Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.8
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Дели · 2018
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Invocation prayers and verse recitation
Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya. Naraṁ caiva narottamam. Devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ. Tato jayam udīrayet. Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. Bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī. Aśh-hṛd-hṛdaye nityaṁ. Kṛṣṇāya vāsudevāya devakī-nandanāya ca. Nandagopāya kumārāya govindāya namo namaḥ.
So today we are reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 4, Chapter 29, talks between Nārada and King Prācīnabarhi, text number 8. akṣiṇī nāsī karṇau mukhaṁ śiśna-guda iti dvāro bahir tad-indriya- samyutāḥ
akṣiṇī nā-sī karṇau akṣiṇī nāsī karṇau, mukhaṁ śiśna, gudaḥ, mukham śiśna, gudaḥ iti. dvāryo, dve dve, dve bahir-ataḥ, yasyaitad-indriya- samyutāḥ, etad-indriya-samyutāḥ.
akṣiṇī naisī karṇau. śiśnaḥ ca dve dve dvāro bahir-ataḥ, yasya tad-indriya- samyutāḥ.
akṣiṇī, two eyes; nāsī, two nostrils; karṇau, two ears; mukham, mouth; śiśna, genitals; guḍau, and rectum. It is dvāryaḥ, gates; bahir, outside; yataḥ, through; tad-dvārā, the gates; indriyaiḥ, by the senses; samyutāḥ, accompanied.
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. The eyes, nostrils, and ears are pairs of gates situated in one place. The mouse, genital and rectum, are also different gates.
Being placed into a body, having these nine gates, the living entity acts externally in the material world and enjoys sense objects like form and taste.
Not being aware of his spiritual position, the living entity, directed by the mind, goes out through the nine gates to enjoy material objects.
Because of long associations with the material objects, he forgets his real spiritual activities and thus misled.
The entire world is going on being misled by so-called leaders like scientists and philosophers who have no knowledge of the spirit soul.
Narada Muni's allegorical preaching to King Pracinabarhi
Thus, the conditioned soul becomes more and more entangled.
Pradesh Mahma Bhakti Mamasukam Samsina Sudasakti Dvaraswadana Yam Shahaspacharana Sabana Dwagari Paramaga Ghost So we are studying this very important part of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The story of King Puranjana.
And the story started few chapters before. And basically, this is one of the main topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in general and uh the fourth canto in particular. Uh the problems associated with karmic activities.
Everyone in this world is completely immersed in trying to improve their position in this world. Why people come to the temple. Basically, only to ask the Lord, please make me happy. Please make me rich.
Please make me successful in all regards and everything. And people are doing all kinds of activities to improve their position in this world. And that's basically what uh the King Pratinabharhishad was doing.
He was performing great sacrifices, and sacrifices are meant to improve our position in this world. To get some health, to get some wealth, to get some prosperity. So he was doing this.
And in the meantime, he was performing so much sinful activities by killing these animals.
And that's exactly the position of everyone in this material world because while trying to improve our position in the material world. We are actually entangling ourselves even more.
We're actually reaching the opposite result. It may sound paradoxically, but if our direction in life is this, we try to become happy in this world, we actually become less and less happy. We're losing our happiness.
And we are preparing much more suffering in the future. People, while trying to you know climb the ladder of this society, they commit so many sinful activities. So much sinful activities.
They develop envy more and more and more. He's higher than me. I want to be like him.
Like I was recently in Kerala and I was told that in Kerala it's a it's a you know common custom you know if somebody opens a restaurant his neighbor will write a bad review on the make my trip. Just to, you know, put him down without any gain for himself. So the point is that when we are trying to gain some position which is anyway predetermined by our karma. We are actually degrading ourselves.
And that's exactly what Narada Muni saw when he saw King Prachina Bharkishad completely immersed in this activities, in this attempt to create more happier situations for himself.
And he said to him, you know, you will be suffering. But Srila Prabhupada very aptly says that you cannot, you know, to somebody You cannot just come to him and set your foot.
Chanaky Pandit says: if you tell something straight in the face to a fool, he will only become angry. So therefore, Narada Muni starts saying, you know, I will tell you a story.
