730509 - Lecture SB 01.08.47 - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1973

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

730509SB-LOS ANGELES - May 09, 1973 - 32:28 Minutes

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

āha rājā dharma-sutaś

cintayan suhṛdāṁ vadham

prākṛtenātmanā viprāḥ

sneha-moha-vaśaṁ gataḥ

(SB 1.8.47)

āha—said; rājā—King Yudhiṣṭhira; dharma-sutaḥ—the son of dharma or Yamarāja; cintayan—thinking of; suhṛdām—of the friends; vadham—killing; prākṛtena—by material conception only; ātmanā—by the self; viprāḥ—O brāhmaṇas; sneha—affection; moha—delusion; vaśam—being carried away by; gataḥ—having gone.

Translation: "King Yudhiṣṭhira, son of dharma, overwhelmed by the death of his friends, was aggrieved just like a common, materialistic man. O sages, thus deluded by affection, he began to speak."

Prabhupāda: So when friends die, family members die, we talk of that we are not this body. Theo . . . not theory, this is actually the fact. I say, you say, everyone says. At least, we have understood from Bhagavad-gītā, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13), the body is different from the soul. And it is also clearly said, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). After the destruction of the body, the soul is not destroyed. He remains. He gets another body. Arjuna was also consoled by Kṛṣṇa that, "Why you are so much anxious about your grandfather? He will get another body, new body. What is the use of this old body?"

So actually that is the fact. But still, why a man becomes aggrieved when the body is lost? That is explained here, that sneha-moha, illusion of affection. Actually, there is nothing to be aggrieved. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). Dhīra, those who are sober, they are not bewildered. Sober man knows that "My this relative, my father or my brother, my grandfather, his death means he is changing this body. He is going to another body. He is not dead."

So dhīra . . . dhīra means one who is not disturbed. That requires training. In great dangerous position, one is not disturbed, that is not ordinary thing. Therefore the word has been used, dhīra. Dhīra and adhīra. There are two classes of men. Dhīra means acts very conscientiously, without being disturbed by the external factors. I have explained several times the dhīra. The example of dhīra is given in the Kumāra-sambhava poetry by Kālidāsa. We had our syllabus studying Kumāra-sambhava in our I.A. class in college. So there the example, Kālidāsa is giving example: the dhīra is Lord Śiva. Just see.

The story is when Lord Śiva lost his wife in the dakṣa-yajña . . . Dākṣāyaṇī, daughter of Mahārāja Dakṣa, became the wife of Lord Śiva. And because Lord Śiva sometimes by chance did not show any good respect to Dakṣa, so there was misunderstanding between the son-in-law and father-in-law, and the episode ended that Dākṣāyaṇī, the wife of Lord Śiva, gave her life. His (her) father was very much angry upon the son-in-law. So she wanted to mitigate the misunderstanding, but her father was very stubborn. So at last she said: "My dear father, you are thinking of Lord Śiva, my husband, as ordinary man, and you have become so angry. So this is due . . . you are thinking that I am your daughter. So all right, I have got this body from you. I am returning you." So she immediately died.

So dakṣa-yajña, the Lord Śiva's devotees, they massacred all the yajña arena. You know dakṣa-yajña. Mahārāja Dakṣa was also cut off by his head, and he was put in a goat's head, in this way. So after the death of his wife, Lord Śiva was very much aggrieved. He went to the forest and engaged himself in meditation. So there was a need of one soldier commander, and the calculation was that such soldier must be there, by the demigods . . . because there was always fighting between the demigods and the demons, so to kill the demons, there was need of a very great soldier who must be born by Lord Śiva, by the semina of Lord Śiva. So at that time Pārvatī, Dākṣāyaṇī, after death she has taken another body as daughter of King of Himalaya, Pārvatī. Therefore her name was at that time Pārvatī. Pārvatī means "the daughter of Parvata." Parvata means mountain.

So the plan was that within the womb of Pārvatī and by the semina of Lord Śiva, one son must take birth, and later on he took, and his name was Kārttikeya. Kārttikeya was born. So, but they were . . . Lord Śiva was in meditation, and Pārvatī was not married at that time with Lord Śiva, although she was destined to marry Lord Śiva. Because in the transcendental world, the husband and wife, they are also eternal. Even the wife or husband changes body, again they become husband and wife. This is in the higher sense. They do not separate. So . . . but Lord Śiva was in meditation. And it is very difficult to break his meditation. So he was naked, and Pārvatī was engaged to worship śiva-liṅga, the genital of Lord Śiva. Still in the Vedic culture, there is worshiping of śiva-liṅga, the genital of Lord Śiva. So Pārvatī was engaged to worship the genital of Lord Śiva. Certainly there was touching by young girl, but he was not agitated. So Kālidāsa said: "Here is a dhīra. Here is dhīra." We become excited by seeing one beautiful girl. But the most beautiful girl, young, she was touching the genital of Lord Śiva, still there was no disturbance.

