Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.7

Nitāi: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyāṁ kṛṣṅe parama-pūruṣe bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā [SB 1.7.7]

[break] [00:42]

"...the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness."

Prabhupāda:

yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyāṁ kṛṣṅe parama-pūruṣe bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā [SB 1.7.7]

In the previous verse we have discussed how to be free from the unwanted association, anartha. Anartha upaśamaṁ sākṣāt [SB 1.7.6]. Material life means to be involved with so many unwanted things. That is material life. At the present moment, especially in this Kali-yuga, we are very, very much fallen. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ [SB 1.1.10].

[O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.]

Prāyeṅa alpa āyuṣaḥ kalāv asmin yuge janāḥ. So this human life is especially meant for cultivating Kṛṣṅa consciousness, or spiritual understanding of life. Unfortunately, we are very, very slow, manda. Manda means bad, fallen, abominable. The whole population in this age, they are very, very fallen, manda. Why manda? They have advanced so much in material comforts. That is not required. Real requisition is how to develop our spiritual understanding. That is wanted. But they are not interested, manda. Manda means slow or very, very bad. They do not know.

People say... Just like you go in European and American cities for chanting Hare Kṛṣṅa, and especially the Indian gentlemen, they come. They laugh. They say, "What is this? We have rejected the so-called Hare Kṛṣṅa chanting, and these people have taken, and chanting in the street." They think that... Many students in Europe and America, Indian students I mean to say, they put forward that question to me, "Swāmījī, how this Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra will help us? At the present moment we require technology." They challenge me. Of course, I reply. This is the position of India. They have given up Hare Kṛṣṅa. They are working very hard for getting some money for bread. It is said in the śāstra that in the Kali-yuga people will have to work so hard, like an ass, to get their morsel of food. We have seen in Calcutta, somebody with sacred thread, he was pulling ṭhelā and perspirating. And somebody known to him, he said, "Paṅḍitjī, palale[?]," means "I offer my respect to you," and the ṭhelā-wālā says, jitalau[?]. This is the position. A brāhmaṅa is pulling ṭhelā; it is working like an ass. Pulling ṭhelā is not the business of human being, but although he thinks himself to be a brāhmaṅa, he is engaged in pulling ṭhelā. This is Kali's position, manda. Mandāḥ manda-matayo manda-bhāgyāḥ [SB 1.1.10], unfortunate. Unfortunate.

Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva has forbidden, that "This life, human form of life, is not meant for working so hard like hogs and dogs." Nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛloke kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye [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.]

This is the advice. But we are advancing in civilization—to get our food, we have to work so hard. This is condemnation of life. Human life should be very peaceful, and without any hard work we shall get our food and save time for advancing in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is human life, not that for sense gratification we work so hard like an ass. This is called anartha. Anartha means unwanted things. We can see practically. The birds and beasts, they are living very easy and comfortable life without any problem. They rise early in the morning regularly. You have seen. As soon as there is little light, immediately they will rise up and they will talk amongst themselves and go, one tree to another, and he will eat one or two fruits, little fruits, ample fruit. They have no scarcity of food. And live very pleasantly. For eating, sleeping, sex life, they have no problem. These are primary necessities of life. Why there should be problem for these things? But in the human society there is problem. That is called the effect of Kali-yuga. Effect of Kali-yuga means the so-called advancement of material civilization means to become godless, immoral, and they must suffer. That is going on.

So we are increasing our anarthas, anarthas, and we are becoming entangled in the cycle of birth and death. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate [Bg 8.19]. Once we take a certain type of body, we enjoy or suffer for some time; then again we have to give up this body, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [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.]

and there is no guarantee what sort of body you are going to get. But it is certain that you are going to get a body. And that may be offered to you by the laws of nature. It may be an important..., more important body than what we have got just now, or it may be less important. It may be cats and dog or hog, and it may be the body of demigod. That is according to karma. So in this way we are passing our life eternally. Bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate. We get one type of body, and again we give it up. Dehāntara-prāptiḥ. This is called anartha, anartha. Anartha upaśamam. What is that anartha? This is anartha. Why shall I get a new type of body? I am eternal. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg 2.20]. Why I am getting this temporary body? This is called brahma-jijñāsā.