And immediately when somebody says I will tell you a story, everyone starts listening. You know, I was telling the philosophy, nobody was listening.
If I tell you now, now I will tell you a story, oh, something interesting is going on. So Narada Muni, he knows how to preach. He starts telling the story. There was a king. Oh, very good. And there was a beautiful lady.
Oh my goodness. And she had black hairs and you know very slim waist, this slim, anyway whatever. And she was walking alone. Oh my goodness, this is interesting. Sounds interesting. And they met in the secluded place. Oh.
Anyways, he was telling, telling, telling, telling this allegorical story. This is Paroksavat. He wants to tell something, he wants to teach him, but he wants to attract his mind and his senses by telling the story.
But ultimately, King Prachina Bharchi Shad himself says, I couldn't understand anything. What do you mean to say it?
Understanding Krishna's messages in everyday life
And Sila Prabhupada, in the beginning of this chapter, by coming to the beginning of this chapter, he says that it's true. When we're very much engaged in this world, we actually lose the discrimination.
We cannot understand what this world is telling us. Actually, Krishna always speaks with us every day. He speaks with us through different people, he speaks with us through different happenings in our life.
You know, there are so many. If we become a little more attentive, we will understand the message of Krishna.
Krishna is very personal. He speaks personally with each and every one of us. With each and every one of us, he wants to teach us some lessons. And sometimes it's allegorical.
You know, those people who know how to read the book of life, the book of this world, they can understand all the symbols. There are so many symbols in this world. And if we become very attentive, we will understand.
Krishna wants to teach me this. Krishna is directing me in this direction.
But as King Pracinabarhi said, I couldn't understand what Narada Muni is talking to him the same way, we cannot understand what's going on. We are completely bewildered in this light.
We don't know what really is going on. And therefore, King Pracinabarhi said, please explain to me what do you mean? Please tell me directly.
The same way as Arjuna says to Krishna, Krishna, you say so many bombastic words. Tell me directly what to do, I will do it. Don't bewilder me even more.
So King Pracinabarhi, he's asking Narada Muni, and Narada Muni starts explaining to him. The whole story of King Puranjana and the basic gist of this story is that it's for us.
We have to understand that we are Puranjana, we are puruṣa, we are enjoyers. We are trying to enjoy.
We are trying to squeeze out enjoyment from this world as much as possible. And in this way, actually becoming more and more bewildered, more and more confused.
Because while trying to enjoy, and listen very carefully, it's important. It's simple thing, we all know this, but still it's important.
You know, because by trying to enjoy, by going in this direction in this world, trying to be external, as it is said here, bahir yati, we are all bahirmukha. Bahir mukha means extrovert.
We're all looking in the external world instead of being internal. We're all not antarmukha. We're supposed to be antarmukha. Antarmukha means introvert.
Antarmukha means the one who sees the highest reality. But because of this extroversial position in this world,
we become more and more and more and more entangled and less and less and less and less understand what's going on in this world. We become more and more identified with this body and therefore being more and more engrossed into this ignorance.
Inevitability of death and artificial life extension
You know, this is the problem with this trying to enjoy the material senses because the more we try to enjoy the material senses, the more we identify with the body and the more we become miserable.
People are trying to solve the problems of old age. Like recently I spoke with one doctor. This doctor is going to Miami. And Miami is the place, Florida in America, is the place where all the rich people go to retire.
They have huge amounts of money and they absolutely have nothing to do. So they want to enjoy the rest of their life. So he told me that in this place the main business
is medicine of course and they are trying to develop different ways how to slow down the aging of the body.
They developed 90 different parameters according to which you can really determine exactly what your body is, what is the age of your body. Not necessarily the physical age of your body, but how old you are. You know.
Because when the old age comes, the functions of the body become degraded. Actually, after 60, your brain starts shrinking. It's an inevitable process. It will happen with every one of you. Don't worry.
The gray matter of your brain will become less and less and less and less until you become completely senile. By Krishna's grace it may not happen. But the process is there. The deterioration of the brain is there.
It's inevitable. It becomes less and less and less. So they develop all these 90 parameters, how your body functions, how the brain functions, how the eyes functions and everything. And then they develop a pill.
