720626 - Lecture SB 02.04.02 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1972

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

720626SB-LOS ANGELES - June 26, 1972 - 38:47 Minutes

Pradyumna: . . . bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (leads chanting of verse) (Prabhupāda and devotees repeat)

Prabhupāda: This, you can recite this, verse number two?

Pradyumna: Two. (leads chanting of verse)

ātma-jāyā-sutāgāra-

paśu-draviṇa-bandhuṣu

rājye cāvikale nityaṁ

virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau

(SB 2.4.2)

Prabhupāda: (devotees chant verse) Girls. (girl devotees chant)

That's all right. So, virūḍhāṁ mamatām. Virūḍhām. Just like you have seen some big trees, standing for so many, many years, the root is firmly captured. You have seen, experienced. The business is to stand up for ten thousand years, but the root is capturing the earth like anything, strong. This is called virūḍhām, attraction.

Suppose when you have got sense, improved consciousness, human being, if one asks you to stand up here for one hour, it will be so troublesome. And even if you are forced to stand up for one hour, you'll feel so much uncomfortable. But this tree, because it has not developed consciousness, it is standing up for ten thousands of years, and in open atmosphere, tolerating all kinds of excessive heat, rain, snowfall. But still, it is capturing.

This is the difference between developed consciousness and undeveloped consciousness. A tree has also consciousness. Modern science, they have proved they have got consciousness. Very much covered; almost dead. But it is not dead. There is consciousness.

So the more you develop your consciousness, the more you become a freedom lover. Just like in the human society, there is fight for freedom. But the animal society, they do not know what is freedom. Ours also, the so-called freedom. But still, we have got some consciousness that we fight for freedom. And they fight for eating. That's all.

So here, Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . this emancipation . . . Kṛṣṇa consciousness means emancipation from this material attachment. So he became so much advanced . . . because from his childhood, from his birth, from the womb of his mother, he was Kṛṣṇa conscious. So as soon as he understood that, "Kṛṣṇa is my goal," immediately, virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau, immediately gave up. Jahau means "gave up." What kind of things he is giving up?

The empire. Formerly, the emperor in Hastināpura, they were ruling over the earth, the whole world. Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . at least, five thousand years ago when Parīkṣit Mahārāja was the king, he was emperor of the whole world. So he's giving up that. Not that a teeny village or something. No. And that empire also, without any disturbance. He was so powerful that nobody could go against him. Rājye ca avikale. Avikale. Vikala means "broken" or "disturbed." But his kingdom was never broken or disturbed.

Now the whole world is broken and disturbed, at the present moment. They have got so many countries, independent countries. That means the world is broken into pieces. Formerly there was no such piecework. One. One world, one king. One God, Kṛṣṇa. One scripture, Vedas. One civilization, varṇāśrama-dharma.

Not very far away. They are giving history of . . . they are studying the earth layer, but while they were studying earth layer from millions years, and millions of years there was perfect civilization. Perfect civilization, God conscious. Happy civilization. Now they are broken, disturbed. It was not the case, the formerly.

So this virūḍhāṁ mamatā. Mamatā means, "It is mine." That is called mamatā. Mamatā. Mama means mine. The consciousness of "mine" and "I," this is called mamatā. "I am this body, and in relationship with this body, everything is mine. My wife, my children, my home, my bank balance, my society, my community, my nation, my country," "my."

This is called mamatā. So how this mamatā, or the consciousness of "my," grows? There is a machine, manipulated by māyā, illusory energy. The beginning. What is that? Attraction. A man is attracted by woman, and the woman is attracted by man. This is the basic principle.

Here, in this material world, there is no attraction for God, but there is attraction. That attraction is, on the whole, sex attraction. That's all. The whole world, not only human society, animal society, bird society, beast society, any society, any living being, the attraction is sex. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etam (SB 5.5.8).

The attraction here, the center of attraction, is sex. So, boys and girls or any, in younger age there is that sex impulse increase and want mating. A female wants male; male wants female. This is the attraction. This is the basic principle of binding the conditioned soul in this miserable life of repeated birth and death. This attraction.