So here is the example of dhīra. Dhīra means who are not sexually disturbed, even there is cause, even there is cause of disturbance. A young woman . . . therefore the woman's name is Kāminī. Kāminī . . . kāma means lust. So they invoke one's lust. Therefore by nature, women are beautiful, they dress themselves beautifully. This is nature, to invoke the lusty desire of man. So according to Vedic civilization, woman, when she is dressed nicely and she is beautiful, she must invoke lusty desires. Therefore Vedic civilization does not allow a woman to be nicely dressed unless she is before her husband. Unless she is before her husband. Because if she, I mean to say, agitates the lusty desires of all others, that is not very good. So woman is allowed to dress herself very nicely when her husband is present. Otherwise she will not dress.

There are some restrictions. Proṣita-bhartṛkā. By the woman's dress, one will understand who is she—whether she is living with her husband, whether she is widow, whether she is unmarried, or whether her husband is out of home, or whether she is prostitute. The culture is so nice, simply by the dress one will understand that, "Here is a woman, her husband is not at home. Here is a woman, she is widow. Here is a woman, she is prostitute." In this way, there are. "Here is a woman, she is not married." By dress, one will understand. That vermilion sign means she is married. When she is nicely dressed, oh, she has her husband at home. When she is in white cloth, without any ornament, she is widow. When the sīmanta . . . what is called in English, sīmanta? This? Parting. If it is not in the middle, it is in side, she is a prostitute. So woman should dress in such a way that man will understand. And not married, she will not have this veil. It must be open. So anyway, these are social customs in the Vedic civilization.

So a girl is advised to worship śiva-liṅga. Just like we will find in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the neighboring girls of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they were going to the Ganges. In our childhood we have seen, our sisters; they were also worshiping. Mother taught them. Now these things are gone. Nobody is worshiping śiva-liṅga because there are so many liṅgas. So this custom (laughs) is now gone. Anyway, this girl, Pārvatī, was engaged to worship the liṅga, or the genital, of Lord Śiva, but Lord Śiva was not disturbed. So that is called example of dhīra. Dhīra means very sober, not disturbed. That soberness can be had . . . that is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: dhīras tatra na muhyati (BG 2.13). And how one can become dhīra? Now:

yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ

manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ

yasmin sthito na duḥkhena

guruṇāpi vicālyate

(BG 6.22)

There is a stage of highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness when one is fully in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he doesn't want anything, what to speak of the sense gratification. He is no more in need of anything. If one gets Kṛṣṇa, if he is confident about Kṛṣṇa, and if he is confident that "Now I have got the shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, I don't want anything . . ."

Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. There are so many examples. Dhruva Mahārāja so severely underwent austerities, penances, meditation, to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The purpose was that, "When I will see Lord Viṣṇu, I will ask some benediction so that I can get better kingdom than my father." He was insulted by his stepmother. So ambition was how to get a better kingdom than his father or his grandfather, Lord Brahmā. That was his ambition. But when he actually saw Lord Viṣṇu, and He was ready to give him any benediction, he said: "O my dear Lord, I am quite satisfied. I don't want any benediction."

Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce (CC Madhya 22.42): "My dear Lord, I am so satisfied that I have no more need of asking any benediction." This is perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When he is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has achieved all success—so why he will ask for anything more? He is so full in power and satisfaction that even great calamity, dangerous position, he doesn't care. He doesn't care. He knows that "These things are coming and going. Why I shall be agitated? Let me depend on Kṛṣṇa."

Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja. So many times he was tortured by his father. He never became agitated. His father's only request was that "You give up this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra." He would not give up. So this is determination. This is called gravity, and this is called soberness, that you go on talking like this. Just like in pushing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, so many dangers we have to meet. But we don't care for it. If I am, I mean to say, real servant of Kṛṣṇa, then this movement will go on, in spite of so many obstacles. So that is called soberness. Dhīras tatra na muhyati.

So Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was that kind of dhīra. He is the son of dharmarāja, dharma-putra, highly elevated. So everyone was astonished that "How he is aggrieved for the death of his relatives!" Because the other side, Duryodhana was his cousin-brother. All the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, they played together, they ate together, they were family members, friends, and . . . but there was misunderstanding.

(break) . . . life is coming out of matter. Now you, daily you are slaughtering animals. Now, what do you see? The bones and the blood and the flesh and urine and the stool, after cutting this body. So these are the ingredients out of which this man has come or this animal has come. Take these ingredients and create another living entity. There is no answer. What do you think, scientist? These are the ingredients we will see. But can anyone manufacture a life? No, that is not possible.

