Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.4

Pradyumna: Translation: "When a person considers sense gratification the aim of life, he certainly becomes mad after materialistic living and engages in all kinds of sinful activity. He does not know that due to his past misdeeds he has already received a body which, although temporary, is the cause of his misery. Actually, the living entity should not have taken on a material body, but he has been awarded the material body for sense gratification. Therefore I think it not befitting an intelligent man to involve himself again in the activities of sense gratification, by which he perpetually gets material bodies, one after another." [break]

Prabhupāda:

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

So it is recommended that mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes [SB 5.5.2]. Mahat-sevā..., we have described the symptoms of mahātmā. The sum and substance of mahātmā is mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg 9.13]. That is mahātmā. Otherwise durātmā. Simply putting on a saffron dress and having a big beard, he's not mahātmā. Mahātmā is he who is cent per cent engaged in Kṛṣṅa's service. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim. He's not in the control of this material nature. He's completely under the direction of spiritual nature. Daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ. And what is the sign? What is the difference between a person under material nature and spiritual nature? The difference is that one who is under spiritual nature, he is cent per cent engaged in the service of the Lord. This is the sign.

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya manaso... [Bg 9.13]

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ [Bg 9.30]

[Even if one commits the most abominable actions, if he is engaged in devotional service, he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.]

These things are there. So bhajana wanted. Bhajana means these nine kinds of activities:

śravaṅaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṅoḥ smaraṅaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam [SB 7.5.23]

[Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṅu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṅa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.]

This is bhajan, bhajana-kriyā. Atho bhajana-kriyā. Ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā [Cc Madhya 23.14-15].

[In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.]

Sadhu-sanga [Cc Madhya 22.83].

[The root cause of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṅa is association with advanced devotees. Even when one’s dormant love for Kṛṣṅa awakens, association with devotees is still most essential.]

So mahat-sevā means sādhu-saṅga. If you associate with devotees, that is called sādhu-saṅga, mahat. Each devotee is mahātmā. And the signs are given there: mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā [SB 5.5.2], we have already discussed. And another mahātmā is also ye vā mayīśe kṛta-sauhṛdārthā [SB 5.5.3].

The main business is how far one is devoted to Kṛṣṅa. That is wanted. It doesn't mean that one has to become a sannyāsī or one has to remain a gṛhastha. There are four āśramas. You should accept whichever is suitable for you, but the business is how to serve Kṛṣṅa. That's it. If you find that remaining as a gṛhastha you can serve more Kṛṣṅa, that's all right. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has accepted this. Sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir [SB 10.14.3].

[Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.]

Sthāne, sthāne means everyone has got some position. So it doesn't require that you have to change your position. But the real business is you have to see how far you are making progress in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is wanted. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

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.]

He never says that only the sannyāsīs should be guru. Kṛṣṅa bhajanete nāhi yāti-ulādi-vicāra. Or becoming Kṛṣṅa conscious... There is no such distinction of caste, creed, position. No.

yei bhaje sei baḍo abhakta hi cāra kṛṣṅa-bhajanete nāhi yāti-kulādi-vicāra

Anyone who is advanced in Kṛṣṅa consciousness, he is great, sei baḍo. Āra saba cār: and others, they are all rotten. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's division. Simply we have to see how one is advanced in Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

The same thing as Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā:

na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuriṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ [Bg 7.15]

[Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.]

If one is not Kṛṣṅa conscious, then he is either duṣkṛtina, mūḍhāḥ, narādhamāḥ, māyā-pahṛta-jñānā, āsuriṁ bhāvam āśrita. This is the test. Take this simple test. Just like test tube. A chemical analyzer examines chemicals in the test tube, a small nozzle, and he tests what it is. You can also test. Just like big pot of rice boiling, you can test. Take one grain of the rice and press it. If it is properly boiled, then you can understand the whole thing is boiled. Similarly, there are everything a test tube. So for us, Kṛṣṅa conscious people, there is a test tube. What is that test tube? If one does not accept Kṛṣṅa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then he should be rejected immediately. It is not sectarian; it is test tube. Kṛṣṅa says that if you do not find anyone fully surrendered to Kṛṣṅa, then he must belong to these groups. What is that? Duṣkṛtina, simply sinful. That's all. Always engaged. Because nobody can become Kṛṣṅa conscious cent per cent unless he's free from sinful life. Kṛṣṅa said,

yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṅya-karmaṅām te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 7.28]

[Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.]

This is the test if one has taken to Kṛṣṅa, that "Kṛṣṅa is my only worshipable Deity."