This one pill cost $23,000. Just for one little pill, you pay $23,000 and immediately, or I don't know, immediately or not immediately, but your body becomes six months uh less old.
And then you know and you measure all these parameters, 90 parameters, and they say, you know, actually you are 81 but in reality you are 96 and the man becomes
shaking and he says but we have a solution $23,000 and you're six months younger. And you know when you are young you think six months, what is this? $23,000 just for six months. Wait when you become 80.
Every six months will become very, very valuable because every six months you will become 50% less intelligent. You cannot really enjoy your senses because your senses stopped working.
So they developed this pill and you know it sells good. You know, if you have extra $23,000 you can buy it and become younger.
But the point is that that's exactly what Śrīla Prabhupāda says: the leader of the society, leaders of the society, philosophers and scientists, they bewilder people.
Because no matter how many pills you will take, you will anyway die. It's inevitable. And this is the tragedy of the human being, the tragedy of the human being, everyone will die.
Trees will die, insects will die, animals will die, but only human being knows that he will die. The dog doesn't know that he will die. He's not, you know, he's not worried, I will die, I will die, I will die.
I will have a cancer at one point. And I will become old. No, the dog is happy. That's why the dog doesn't become depressed. But we become depressed because we know we will die. Everyone knows he will die.
And the older we become, the more we become aware that it will soon be over.
And instead of trying to solve this problem in a real way, the human being, bewildered by all the scientists and the philosophers, are trying to solve it in an artificial way.
There is one in Russia, there is one multi-millionaire. He invests huge amounts of money, billions and billions of dollars in trying to resurrect the bodies when they are you know frozen.
He wants to ultimately freeze himself so that at one point he will be resurrected. You know, he's there in the fridge. And his money are still in a bank account.
And after 30 years or 50 years or 100 years, somebody takes him out of the fridge. Fridge, sorry. And instead of putting it the ground, you know, gives him some push and he is alive again. It's crazy. It's ridiculous.
But people are engaging in this attempt. And rightly so in one sense. Why rightly? Because this is the mission of human life. Why only humans are aware that they die. You know, we can be very happily bewildered as well.
And we're trying to do this actually. People drink. Why do they drink? To forget about death. But a human being is intelligent enough to understand acutely the problem of death and try to solve it in a real way.
Overcoming anxiety by disidentifying from the body
And solve it in a real way is not difficult, actually. Actually, it's not difficult.
To solve it in a real way, uh to solve the problem of death in a real way is uh you can solve it and you have to solve it just by uh basically, trying to not identify with the body.
Because as long as you identify with the body, you will never solve this problem. You will always be under the verge of death. You will always be dying. You know, like people, they celebrate their birthday. Sixty jubilee.
It basically means, you know, it's the same if prisoners in a prison will celebrate, I am one year in this prison. Let's have a good party. Oh, I'm already three years in this prison. This is a bigger cosmos in the place.
We are all sentenced to die in this world. And we have to solve the problem. But to solve the problem is that basically this and how to say this in English. I'm sorry. Disidentify with the body.
Stop identifying with the body. You know, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes Prahlāda Mahārāja. It's a beautiful verse.
When Hiranyakashipu asked his son, Prahlāda, tell me what is the best thing which you learned from school? What is the best thing which we have to know in this world?
And he said, Dehinam. Sadasamud Vigna Dhiyo Asad Graha. He said, you will always be disturbed. People in this world will always be disturbed. Sada Samu Dvignan. Sada means always. Samud Vigna means disturbed.
You will always be worried. You will always be in anxiety. Anxiety is the Thai Bhava in this world. Because it's a it's a permanent mood. We're all bored, we're all shaking, we're all you know, we're all we're all fearful.
And he said, you will be, you will continue to be. Sometimes people they you know they they ask they ask doctors can you give me some you know some special medicine so that I will become peaceful?
You know, there is no medicine. Because your mind will always be worried. Why the mind will always be worried? Prahlāda Mahārāja says, sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt.
Because by your mind, by your intelligence, you identify with asad. Asad means something impermanent. Something which is which will perish anyway. Asad-grahāt. Grahāt means you're clutched to this asad.