Therefore Vedic civilization is based on how to get out of this attraction. The varṇāśrama-dharma . . . there is attraction, you cannot avoid it. To best . . . to make the best use of a bad bargain. Therefore, from the very beginning, a child is trained how to become brahmacārī. Brahmacārī. No sex life up to twenty-five years.

Throughout the whole life, but at least for twenty-five years. That is called brahmacārī-āśrama. But if one is still persistent for sex life after being trained for twenty-five years, he is allowed to marry. That is called gṛhastha-āśrama. And because he has been trained up to be detached from sex life, so, for some time he enjoys, then he gives it up. Just like Mahārāja Parīkṣit. Jahau. Virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau. There was training; therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja could give up.

It is not so easy to give up attraction for kingdom, wife, children and motorcar and paśu, and animals, and so many . . . he was king, emperor. How much possession he had. So it is not very easy to give up the attraction for these possession. Therefore it is called virūḍhām, virūḍhāṁ mamatām. The attraction is so deep-rooted. The example is this: a tree standing. It does not want to give it up. Capture. So the attraction begins from this sex attraction. Puṁsaḥ mithunī-bhāva . . .

puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ

tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ

(SB 5.5.8)

In the beginning there is attraction. A man wants woman, woman wants man. But as soon as they're united, that attraction becomes deep-rooted. First of all desire. At that time, the attraction is not deep-rooted, but as soon as they are united, either legally or illegally, that attraction becomes deep-rooted, virūḍhām. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ tayor mithaḥ, as soon as they unite, hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ, is, they, now that attraction becomes a hard knot into the heart, always thinking of, "Oh, he's my lover," "She is my lover," like that. That attraction.

So then, after they're united . . . just like one married couple, as soon as they're married or united, ataḥ gṛha. Gṛha. Gṛha means apartment, home. They must live very nicely. Then kṣetra. Kṣetra means field. Formerly there was no industry. The earning, means of livelihood, was agriculture. Everyone must have some land to produce grains, fruits, that's all; milk.

First of all, apartment; then, to maintain the expenditure, now we have invented industry or trade and so many things—pick-pocketing, killing. So many things. Formerly the means of livelihood was very simple: take some land and work little, produce your grains, and the cows are there, you take milk. So milk, vegetables, grains, your economic question is solved.

So first of all, gṛha, home; then kṣetra. Kṣetra means field. I must produce my food. Ato gṛha-kṣetra, then child. Because married life without any issue, that is not very happy. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita has said, putra-hīnaṁ gṛhaṁ śūnyam: "Family life without a child is zero." It is zero. There are . . .

He has calculated some zeros. First zero is, avidyaṁ jīvanaṁ śūnyam: "One who is not educated, his life is zero." Avidyaṁ jīvanaṁ śūnyaṁ. Diśaḥ śūnyā abāndhavāḥ. You are going to some touring, visiting, but if where you are going, if there is no temple or friend, then your touring will be zero. Therefore Indian system is when they are tourist, they go to different pilgrimages, or some friends' house.

Avidyaṁ jīvanaṁ śūnyaṁ diśaḥ śūnyā abāndhavāḥ putra-hīnaṁ gṛhaṁ śūnyam. And you have married, but if there is no issue, then it is zero. Putra-hīnaṁ gṛhaṁ śūnyam. Sarva-śūnyā daridratā. And if you have no money, then everything is zero. Even in spite of having a home or child or education . . . there are so many educated; if they have no employment, their life is zero.

So, ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ (SB 5.5.8). As soon as we are united, male and female, then these things are required: nice home or apartment, some field for producing food, then some friends, suta, then children. Children, friends . . .

Then money also. Without money . . . because without money, everything will be zero. In this way, just like a tree gradually expands his root, so our attraction, that male-female attraction, becomes deeply rooted by these things, gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho 'yam.