Unless a man is awakened to this consciousness, "Why?"—Kena Upaniṣad—he is not human being; he is animal. The animal cannot question. The dog cannot question that "Why I have got this dog's body, and my master has got the human body?" No. He has no such knowledge. But if a human being cannot consider that "I am also an animal, and this dog is also animal. I am situated so comfortably, and the dog is loitering in the street for a little food. Why this condition...?" So śāstra says, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg 2.13]. One should think that "If I get another body, whether I shall get the dog's body or a human body or demigod's body?" That is consideration. That is intelligence. Not that "Because I have got this American comfortable body or Indian comfortable body, I should be very much satisfied and do whatever nonsense I think." No. We are under the grip of the stringent laws of material nature. Kāraṅaṁ guṅa-saṅgaḥ asya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu [Bg 13.22]. This is human intelligence. One should not be satisfied with this comfortable or so-called educated human body. We should be prepared what we are going to get next. That is real knowledge. Because it is anartha. Anartha means unwanted. "Why shall I get at all any body? I am eternal; I must live eternally." That is human knowledge. That is called brahma-jijñāsā.

So Vyāsadeva, vidvān... Vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām [SB 1.7.6]. He is learned; we are all fools. Yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyām [SB 1.7.7]. If we... He has made for us. He is compassionate. Strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnām [SB 1.4.25].

[Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahābhārata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born.]

Those who are actually advanced brāhmaṅa, they take care of. But those who are not brāhmaṅas—strī, śūdra, vaiśya and dvija-bandhu... Dvija-bandhu means born in higher family, brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya or vaiśya, but does not take care of the real values of life or does not know what is spiritual life. He is called dvija-bandhu. Dvija-bandhu means "a friend of a dvija." He cannot be called the born of a dvija. This particular name is very significant, dvija-bandhu. Just like a son of a high-court justice. You can call him the son of the justice, but he is not justice. Similarly, a son born in brāhmaṅa family, kṣatriya family, higher circle, if he does not act like that, then he should be called according to his qualification. Tat tenaiva vinirdiśet yady anyatra vinirdiśet [SB 7.11.35].

[If one shows the symptoms of being a brāhmaṅa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.]

This is the instruction of Nārada Muni. If the son of a brāhmaṅa has acquired the qualities of a śūdra, then he should be called a śūdra, not a brāhmaṅa. Unfortunately the..., in India especially, where we have got all the śāstras, against the śāstras, without any qualification of a brāhmaṅa one is claiming to be brāhmaṅa. In Mahārāja Pṛthu's time, he was especially supervising whether a brāhmaṅa is engaged in his brahminical activities, whether a kṣatriya is engaged in his kṣatriya activities. Not that a brāhmaṅa is engaged in śūdra activities and he should be called a brāhmaṅa. That was restricted formerly.

So if we want to become free from anartha, then we must follow the Vedic way of civilization. Guṅa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ. Cātur-varṅyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṅa-karma-vibhāg... [Bg 4.13].

[According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.]

According... The other day I was suggesting the governor that "Open varṅāśrama college." As we are training a medical practitioner and an engineer or any particular type of line, similarly, there must be training school and college where a person or a boy may be educated as a brāhmaṅa or as a kṣatriya. It is very simple thing. We should not... I was suggesting, "The secular government does not mean that let people do whatever he likes." No. Yata mata tata patha. No, that is not... A government's duty is, if anyone is proclaiming himself a Hindu, the government must see that he is acting as a Hindu. If a person is claiming to be Mussulman, he must act as a Mussulman. That is secular government. Secular government may be impartial, but it is not the government's duty to let the people to be whimsical: "Whatever he likes, he can do." No. That is not civilization. So we were discussing on this point.