But basically, it's very, you know, it's a very humiliating position because we are clenching to this body. We are trying to be permanent in this body. But the very world, the very word body in Sanskrit, śarīra.
Do you know what śarīra means? Śarīra means body, but it means something which is destined to be self-destructed. Śarīra means something which is self-destructing. By the metabolical process, it's destroying itself.
It's inevitable.
So as long as you are asad-grahāt, as you are sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt, as you try to clutch to keep this impermanent place, you will be sadā samudvigna, you will be completely destroyed, always. All the time.
And therefore, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira again says, āha ca: kaḥ śaniś caratāṁ mṛtyuḥ, martyānāṁ kim ihādbhutam? Ahanyahani bhūtāni gacchanty iha yamālayam.
Every day, bhūtāni, human beings, gacchanty iha yamālayam, they go to Yamaloka. Yamālayam. Gacchanti. We see our relatives die, our close friends die, sometimes we see the accident and we see the death.
Śeṣāḥ sthāvaram icchanti kim aścaryam ataḥ param? Still we want to be permanent. Kim āścaryam ataḥ param? Oh it will not happen with me. Poor fellow. Bad luck. But I will always be lucky.
I will go to astrologer and he will give me a special ring. And by wearing this ring, no, not one ring, three rings, five rings, ten rings, I will always be fortunate. You will die. And I will die. And everyone will die.
Because this is Sharia. Sharia will be dead. So what we're supposed to do? We're supposed to disidentify with the body. And this is a very interesting process.
Bhagavad-gita and neuroscience on doership
Krishna actually explains this how to do this. He says, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate. He says that in reality everything is being performed by Prakriti. And actually it's an interesting scientific fact.
Raoul mentions scientists here. And he says that scientists are bewildering people, but not every scientist is bewildering people. I recently read a very interesting review of one investigation in neuroscience.
And they explain exactly and very precisely this verse by Krishna in Bhagavad-gītā. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ. The scientist says that whatever you do, whatever you do, whether it's breathing,
breathing it's understandable, but whatever you do, you speak something or you, you know, you make a gesture or you eat or whatever. It's actually already a program which is there in your mind.
You're not doing it consciously. We think we are doing it consciously, but in reality, the program is already there in your mind and you know how to do this. It's more or less automatic.
Like for example, we can understand it very clearly when we drive in a car and the car goes into an accident. That immediately the body reacts in a very proper way in a sense. Because the problem is there.
But in reality, not only in this extreme situation the body reacts automatically, but in every situation of our life there is already a program. Prakriti. Prakriti is doing this.
But then listen, this is the most interesting part of this investigation. They say that then we did some gesture or we spoke some words.
They say that approximately one fourth of a second, two250 milliseconds later, you, consciousness, realize that you did it. And identify with the action.
There is a little gap between the action itself and your identification with the action. And the action itself is going on without your involvement. You think we are involved? In reality, we are not involved.
We already know these gestures, you know. I'm giving this lecture. Why am I giving this lecture? Because I know how to give lectures.
I started giving lectures I don't know how many years back, 30 years back, or something like this. And by this time, I know how to give lectures. You know, even if I sleep, I can give lecture.
You know, and sometimes people do this. They give lecture and then they fall asleep and everyone falls asleep. I know.
I know I know how to joke, I know when to joke, I see when people start, you know, becoming a little bored. So it's already a program which is recorded there. And you think you're doing this.
In reality you're not doing this. Twenty-five milliseconds later you realize how brilliant you are. You made a joke which actually prakṛti did. Mind did this joke and here she goes. It was a good joke.
This is how the process of identification works. You did something which in reality you didn't do.
You just, of course, you you trained your mind, you you know, you brought some memories from the past life, you learned something in this life, you know how to do this. That's your credit, no doubt about it.
But in reality, the point which I am trying to make and the point which Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā, we don't have to identify with what we do.
Because when Krishna says in the next line, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate, that's exactly the process which takes place 250 milliseconds later. Kartāham, I am doing it. Kartāham, I am kartā. I am the doer.
So what Krishna is explaining to us, this process, a very important process, how to become ahaṅkāra-less. less. I am not doing this.
Prakriti is doing this. And whatever happens will happen. I will have to accept it. Krishna is directing me from inside and he's trying to bring me to a nice place and whatever happens will happen with me and it's for my good.