This is illusion. This is illusion. Janasya moho 'yam ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8), this mamatā: "This is 'I'; this is mine." And one day, the Mr. Death will come, he'll break everything, smash everything. We forget that. But we want to remain here with this sense of "I" and "mine." But Bhagavad-gītā says, Kṛṣṇa says that, "These rascals who are not God conscious, and creating ahaṁ mameti, very, very big scheme to become happy, the whole happiness is dismantled by Me as death." Kṛṣṇa ultimately comes as death. Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu, he was planning so many things, but Nṛsiṁha-deva appeared as death and smashed everything. Everything.

Therefore, when Prahlāda Mahārāja was offered material benediction, so he said: "My dear Lord, what You are offering me? I have already seen all these things. My father was so powerful that even demigods would be threatened by his red eyes, and he expanded his influence all over the universe. But You have finished it within a second. So why shall I ask for such benediction? If You want to give me some benediction, please engage me in some service of Your servant. That is real benediction."

Caitanya Mahāprabhu also recommended, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ (CC Madhya 13.80): to become a servant of servant of servant of servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is paramparā system. In that way one can give up the deep attachment for all these our creation, our developing attachment, gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ. At any moment, all these production of attachment can be dismantled, and it is being done so.

But they have no knowledge. They have no knowledge. They are thinking that they will be able to enjoy this expansion of attachment, ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). No. You cannot enjoy. Even if you enjoy, it is for a few years only. But your existence is not for few years. You are eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). You'll not die after your destruction of this body.

Death means sleeping for seven months. That's all. Then again you get another body. As soon as I give up this body, I enter in the womb of another mother to get another body. The mother creates the body, and as soon as the body's fit, it comes out. So the period when I give up this body, enter into the womb of mother and manufacture another body and come out, it takes about seven months. So during that seven months, we do not know what is happening. That is death. Death means that. Otherwise, there is no death. The spirit soul is eternal.

So we do not know what is our eternal need. We do not know. There is no such education, neither these rascals know that they're eternal. They think that, "By chance, we have got this body, some way or other, and as soon as the body's finished, everything's finished. So long this body is there, the senses are there, let us enjoy sense enjoyment."

This is the civilization. Because there will be no more sense. They give importance to the senses; that this is an opportunity of sense gratification. But they do not inquire wherefrom this sense came, and it is so important, and we are taking . . . giving so many importance to the sense enjoyment program. That they do not know. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31).

Neither do they know what is living entity, what are the senses, what is the goal of life. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. They are simply making plans for driving car and flyways and so on. Plan is going on, one after another, one after another. But the problems are increasing.

Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja's example is very nice. As soon as he understood from his spiritual master that, "Kṛṣṇa is the goal of life" and he became Kṛṣṇa conscious, he immediately, oh, the mamatāṁ jahau, virūḍhāṁ mamatāṁ jahau. This is required.

Read the purport.

Pradyumna: "To become liberated means to become free from dehātma-buddhi, the illusory attachment for personal bodily coverings and everything connected with the body, namely the wife, children and all other entanglements. One selects a wife for bodily comforts, and the result is children. For wife and children one requires a dwelling place, and as such a residential house is also necessary."

"The animals like horses, elephants, cows, dogs, etc. are all household animals, and a householder has to keep them as household paraphernalia. In the modern civilization the horses and elephants have been replaced by cars and conveyances with considerable horsepower. To maintain all the household affairs, one has to increase the bank balance and be careful about the treasury house, and in order to display the opulence of material assets, one has to keep good relations with friends and relatives, as well as become very careful about maintaining the status quo. This is called material civilization of material attachment."

"Devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa means negation of all material attachments as detailed above. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Mahārāja Parīkṣit was awarded all material amenities and an undisputed kingdom to enjoy the undisturbed position of king, but by the grace of the Lord he was able to give up all connection with material attachment. That is the position of a pure devotee."