Therefore who are thinking, anyone who is thinking that "I am this combination of bones and blood or chemicals . . ." They will say some jugglery of words, combination of chemical, "Take this chemical." No, that is not possible. Therefore it is my mistake to think that "I am a product of this material thing." That is nonsense. Sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). Such person who is thinking like that, that "I am the combination of this matter," he is no better than the cows and the asses. Sa eva go-kharaḥ. Everything is detailed in there.

yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke

sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ

yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij

janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ

(SB 10.84.13)

Anyone who is thinking this bag of bones and flesh as the "I am," "I am this body," and out of this misconception, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke, sva-dhīḥ, "Out of this body or in relationship with this body, the persons, men and woman, they are my kinsmen. They are my nationality, they are my society . . ." Sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (SB 10.84.13). "And where this body is produced, that land is my land, motherland." "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am German," "I am this." And we are mad after this, this, these nationalists.

In this way, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhīḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicit. They go to the place, holy places of pilgrimage, and they take their bath. In India you will see, so many people are going to Haridwar, Vṛndāvana, and take their bath and shave their head, and then come back—"I went to tīrtha, holy place." That is not tīrtha. Tīrtha means to meet a high-grade saintly person. Tīrtha. Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni (SB 1.13.10). They make tīrtha holy place.

Anywhere a saintly person is there, that is tīrtha. That is holy place. Not that I have to go Haridwar, five thousand miles from here. Wherever there is experienced holy persons, that is tīrtha. But they do not know. They go five hundred, five thousand miles away. Sometimes from your country they go to find out a guru in India. (laughs) And the guru who is canvassing here, he is useless. He is useless. So these things. Anyone who is of such conception of life, they have been described as asses and cows, means an animal.

So this sneha-moha, this so-called material affection, it is due to prākṛtena ātmanā. When we consider this body, "I am this body," then this sneha-moha, this illusion of affection, comes. Ātmanā. This ātma-śabda can be used in terms of this body, in terms of the mind, and in terms of the spirit soul. Therefore, distinctly it has been differentiated: prākṛtena ātmanā. Prākṛta means this body is prākṛta. This is not aprākṛta. But the soul is aprākṛta. Aprākṛta means not material, and prākṛta means material. So those who are absorbed in this material concept of life, they become in this way delusioned, or illusioned. Yasyātma-buddhiḥ. So the others, they considered that, "The Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira's this illusion is due to his conception of this body." This we have to avoid.

This question was raised by Arjuna also that, "I understand that I am not this body and my grandfather is not this body. Still, I am affected when my body or my grandfather is in danger." So what Kṛṣṇa advised? Kṛṣṇa advised, "Yes, that affection is possible." I know that I am not this body, theoretically or . . . but if somebody comes to cut my body, I will be very much protective. Although I know . . . I cannot feel that "I am not this body; let the body be cut off. I don't mind." No. Then Kṛṣṇa said that this position . . . āgamāpāyinaḥ anityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). "These temporary happiness and distress which come and go like seasonal changes . . ."

Seasonal changes. Just like there is summer season, there is winter season. So sometimes it is very cold, sometimes it is very warm. And how these feelings are appreciated? Due to this body. The water is the same, but in summer season water is very pleasing to take bath. The same water is very troublesome to take bath in winter season.

So according to the changes of the season and according to the affection of this material body, we are feeling pains and pleasure. Otherwise there is no pains and pleasure. Asaṅgo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.16). Ātmā, real spirit soul . . . just like our scientist was asking whether soul is dependent on the matter. No. Soul is independent. Asaṅgo 'yaṁ puruṣaḥ. That is the Vedic instruction. It is never affected. Although therefore it requires knowledge. It requires knowledge. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya (BG 2.14). Our pains and pleasure we feel on account of this skin, mātrā-sparśāḥ. So we should not deviate from the duty.

Even there are pains and pleasure due to this body, we should not deviate from our duty. That is the instruction of the śāstra. It is not that because it is very . . . I am feeling very much cold, I shall not take my bath. No. That's my duty. I must take. And because I am feeling very hot, therefore I shall not go to the kitchen; there shall be no cooking today. No, that is not possible. Cooking must go on. Similarly, despite all difficulties, all inconveniences on account of this false body, one must do his duty. And that was the instruction to be given to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira.

So that is applicable in every field of life, that we must chalk out what is our duty. And it must go on in any condition. It doesn't matter I am feeling pain or pleasure. That is the instruction.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya, all glories to you Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)