If we very clearly understand this, how Prahlāda Mahārāja says, the best thing which I understand, you will always be unhappy if you clench to this material world and this material body.
Therefore the only thing which you have to do is go to Vṛndāvana. I don't know what you are doing in Delhi. Vṛndāvana is closed. But anyway, if you're preaching it's okay.
If you're doing, if you're serving the deities, it's Vṛndāvana. This place is not different from the out.
Transitioning from doer to spiritual observer
But in reality, what we have to do, instead of being external, as it's said in this verse, you know, Bahiryati.
Instead of always trying to go outside through the nose, through the eyes, through the ears, trying to interact with this world, we should become internal.
And becoming internal basically means I am not doing this. I am just absorbing. My real position is not the doer. My real position is absorber. And that's the step number one.
That's the only first step in the spiritual ladder. You first say, I'm not the doer, I'm not the doer. And when you're not the doer, you're not afraid of future.
Because you know, I'm not this body, I'm not the doer, I'm observer. If we try to absorb our life from the neutral position, from the impartial position.
We will understand, you know, I was this little boy, you know, who was you know who didn't know how to do PP and all these kinds of activities. I was growing, growing, but I was the same, I was observer.
So we tried to become absorber and then we will have to understand whom we should absorb. In reality, we should absorb Krishna, who is within our heart. Now we are absorbing this world, and Krishna is absorbing us.
And we are afraid what's going to happen, what's going to happen, what's going to happen.
But if we become ego less, I'm not the doer. Whatever happens with me will happen, no problem with me. I'm it will not happen with me, really. I am the observer and I will observe.
And at one point you will observe how your dead body is lying. And you will wonder, you know, what happens? You know, you will see you from outside. There are so many near-death experiences.
When the people all of a sudden just go out of the body and see, oh very nice, very nice. I don't have to be identified with this dead matter, with this bag of mucus and flesh and blood and everything else.
So that's basically what Nārada Muni is trying to teach King Prācīnabhiṣat. The first step. He's not teaching the second step. Which is more important. The first step is not your observer, you're not the doer.
All these activities is external to you. At one point you found this nice city of
nine gates this human body you were wandering and wandering and wandering little spirit soul and then you saw oh such a nice body such a nice city oh I will enjoy so nicely your my life will be so beautiful and my wife will be so beautiful and my home will be so beautiful and my children will be so beautiful.
Your wife will become ugly and your husband too, by the way, and your children will become nasty and your house will be destroyed. But we are not this body. We are not this nine-gated body.
We are spirit soul and this is the first part and we have to train ourselves every day of our life. Every day. Every second. By trying to be in present, not in the future, not in the past.
Oh, in the past it was so nice, it was so nice in the past and it's so miserable in the future. No. Be here and now. And then understand what you are supposed to do.
And we are supposed to do internal, internal means we have to absorb the beauty of Krishna. And because we cannot see the beauty of Krishna inside, we can absorb the beauty of Krishna outside.
And we can come and say, Krishna, I know you are inside. And I know you're so beautiful. Please reveal me your real beauty.
Attracting the mind to Krishna's supreme beauty
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the avatāra of this age, he came specifically for this point. He said, who is Krishna? Krishna is the most beautiful. Who is God? God is most beautiful.
What is the real meaning of life to understand the highest beauty? And to be completely absorbed in this highest beauty, to fall in love with this highest beauty. That's the meaning of life.
And you can only start doing it when you are when you stop identifying with the body, when you stop being engaged in these external activities by tasting, by hearing, by you know all these external things.
You know you really have to understand this highest beauty. And that's the solution. That's the real solution.
Stop thinking that you are this body and start understanding that you you're related with the source of eternal beauty and bliss, which is Krishna. And which is not easy. I mean it sounds easy, it's not easy.
So I will finish with the beautiful verse by King Kulasekhara. As I said, the real mission of human life is to solve the problem of death. And that's why we're so acutely conscious of this. And that's good.
Everyone knows I will die. And we have to solve this problem, not to make a quick fix, not to hope that I will be in the fridge. And fridge will solve the problem of death.