"Mahārāja Parīkṣit, due to his natural affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa as a devotee of the Lord, was always executing his royal duties on behalf of the Lord, and as a responsible king of the world he was always careful to see that the influence of Kali would not enter his kingdom. A devotee of the Lord never thinks of his household paraphernalia as his own, but surrenders everything for the service of the Lord. Thereby living entities under a devotee's care get the opportunity for God realization by the management of a devotee master."

"Attachment for household paraphernalia and for Lord Kṛṣṇa go poorly together. One attachment is the path of darkness, and the other attachment is the path of light. Where there is light, there is no darkness, and where there is darkness, there is no light. But an expert devotee can turn everything to the path of light by service attitude of the Lord, and the best example here is the Pāṇḍavas."

"Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and householders like him can turn everything into light by dovetailing so-called material assets in the service of the Lord, but one who is not trained up or is unable to turn everything to the service of the Lord (nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe) must give up all material connections before he can be fit to hear and chant the glories of the Lord."

"Or in other words, one who has seriously heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for one day even, like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, from a fit personality like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, may be able to lose all affinity for material things. There is no utility simply in imitating Mahārāja Parīkṣit and hearing Bhāgavatam from professional men even for seven hundred years."

"To take Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a means of maintaining family expenditure is the grossest type of nāmāparādha offense at the feet of the Lord (sarva-śubha-kriyā-sāmyam api pramādaḥ)."

Prabhupāda: So Parīkṣit Mahārāja could give up the attachment within a few days. Not abruptly, but he was prepared. His training was there. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe. That is our philosophy, Rūpa Gosvāmī's definition.

anāsaktasya viṣayān

yathārham upayuñjataḥ

nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe

yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255)

Anāsaktasya viṣayān. Viṣaya means necessities of the body—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. So one should understand that, "I am this body. I am not this body, but because I am now encaged within this body, so I must maintain the body also, without being attached."

Just like you have got a nice car. You require it for movement. But you should . . . you know very well that, "I am not this car. I am taking service from the car. The car should be maintained to give me regular service, not that I shall identify with this car."

Similarly, this body is just like car, mechanical car. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā (BG 18.61). Māyā has given us this car for satisfying our desires. Sometimes it is called field, kṣetra. We want to work on this, just like agriculturist work on his field and produce some result.

Similarly, we are working on this field—we are moving by this car but I am not this field, I am not this car. If one has understood this philosophy that, "I am not this body . . ." But "I am not this body," that does not mean I shall neglect it. I must maintain it, because . . . the same example: if I want to move nicely, my car must be maintained very nicely.

So our business should be not to be attached by the car or the body, but to maintain it for our work, and our real business is to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our . . . just like we move by the car to go some business. So car is not my business. I have got a different business. Similarly, our real business is this human form of life, how to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is our real business.

And to execute that real business, we take help of this car. That's all. Maintain it nicely, cleanse it, give gasoline and Mobil oil and tire tube. That is required, because you have to move. So don't . . . we don't say that, "It is mithyā, it is false." That is Māyāvādī's ver . . . brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā: "This material world is false." We don't say false. We don't say false, because we have to take work from it. Why shall I say false? When I take some work from the typewriter or some other machine, why shall I say it is false? It is real.

So our philosophy is we don't neglect this material world as false. That is pseudo, pseudo renunciation. You cannot give up. Why should you call it false? Sometimes . . . just like some materialists, they criticize that, "You are using material things. Why do you say 'false'?" So that criticism is applicable to the Māyāvādī philosopher, who says jagan mithyā, "This whole material world is false."

Brahmā satyaṁ jagan mithyā. We don't say false. We say: "It is temporary. It is temporary, and I have to take some benefit out of it," because I am in this material world. How can I say it is false? I must eat. How can I say eating false? That is not our philosophy.

But we must eat something which will help me in my real business. My real business is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore I must eat kṛṣṇa-prasādam. That will maintain my body and help my business. This is our philosophy.

Thank you.

Devotees: All glories. Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda. (devotees offer obeisances) (end)