So these anarthas will increase as long as we are godless rascals and demons. Therefore here it is suggested, anartha upaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje. If you want to be a right gentleman, means according to your position... If you are a brāhmaṅa, you should act as a brāhmaṅa; if you are a kṣatriya, you should act as a kṣatriya; if you are a vaiśya, you act as a vaiśya; and if you are none of them, then you are a śūdra. In this way, if we live like a gentleman, then we can make progress further in spiritual advancement. If we live foolishly, whimsically, as we like, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ [Bg 16.23],

[But he who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.]

whatever we like, and others engaged, "Yes, whatever you do, it is right," yata mata tata patha, this is rascaldom. No, you must act according to the śāstra. But there may be question that "Whether it is possible now to revive the old cultural position?"

Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore not condemned, but rejected. When He was talking with Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya, so Caitanya Mahāprabhu was putting question, and Rāmānanda Rāya was answering. So in the beginning Caitanya Mahāprabhu enquired from Rāmānanda Rāya, "What is the aim of life?" Sādhya-sādhana. "What is the aim of life, and how to achieve it?" So Rāmānanda Rāya, he was a learned scholar and devotee, he prescribed the varṅāśrama-dharma. He said, "This is the beginning of human life." And he quoted a verse from the Viṣṅu Purāṅa,

varṅāśramācāravatā puruṣeṅa paraḥ pumān viṣṅur ārādhyate nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṅam [Cc Madhya 8.58]

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṅu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṅa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṅas and āśramas.’]

Because our aim of life is to approach Lord Viṣṅu. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31].

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

The modern civilization, they do not know it, na te viduḥ, that what is the aim of life. The aim of life is to satisfy Lord Viṣṅu. This the aim of life. Just like ordinarily, the common citizen, a good citizen, his duty is to abide by the laws of the state. That is called good citizen. And if you do not become a good citizen, then you are put into the prison house, good citizen and bad citizen. Similarly, the aim of human life is to approach Viṣṅu.

But the materialistic person, they do not care for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they manufacture their own plan with materialistic idea. Durāśayā ye bahir-artha... Bahir-artha, the external necessity, that is called bahir-artha. The bahir-artha and anartha is the same thing. Because that is not necessity. We are born under certain laws of the nature. Now instead of trying to improve this... That cannot be improved, because the destiny is there. If you are to enjoy a certain type of happiness, it is there already with your birth. A particular type of body which you have obtained, that is already there. You don't require to improve it. It will never be improved. So our main business is how to improve in spiritual life. That is required. Materially... But if you improve in spiritual life, then if you have got any desire for material improvement, that will be automatically served. You don't require to try for it separately.

tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā [SB 1.5.18]

This is the conclusion of the śāstra, that "You have got this human form of life. Your only business is how to advance in spiritual consciousness, or Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is your only business."

But because we are surrounded by so many unwanted things, anartha, we are becoming entangled in the cycle of birth and death and old age and disease in different forms. So we do not know it. Most people, they do not know it. Therefore Vyāsadeva, lokasya ajānataḥ. Because these fools and rascals, they do not know it, therefore he has compiled the sātvata-saṁhitā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And the next, it is recommended,

yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyāṁ kṛṣṅe parama-pūruṣe bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā [SB 1.7.7]

The bhakti-yoga means to become free from these anarthas, unwanted things we have created. Now, how it will be..., how we shall become free from the anarthas, that is recommended, yasyāṁ vai śrū... "That sātvata-saṁhitā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, if we hear regularly..." Yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyām. Simply by hearing. You don't require to understand even; the hearing is so powerful. That is stated in other place, śṛṅvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṅaḥ puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ [SB 1.2.17].

[Śrī Kṛṣṅa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.]

