Purifying Desire Through Krishna Consciousness
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapters
Purifying desires through spiritual activity
is free from the desires of sense, that is, he cannot call you a yogī. This is the verse from Bhagavad-gītā. Now, what is your opinion? Huh? How does this one desire? Yes, very intelligent answer.
He cannot be free from desires. That is not possible. They sometimes, some yogīs, some sannyāsīs, say that you give up your desires. That is not possible. I am a living entity. How can I give up my desire?
Desires must be; that is a living symptom. If I become desireless, that means I am dead. The desires can be stopped—cannot be stopped—but it has to be purified.
The whole sense activities are not to be stopped, but it has to be purified. Just like in our devotional service, we are taking advantage of these musical instruments, music, dancing, and artistic work.
Similarly, the materialistic persons, they also like dancing and music and art. But what is the difference? Here everything is for Krishna's satisfaction. The same desire—artistic desire, musical desire, dancing desire.
Everything is here. But they are meant for Krishna's service. That is desire. But I, personally, I have no desire. But for satisfying Krishna, I have got all desire.
Serving the mission of Krishna
That means your propensity to desire— it is explained by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. This kāma means desire. Kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe. We should think of always how to develop this Krishna consciousness movement.
Just like a person is thinking always how to improve his personal material position. Similarly, we shall think always how to improve the situation to fulfill Krishna's vision.
Krishna desires that everyone should surrender unto Him. He personally comes and desires: “Give up every type of religious principles and simply surrender unto Me.” He desires it.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu also desires the same way. They go everywhere and speak the philosophy of Krishna. Krishna desires, and Krishna in the form of Lord Caitanya, the devotee, He also desires; our spiritual master desires.
So we have to fulfill their desire. That's all. That is also another. I shall desire to fulfill the desires of my teacher. The desire is there. But so long I desire to satisfy my own senses, that is materialism.
But as soon as I desire to fulfill my higher authority, Krishna, Lord Caitanya, my spiritual master, then it ceases. So you haven't got to kill this.
You have to change the process, and that is changing the sarva-upādhi- vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam.
Transforming professional and family life
Our desires are now designated. I am desiring as Indian. I am desiring as Hindu. I am desiring as provincial. So these are our designative desires. They are not pure desires.
As soon as I think that I'm Indian, I have to fulfill the desires of my country, my countrymen.
That's why Arjuna was thinking, "I have to fulfill the desires of my family, of my country, of my nation, of my studies," and so many things. So these are all material.
So these material desires have to be purified by transferring the same desire to satisfy Krishna. That is, one has to learn how to desire. Desire cannot be killed. Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ... premā.
As soon as you try to fulfill the desires of Krishna, that is love of God. Why should you try to fulfill the desires of somebody else unless you have got love?
These boys and girls have given up everything and they are trying to push on forward this movement; that is their only desire. The desire is there.
They have also come here, leaving their own country, working very hard; the desire is there. You cannot say that desire left. But they have no desire for their personal gratification.
They are working under the direction of spiritual master to fulfill the desire of Krishna and Lord Caitanya. This is purification of the heart. Yes. So okay, what is it possible to do? Yes. No, no, no, it is done like that.
You work with great sincerity, your office work. Yes, Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā: yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat, yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam.
But if your desire is that working in the office, whatever result I get, I shall utilize it for Krishna, then there is no disturbance. You work very sincerely, very honestly in your office.
That working honestly, sincerely in the office is the personal service, if your desire is to give the result to Krishna. Now you get, say, one thousand rupees at the end of your month.
And now you make a program for your self-gratification. Now if you make a program for Krishna's satisfaction, then it is even by working in the office. Kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā. Divā cārthehayā rājan kuṭumba-bharaṇena vā.
The whole people, they are working very hard at the daytime to acquire money.
And as soon as they get money, they make provision for some enjoyment, either for personal or for family or some country or some society like that. That desire has to be changed.
That whatever you have got in your possession, that should be spent for the satisfaction of Krishna. That is true love. You can do the same thing for the satisfaction of Krishna.
And that is what we are wanting for yourself. For yourself. Right and other things. So we will get a clean thing for the heart. Yes. You are earning money for feeding your family.
So you adjust your family affairs in such a way that, like we have that. We are also eating. We are also sleeping. I may be a sannyāsī, but there are, I mean to say, gṛhasthas also.
So everyone is engaged for satisfying Krishna. Similarly, you can adjust your things; what we are doing here, you can do the same thing at your home. What is the difference? Family-wise. Here is also a big family.