No, in a real sense, that's the mission of human life. And therefore we have to take certain direction.
And Caitanya Mahāprabhu brought us this process and King Kulasekhara, many thousands years before, actually before the beginning of Kali Yug, he gave a beautiful verse which I wanted to finish with.
Hidam Shariram Satasangis Jarchara. It says Hidam shaream, this Shareer, this body, which is self-destructible.
As as I said again, Shareer means something which is destined to be self-destructive, which is dying every second. Dying right now, you're dying right now. Don't worry. Everything is fine. Everything is going on.
So idam sari ramp sata sandhi jarjanaam. There are so many sandhis, so many joints in our body. And this is a logic, this is uh from nyaya.
In nyaya it is said that anything in this world which has different parts will become destroyed. The only thing which will not, the only thing will not be destroyed which doesn't have parts.
And because this body has so many parts, so many parts, it will be destroyed very quickly. Of course you think you will get spare parts. You know my liver doesn't function so I can get some extra liver.
My heart doesn't function—extra heart. My head doesn't function. But even extra head will die. One point. So King Kulaśekhara says, idam śarīraṁ śata-saṅgi-jarjaraṁ, Hundreds of sandhis is there. Hundreds of joints.
śata-saṅgi-jarjaraṁ. Patatyavaśyam. Pariṇāma-peśalam. Patatyavaśyam. For sure it will fall down. Avaśyam. Paṭatyavaśyam. Pariṇāma-peśalam. It is destined to be changed. Pariṇāma-peśalam. It will be transformed into somebody else.
Kiṁ auṣadhaṁ pṛcchasi mūḍha durmate? Auṣadhaṁ, you know why you're going to apothecary? Why, why are you going to auṣadha-laya? What auṣadha you're asking? You know, don't ask this, this auṣadha and this, that auṣadha.
You know, I know at a certain age, like now I have a, you know, suitcase, and half of the suitcase is medicines. Really half of the suitcase. And I was young, maybe I had one one bottle.
Now I have half of the suitcase, very nicely protected. But, uh, King Kulaśekhara says, kiṁ auṣadhaṁ pṛcchasi? What kind of medicine you're asking? Aupadha? Nirāmayaṁ kṛṣṇa-rasāyanaṁ piba.
If you want to be nirāmaya. Amaya means disease. According to Ayurveda, all the diseases are caused by āma. And āma is the product of indigestion. And everyone has indigestion. Especially here in India when it's so hot.
So much āma is there. And because of āma, the disease is there. And if you want to be nirāmaya, without āmaya, disease means āmaya, something which is caused by āma.
If you want to be nirāmaya, kṛṣṇa-rasāyanaṁ piba, here is the real Rasayana for you. Krishna. The name of Krishna. And if we really understand that the name of Krishna is not different from him.
That the whole beauty of this world is in the name of Krishna. And if we understand this simple point, then the solution is there. The problem is solved. You're not going to die. You will not be afraid of death.
But until you don't realize this, you don't have this experience, real experience, that the whole beauty and bliss and essence of life is in this world, Krishna. Until you understand this, the problem is not solved.
And you will be afraid of this. Therefore, the real solution is stop identifying with this external world, by the process of entangling oneself more and more into this external world through the senses.
Don't pay too much attention to this. Don't be too much attached to this process. Try to be little detached. I am not the doer. The body is doing. The brain is doing. The mind is doing. Prakriti is doing.
And try to understand that the real essence of life in this world, Krishna. Niramayam Krishna Rasayana Piba and you drink it. You drink this world of Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare. Krishna.
Parable of two monks on true renunciation
I will tell you a little story after this boring lecture. The whole lecture was and actually the whole thing was about renunciation. And this verse is about renunciation.
About not making too big deal out of these experiences which we have. Smelling, you know, hearing, seeing. So it's an important lesson. So I'll tell you a little story to finish the lesson.
There were two monks and one monk, two sannyas or two brahmacharyas. Two brahmacaris. More appropriate. And they were traveling together, these two brahmacaris. And one brahmacharya was completely renounced.
He didn't have a penny in his pocket and he was very happy. He had a hole in his pocket, so even if he had some money, the money would fall out from the pocket. And the other one was a little more careful.
