāstra says that human life should be considered. They should think, "Whether we shall spoil our life simply by sense gratification, or there is some other business?" Yes, there is some other business. That is tapasya. That is tapasya means we should restrict sense gratification. Sense gratification, either regulated or nonregulated, is meant for animal life. Sense control is the human life. Therefore you'll find in Vedic culture big, big learned scholars, big, big kings, they dedicated their life for tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

If you want to purify your existence, then you must take to the process of tapasya. Tapo divyam.

And what is that tapasya? Tapasya for realization of God. And then we shall be purified. What is meaning of purify, purification? Purification means we are eternal, and if we become purified from this material contamination, then we get back our eternal life, back to home, back to Godhead. That is required. That is... For that we have to accept little tapasya. Not to become sense gratifier like the dogs and hogs. That is not civilization. Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [SB 5.5.1]. This human life should be regulated in such a way that he hasn't got to satisfy the senses after taking so much hard labor. The modern civilization is like that. Everyone is engaged in hard labor simply for satisfaction of the senses. So they have become mad. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vi... And they are acting without any consideration of the effect. They do not consider whether it is sinful or not. They do not believe in the next life. They do not discriminate what is sinful, what is pious—nothing. Exactly like animals.

So śāstra says, "This is not good." Here also, Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt. Asad-indriya-tarṣ... Actually, these senses are not real senses. It is covered, just like my this body, covered with this shirt or this cloth. It is not my real body. Although you see the shirt has got a hand, that hand is not real hand. The real hand is within the shirt. Similarly, our real body is within this body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe [Bg 2.13].

[As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.]

Dehe. Dehinaḥ. Dehinaḥ means the real body, or the spiritual body of the soul, is within this body. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe. And the body is changing. Kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā. It is sometimes child, sometimes youth, sometimes a young man, sometimes old man. And then vanishes. It is... There are six changes. So this is not real body. But... And we are engaged in this unreal body, sense gratification. We have got senses. So therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam [Bg 6.21].

[The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.]

Atīndriya-grāhyam. Beyond the senses.

Therefore these senses are to be purified. That is called tapasya. Tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1].

And... Yes. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam. When we purify our senses... Senses you cannot destroy. That is not possible. Just like some..., somebody said that "You become desireless." Desireless... Desire is the mental activities. So we cannot be desireless. That is not possible. We have to purify the desire. That is required. That is recommended,

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa- sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate [Cc Madhya 19.170]

[Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.]

Bhakti means that. Bhakti means that you are not required to destroy your senses, but you have to purify your senses. And when you purify your senses, then you can serve Kṛṣṅa. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam..., nirmalam, senses; hṛṣīkeṅa, by the senses; hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam, serve Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses. Kṛṣṅa's senses. We are just like part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. Just like this hand or this finger are part and parcel of my body, similarly we are also senses, part and parcel of the spiritual body of Kṛṣṅa. So when we purify ourself, then we act in our original, constitutional position. Just like the finger is meant for serving my body, similarly, when, as soon as we are in the position of our original constitution, then we serve Kṛṣṅa.

So here Devahūti says that bhūmann asad-indriya-tarṣaṅāt: "I am in this material world." In simple words there is a Bengali poem:

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

[When an individual soul forgets his eternal relationship with God and tries to lord it over the material nature or resources, that condition, that forgetful condition, is called māyā, or illusion.]

We are purely part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. We are actually the senses of Kṛṣṅa. And when we forget this position and we want to satisfy ourself, that is our material condition.

kṛṣṅa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare [Prema-vivarta]

Then that is māyā. When we are in ignorance that we are the part and parcel of the Supreme Being and our duty is to satisfy Him... Hṛṣīkeṅa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam [Cc Madhya 19.170].

This is called bhakti. When we forget it, then we are fallen in this material world, and we are busy in our personal sense gratification and implication. Implication means so long we'll have..., we'll continue to have this desire to satisfy our senses, we have to accept another body, according to our desire. Kṛṣṅa is so kind. If we want to become a tiger, Kṛṣṅa will give you next life a tiger's body. And if you want to be a devotee, He will give you the same body. If you want to eat stool, then He'll give you the body of a pig. And if you want to... That requires our own qualification. Karmaṅā daiva-netreṅa [SB 3.31.1].

[The Personality of Godhead said: Under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and according to the result of his work, the living entity, the soul, is made to enter into the womb of a woman through the particle of male semen to assume a particular type of body.]

Yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vra... [Bg 9.25].

[Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.]

It is a preparation for the next life, as you want to enjoy your senses. So why not prepare yourself to go back to home, back to Godhead, and prepare your senses like that? That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. [end]