Kṛṣṅa-kathā is puṅya-śravaṅa-kīrtanaḥ. If you simply hear and talk about Kṛṣṅa, you become pious, pious. Even if you don't understand the Sanskrit or English, simply if we become eager to hear about Kṛṣṅa, then you become pious. It is so powerful.

Therefore it is recommended, yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyām. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

This should be our practice. We are giving this Bhāgavata translation all over the world. You will be surprised that we are selling more than thirty, forty lakhs of rupees per month. This movement is helping the whole human civilization. So yasyāṁ vai... If one purchases... That is our propaganda. Some way or other, we are giving one book. This is in the matter of following the footprints of our Guru Mahārāja. Our Guru Mahārāja, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī, he was publishing one small paper, Dainika Nadiya Prakash, in Bengali. And if a brahmacārī would go and sell a few copies, he would be very, very glad. He would be very, very glad. And similarly, he advised me also that "If you get some money, publish book." And he used to say that "This press propaganda, the publication propaganda, is bṛhad-mṛdaṅga." So just to satisfy him we are trying to publish this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Caitanya-caritāmṛta—very, very authoritative books—in English. And by the grace of Kṛṣṅa, it is unique in the history that religious book can be sold forty lakhs of rupees per month. It is record-breaking. There is no such instance. Because we are trying to give the opportunity, yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṅāyām [SB 1.7.7]. Simply by hearing he will become pious. People are suffering on account of becoming impious. So one cannot understand what is God, what is Kṛṣṅa, unless he has finished his impious activity.

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 principle, that you cannot keep men in their impious activities, at the same time he becomes religious, or God conscious. That is not possible. That is not possible. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has prescribed a very easy method to become pious. That is the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam [Cc Antya 20.12].

[Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṅa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṅa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.]

This is the process of cleansing the mirror of the heart. Mirror, when it isThe real disease is within our heart. Hṛd-roga-kāma. Hṛd-roga-kāma [Cc Antya 5.45–46]. We have got a disease, heart disease. What is that? Kāma, lusty desires. That is called hṛd-roga-kāma. So we have to cure this heart disease, hṛd-roga-kāma. And that will be done simply by chanting and hearing the Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra. Ceto-darpaṅa-mārjanam. The heart is all right, but it is covered by the material dirty things, namely the three guṅas: sattva-, raja-, tamo-guṅa. But by hearing simply Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, by hearing chanting of Hare Kṛṣṅa mantra, you will be purified. Nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣu abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā [SB 1.2.18].

[By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.]

Nityaṁ bhāga... If we take this opportunity... We are opening centers all over the world just to give the people this opportunity, nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Anartha upaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam [SB 1.7.6]. Then, as soon as the heart is cleansed by hearing about Kṛṣṅa... Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that: yāre dekha, tāre kaha kṛṣṅa-upadeśa [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.]

This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa because by hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will be interested in Kṛṣṅa: upadeśa about Kṛṣṅa. That is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, and the upadeśa, instruction, given by Kṛṣṅa, that is also kṛṣṅa-upadeśa.

So this is the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that you go and preach and make propaganda about kṛṣṅa-upadeśa. This is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement. We are teaching all our men how to spread kṛṣṅa-upadeśa, how to spread Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Then anartha upaśamaṁ sākṣāt. Then all the unwanted things he has contaminated will be finished. Then pure consciousness... Pure consciousness is Kṛṣṅa consciousness. Pure consciousness means to understand that "I am very much intimately connected with Kṛṣṅa as part and parcel." Just like my finger is very intimately connected with my body. Intimate... If there is little pain in the finger, I become so much disturbed because I have got intimate connection with this finger. Similarly, we have got intimate connection with Kṛṣṅa, and we are fallen. Therefore Kṛṣṅa also feels little pain, and therefore He comes down:

paritrāṅāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge [Bg 4.8]

[In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.]

Kṛṣṅa is feeling pain. So you become Kṛṣṅa conscious, then Kṛṣṅa will feel pleasure. That is Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]