He had some money. You know it. Usually brahmacārīs have some money. They know the trick card. So and they were traveling together and while traveling they were arguing with each other.
Man was saying, oh you know, renunciation is so good, it's so good, it's happy, so happy, I don't have anything to do. And you do, you know, I'm not worried about anything. And the other one was saying, you're a fool.
You need to have some money, little money, you know. Otherwise how you get some chips? Potato chips, Pepsi, Cola, whatever you know you cannot live without money.
So they were arguing back and forth, back and forth, and everyone had some solid arguments. It happened in Russia, not in India. So they came to a river, big river, and it was very cold. And it was already night.
And you know, and they didn't know how to cross the river. It's really cold. And they cannot just you know sleep uh in the bare earth and uh you know it's so uh ultimately the the
other brahmacārī who had money said, no problem, we will get some boatman. The boatman was there in the next uh shore of the river.
So they called the boatman and they paid little money to him and the boatman brought them uh to another uh side of the river and they came to a village and uh found a home and started you know took some dinner and uh you know going to bed.
And the brahmacārī who paid, he started saying, You fool, I told you, you need to have money. You need to have money in this world.
Because you know this whole renunciation is useless; it will not save you, only if you have something and if you are a little attached, then you can live, otherwise we would be in the other shore of the river and it would be you know cold, how we will live, we will not survive.
and the other brahmachari was listening and nodding his head and he said no actually Not your money saved us, renunciation saved us. He said, how come? How renunciation saved us?
Because you renounced your money, we are saved. If you didn't renounce your money we would not be safe. Right? And besides that, you had money and I never had money. And we are in the same position.
God took care of me and he always takes care of me and you are worried about your money so renunciation is better, that's what he said. Anyway you decide yourself what is better.
Ultimately, Nārada Muni says that, uh, it's a more safe position in this world if you're not attached. You can do so many things and you need money and other things to do something. But ultimately we shouldn't be attached.
We should be internal by trying to establish our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, rather than anything. Thank you very much, and Any questions?
Questions on nature's modes and detached action
No. Anyone have a call in the we are at home and uh we are uh we can go as we post uh and uh in uh whatever way we are programmed we are in that way.
So this is a new way or if you can come to uh more of this in a proper way? Because we are in the program if we have more than I think it would be the
Ultimately, mode of goodness is not a solution because you become attached to the mode of goodness. And you become, you can be very strongly attached to the mode of goodness. Mode of goodness is good because it allows you, it gives you some knowledge, as Krishna says.
But goodness gives you happiness, and you become attached to this happiness. And the goodness gives you knowledge, and this knowledge which goodness gives you is the knowledge of eternity.
Only when you are in the mode of goodness, you can understand the eternal nature of your consciousness to a certain extent. Sense of eternity is coming to you.
Therefore, goodness is good because goodness is a good starting point to develop some sort of more detached position. But uh we shouldn't think that the goodness is a solution. Goodness is an intermediate stage.
Sometimes people they become too much attached to this mode of goodness. Recently I was in Kerala and I came to to one brāhmaṇa there, he's a head priest of a Śiva temple. My goodness, I mean I was amazed.
Beautiful place, beautiful house, beautiful life. You know, and the walls, there are awards which his children got, you know, the beautiful children, everything is nice.
And I was looking to him and I thought it would be very difficult for you to live this world because everything is too nice. It's too good.
So that's the problem with the goodness. Goodness is, you know. Of course it's very difficult to develop mode of goodness in a daily. I would say it's impossible.
You just breathe this air and there is no goodness. Drink water.
So ultimately goodness is good, but uh it's not that necessarily you need goodness because you can understand even without goodness that you should go a little higher than goodness.
And just by being detached, by not paying too much attachment, too much attention to this is good, this is bad, this is good, this is bad, you know, it's all bad ultimately. That's the only thing.
And you know, the beauty of this is that you can practice it every day.
You eat something, and instead of saying, oh, my goodness, such a nice man of pickles or you know mixed with this rice and everything. Instead of saying this, okay, yeah, very nice. I am absorber.