Caitanya-caritāmṛta-kaj says,

'śraddhā' śabde-visvasa sudṛḍha niścaya kṛṣṅe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya [Cc Madhya 22.62]

This is śraddhā, ādau śraddhā. Beginning of spiritual life is śraddhā. Just like you have come here. It is based on śraddhā, a little faith. Otherwise, there are millions of people, why they are not coming? There is no śraddhā. But anyone who comes, it means there is ādau śraddhā. This śraddhā has been Śraddadhānāḥ. Kṛṣṅa said. So what is that verse? Aśraddadhānāḥ. Śraddhā, and the opposite word is aśraddhā. So what Kṛṣṅa said, if one has no faith, aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasya asya parantapa [Bg 9.3].

[Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.]

What Kṛṣṅa said... Kṛṣṅa personally comes to enlighten us, that "This is your life. You should do like this. You should live like this. You should act like this. Why you are rotting in this material world?"

So the same thing is repeated in different way in different places. Here also it is said, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma [SB 5.5.4]. These rascals have become so mad, pramattaḥ. Prakṛṣṭha rūpena mattaḥ. Mattaḥ means mad, intoxicated. And one, another, pra. Pra means prakiṣṭha, sufficiently mad. So these materialistic persons, you will see everywhere. They're running here and there. Especially in the Western countries, from the early morning, from five o'clock or still earlier, the whole street is full of motorcars. They are going to their work. Those who have gone to foreign countries, you have seen. In every big, big city of the Western countries they are always busy. They work. Now we are also imitating them. Our leaders are advertising, "Work hard. Work hard. That you are pulling on rickshaw, that is not sufficient. Still you have to work hard. You are pulling on ṭhelā? That is not sufficient. You have to still..." "What I can do more?" This is going on. This is material civilization, mad. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma [SB 5.5.4]. And what for they're doing? Yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṅoti. The aim is how to satisfy senses: eat, drink, be merry and enjoy, that's all. I get money, go to the restaurant, go to the liquor house, go to the prostitute house and nightclub and so on, so on, so on. Because they have no other business. They do not know anything more than that. Indriya-prītaya. A little sense gratification.

So they are all mad. So nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma. And they are implicating so many sinful activities. Legally and virtually, they are becoming implicated. Yajñārthāt karmaṅo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9].

[Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṅu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.]

If you don't act only for yajña, then you become implicated. The evidence is, the proof is, I am implicated that there are different varieties of life. You should know that "Why there are so many varieties of life?" That is explained here. The varieties of life is na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ [SB 5.5.4]. Here, anyone who has got this material body... Material body means kleśada, different degrees of kleśada. Somebody is millionaire—but don't think that his body is not kleśada. His body is also kleśada, giving some pain. Nobody is free from kleśa.

There was a very big, rich man in Calcutta. So he could not eat. His appetite, there was no appetite. So he's rich man. So he was given sufficient foodstuff, and simply show; he could not eat. But a big, rich man. And one poor man was passing on the street, taking a fish and chanting very... Not chanting; singing very jubilantly. So this gentleman saw. He said that "I have become so rich man, but I have no appetite in spite of so many nice foodstuff before me. And that poor man is carrying one fish. He's thinking that he'll go and cook it and eat it very nicely. He is so jubilant. So if I would have become a poor man like him I could have enjoyed some food." He was wishing that. Because real business is sense gratification. So in spite of his becoming so rich, he could not gratify his senses. But he was satisfied.

So this is the position. Everyone has got a certain type of body on account of different types of sense gratification. Otherwise, why there are so many varieties? Why one is human being? Why one is a pig? Why one is a demigod? Why one is a tree? Why one is a fish? Why...? So many—8,400,000. This is all due to our desire for sense gratification, these varieties. Otherwise, one variety would have been there, existing. Why there are so many varieties? And that is not my creation. Kṛṣṅa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, Paramātmā, is situated in everyone's heart. And we are always praying. Even we do not pray, we are: "If I would have been like this, if I would have got this opportunity, then I would have eaten like this, I would have done like this." This is going on continually. Continually. Indriya-prītaya apṛṅoti. We are simply desiring one after another. And it is God's business, thankless business, that He is noting down, "All right, I will give you facility like this."

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā [Bg 18.61]

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

So His business is that "This rascal wants like this," and still He's so merciful, He asks māyā, the material nature, "Give him a body like this. He wants like this." So therefore we have got varieties. Because we have got varieties of desires we have got varieties of bodies. This is the explanation. Otherwise who will explain why there are so many varieties of bodies? The varieties of bodies means varieties of desire.

So if you want to stop these varieties of body, then you should give up all these nonsense desires. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11].

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

You are jñānī, you are karmī, you are yogī, but your desires are all different. One yogī wants that "I shall fly in the sky." One yogī wants, "I shall walk on the water." One yogī thinks, "I shall create gold and show magic to the rascal people that I am God." This is going on. One jñānī, he is speaking something; one karmī... This is going on. Therefore there are varieties, varieties of desires. You have to stop these nonsense desires. That is wanted. Otherwise, you are implicated. You are implicated. So therefore you can stop your desires only by becoming Kṛṣṅa conscious. Otherwise they will go on.

Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce [Cc Madhya 22.42].

[[When he was being blessed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Dhruva Mahārāja said:] ’O my Lord, because I was seeking an opulent material position, I was performing severe types of penance and austerity. Now I have gotten You, who are very difficult for the great demigods, saintly persons and kings to attain. I was searching after a piece of glass, but instead I have found a most valuable jewel. Therefore I am so satisfied that I do not wish to ask any benediction from You.]

This is Dhruva Mahārāja said. He had desires, very, very great desires, that "I shall have..., I shall possess a kingdom greater than Brahmā, greater than my father." He was insulted by his stepmother. This is desire. This is... We are... Action and reaction. So he desired that "I shall have a great kingdom—greater kingdom than my father." He went to the forest and he underwent very severe austerities, a five-years-old boy. He saw, Kṛṣṅa came. So when He wanted to give him, fulfill his desires, he said, svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce: "No, no, no. I have nothing to ask from You." This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. No more desires. Otherwise, karmī, jñānī, yogī and bhakta. Akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ [SB 2.3.10]. Mokṣa-kāma: the jñānīs, they want mokṣa, to merge into the existence of Brahman. The yogīs, they want siddhis, some perfection, material perfection, to show some magic. And the karmīs, they want sense gratification. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that karmī jñānī yogi sakali aśānta. Aśānta, they cannot be at peace, because they are desiring. So long you want, you desire, there will be no peace. Kṛṣṅa-bhakta-niṣkāma, ataeva śānta [Cc Madhya 19.149].

[Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.]

So this is the recommendation, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute-vikarma [SB 5.5.4]. They are mad after sense gratification and doing everything nonsense which is forbidden in the śāstra. You know, those who are too much after fulfilling desires, they even kill his own men. He'll kill his own child. Because the mother desiring that "I have become pregnant. It is botheration. It will check my sense gratification. Kill." Vikarma. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma [SB 5.5.4]. He doesn't see that what will be the result of it. Vikarma. Karma, vikarma, akarma. Karma means prescribed duties, according... Just like law. "You keep to the right," this is law. And as soon as you keep to the wrong side, left, it is vikarma. This is karma and vikarma. But for sense-gratification we execute vikarma. So therefore we are implicating, and we are preparing for the next life. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg 8.6]:

[Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.]

at the time of death these desires become prominent. Even without desire we get so many ideas and dream at night. So at the time of death, on account of our vikarma, we shall create a situation, and the next life we get a similar body. That's all. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute. Na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam.

I have got already one body which is kleśada. Everyone has got experience. Nobody is here who can say that "My body is very nice. There is no kleśa. There is no pains and pleasure. I am very perfect." That is not possible. As soon as you get a material body, it must be subjected to so many sufferings: adhyātmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika. Tribulations. There must be. Material body means kleśada. Therefore the Vedic civilization is to stop getting this material body. That is Vedic civilization. Not that increase. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. Two things are there. You must accept..., you must get the service of Kṛṣṅa. Otherwise you go on in this way, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani. Aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyasya parantapa māṁ aprāpya [Bg 9.3].

[Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.]

If you don't get Kṛṣṅa, then there is no other way. There is no other alternative. The only alternative is mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani [Bg 9.3]: you get one body and again you die, again get another body. This will go on. Therefore we should not... Na sādhu manye. Ṛṣabhadeva, boys[?], said, "This is not good." Na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ [SB 5.5.4].

So this culture, this education, is practically nil, especially in Kali-yuga. It is very regrettable. But the informations are there, the science is there. If one is intelligent, he can take advantage of this science, Kṛṣṅa consciousness, and mold his life accordingly so that he can stop this process of accepting a body which is kleśada. Kleśada. That is the perfection of life. And that can be simply done very easily if you simply study Kṛṣṅa, if you come in this temple and see Kṛṣṅa. Very simple method. Mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. These are not our manufacture; Kṛṣṅa says. You come here. The temple is meant for this purpose, that you come, see Kṛṣṅa and be attached to Kṛṣṅa. The more you become attached to Kṛṣṅa, that is called bhakti-yoga.

mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi... [Bg 7.1]

Then what will be the benefit? Suppose I understand you very perfectly. Then what will be the result? The result is,

janma karma ca divyam me yo janati tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti [Bg 4.9]

[One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.]

Simply. If you simply know Kṛṣṅa, then this business, repetition of birth and death, will stop. It is so simple thing. So we should take advantage of it and utilize our human form of life perfectly.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]