You have got a small family. You have got a very big family. If we can manage, why you cannot manage? It is to be learned how to do it. That's all. How many members you have got? Huh? Three.
So if you can manage 300 or 30 at a time, you cannot manage three? That is to be learned. That is to be learned. Then you have to learn here how we are doing. Everyone can manage his family as well. It is not the bigger.
Simply you have to change the concept. Kṛṣṇa concept. Then either you remain at home or here, it is the same.
Renouncing fruits and supporting preaching
Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-saṅga. You can also, uh, establish a, uh, small deity. Instead of coming here, your family—husband, wife, your daughter—you can have maṅgala-ārati. That has to be adjusted.
Uh, if you are doing, then there is nothing to be done. That's another thing. But, uh, it has to be done. I don't think you are doing exactly what we are doing. That is, that is the art. That is the art.
You have to learn that. So desirelessness means, uh, not desiring for sense gratification. That is desire.
Otherwise, uh, we don't mean... nobody... we say that, uh, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca, na niragnir na cākriyaḥ. So this is the formula for becoming a yogī, sannyāsī.
Anāśritaḥ karma-phalam: everyone is trying to enjoy the fruit of his work. Everyone: "I am doing business, I shall earn millions of dollars, and I shall enjoy it." This is the fruit.
But one who does not think like that, that "the result I will not get." Suppose if there is profit, a million dollars, I'll not enjoy it. Krishna will enjoy. And I will spend it for Krishna. And that is your duty.
And you can do it. Krishna has got so many programs to execute that list. Here, do you think we don't require money? We require money. But how are we spending? These boys and girls, they are lying down on the floor.
They have gotten only, uh, one loincloth, but you know we are spending daily 150 rupees. We have got expenditure, so much. We have got forty centers, huge expenditure; in Europe, America, it is very expensive.
In a center, we spend according to Indian exchange 20,000 rupees per month. But still you see they have no any gorgeous dress, not any pompous living. But still we have an expense. But that expense is for Krishna.
That is the difference. Our expenditure is not less than any household or any big family. We have got heavy expenditure. But every expenditure is for Krishna. Work for Krishna and spend it for Him.
That is anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ.
Active meditation and unlimited service
Kāryam. And we are doing it as duties. Not that, "Oh, I may not." Everyone is trying to do more and more and more. Kāryam. Kāryam means, "It is my duty." It has to be there. It is not that voluntary I may do or may not do.
No, you must. Kāryam. Kāryam, is it not? Kāryam means must. Kāryam karma karoti yaḥ. Not that, uh, under the obligation of my āśrama and karma. No. Kāryam, it is my duty.
If you karoti yaḥ, one who acts like that, he is sannyāsī. It doesn't matter whether what dress he has got, he is sannyāsī. Yogi is yogi. Doing nothing and meditating, he's not yogi. Krishna said. You see the word.
Meditating for hours or days or years, but doing nothing for Krishna. That is not yoga. That is not yoga.
Krishna very explicitly says that: "anāśritaḥ karma- phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca, na niragnir na cākriyaḥ."
Akriya means those who do not do anything, simply meditate or read Vedānta-sūtra, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, but do not do anything. Krishna says: "No, they are not yogī, they are not sannyāsī."
Only that person who is working without any desire for enjoying the result. Now, the result will be there. Suppose you make a business and you got a profit of one million dollars.
But you have promised: "I will not take the results." Who takes? Huh? Yes. Just like we have got millions of dollars. You don't take food and clothing? So we are without food and clothing? No, no. And I didn't lose money.
Then we get very good food. Yeah. So what is your point? How are we utilizing money? We are getting daily two thousand, three thousand. What you are getting? All of three. We may be getting one thousand per month.
We are getting delicious food. Just see how you are spending. And you have to work very hard. And we simply go: "Please become our life member." And he immediately gives us 1,100. And we are spending that?
That you see our account, how you are spending, how you are getting money. Not only three thousand, if you get three millions of rupees daily, we can spend with practice, we have such a program. What is a thousand?
If He gives us the whole money of the world, we shall spend it for Krishna. Yajña-bhuk. Krishna is unlimited. His service is unlimited. And He wants unlimited money for His service. What the ordinary workers deserve...
They may desire for a few hundred or five thousand or two lakhs. We want the whole world's money for Krishna. And we know how to spend it for Krishna. This is our program.