This is not me who is eating it. So trying to develop this sense of detachment through all these activities or trying to attach your senses to Krishna. And ultimately by studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And Krishna, you start the uh more people can send it to her, more immediate integrated. And the last point was just order. Now say you will he say I'm not doing anything. I'm just an order.
These modes are living in the right. But he's intending this. So how are we intelligent and feel like all of us should understand this here? He has to do something, he will do, and he will get anyone.
So how can you say I am sorry about it? Because if you are out there, you can just keep quiet, you can just keep away and will not. I'm not sure, but I think I understood what is the question.
Uh You can work in a very uh we have we live in this world, that's true. We have to work in this world, that's true.
But Krishna explains this the first of all he gives this first lesson. Don't be attached to the results of your work. Karmṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana.
So, and he says don't be attached to other to not doing anything.
He says you do. You work, actively work. But your attachment is manifest in the sense that while you are working, you are not conscious of what you are doing. Your consciousness is in the results. Is in the future.
You're doing something, and at the same time, you're thinking, this is what I will get, that's what I will get, this is what I will get. So Krishna is teaching us how to act.
And he says, this is karma kosalam, this is the art of doing work in this world. You work, but don't think about the results. Think about the work itself. I'm doing this and put your heart into it.
And I try to do it as nicely as possible and results are not for me to enjoy.
Uh that is a bit of if I don't work then how would I uh make uh giving for my No no no no, you work. Who said you shouldn't work? You should work. Yes, results will be there. Of course it will be.
If you work, I don't say you work and then results will come and you give it to somebody else. Krishna doesn't say this. Krishna says this.
Don't be initially attached to the results because you cannot perform even the work properly if you're always thinking about the results.
The less you think about the results, the more you think about the work, the better the results will come. The results will come.
Krishna says, Krishna gives you the formula or recipe how to do the best, how to work bestly and get the best results in this work. Work. Take care of your family.
Yeah, we should put some goal, but don't be attached to the goal. Recently I heard a story about Thomas Edison, the greatest inventor in America.
So he was working for many, many, many years, tens of years inventing something, and then at one point his whole factory, including his office and everything, starts burning. And the huge fire is there.
So he's standing outside and watching and observing this fire. And his son, 17 or 16 year old son, teenager, stands nearby.
And then he looks at his son and says to his son, call your mom. Call your mom quickly. She will never see this spectacular fire in her life. He's standing there absorbing the fire and saying It was such a nice fire.
He's not thinking, oh, the results of my whole life work is burning to ashes.
And then some ask him, Dad, you know, what are you talking about? You know, this is this is our results are burning to ashes. He said, no problem, we'll start tomorrow from scratch. It's no problem. We'll get something better.
So this is the detachment. You know it may happen. Fire may come. Something may come. I'm not attached. I know Krishna will take care of me. And Krishna, you know, there is a beautiful verse.
I don't remember Sanskrit, it's Subhashita verse. It is said, the one who prepared the milk in breast of your mother, who made, you know, parrot green and the cow white and peacock multicolored
he will take care of you too. He took care of everyone, he will take care of you too, anyway. Thank you very much for the wonderful picture. I have a question for us.
Like you said that whatever we are doing, actually we are not doing, but the fact that we're doing as if it is being overlooked in our body. But if we say suppose we are learning new things, learning process, is that the
that we are as a soul, we are learning or as the body is being formed? No, no. As a soul you only have little function of desiring. You have the desire, the rest prakṛti is doing.
Prakṛti means including mind, the fine machinery of your brain and everything. This is all recorded there. You have little desire and everything else is more or less done automatically. The soul actually has a
beautiful simile in this chess game. As we all know, chess game is coming from India. And you know the main figure in the chess game is the king, right? But the king, he has very little you know freedom to do.
He can only walk here and there. So that's the soul. The soul has very very little to do. And then near to him the queen is there. The queen is all the prime minister is there. The prime minister is the mind.
He can do here, he can go here, you know, conquer the world, everything is there. But his main duty is to protect or to serve the soul, the king. So the soul is very... It's a very lazy fellow. It cannot do much, really.
It can only either observe or love Krishna. So or try to enjoy this world by identifying with the body and giving all these uh directions to the queen or whatever. I guess it's overly late. Thank you very much. Sivakrabadak.