Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.10
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, May 28, 1972

Prabhupada: What is the time now?

Devotees: Seven minutes after seven.

Prabhupada: So make it correct. Come on. (to all the devotees, loud) Who has made the caranamrta? Eh? Who has made caranamrta?

Devotee: She is not here, Srila Prabhupada.

Prabhupada: Who is he? Who is she? I want to know.

Devotee: Tell her to come out of the kitchen … (devotees chant japa.)

Prabhupada: Why you have no responsibility? You have added salt instead of sugar. Why?

Girl devotee: I didn’t read the—

Prabhupada: No. You shouldn’t make anymore. One responsible should make it. Somebody, give him charge. This is great mistake. Hare Krsna. Where is Pradyumna? Chant.

Pradyumna: Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya (etc., leads chanting of verse and reads synonyms)

akamah sarva-kamo va moksa-kama udara-dhih tivrena bhakti-yogena yajeta purusam param [Bhag. 2.3.10]

Translation: “A person who has broader intelligence, who may be full of all material desire or may be without any material desire, and who also desires liberation, by all means must worship the Supreme Whole Personality of Godhead.”

Prabhupada: So this is our conclusion. There are three classes of men, human beings. Not with hands and legs. Actually human being, those who know what is the purpose of life. The purpose of life, the first basic principle of our life, is that we have come here, in this material world, for becoming master, lording it over the material nature. Although we cannot do it, that is our desire. They are called sarva-kamah. There is no limit of desires. Anyone, you find out ordinarily, in this world, you ask him, “What is your ultimate desire?” There is no limit. Therefore he’s called sarva-kamah. Pralayantam upasritam. Till the time of death, there is desire. A dying man, he is also desiring. I have seen it practically. One gentleman in Allahabad, he was contemporary, of our age. He was dying at the age of fifty- four years, and he was crying, and he was requesting the doctor… He was very rich man. “My dear doctor, can you not give me at least four years life so I could finish my program?” The nonsense, what is your program? You see? I have seen it. (aside) Don’t move leg like that. So therefore they are called sarva-kamah. There is no end. He does not know… He’s going to die, and he thinks that doctor can prolong his life. Is it possible to prolong life? Not for a second even. When you are destined to die, you must die. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham. This death is Krsna. You cannot defy Krsna; that is not possible. Krsna says, mrtyur aham, sarva-haras ca. Just like Prahlada Maharaja’s father. He was so proud, and he was confident, “Now I have taken benediction from Brahma. I’ll live forever.” So he was very much proud. Just like karmis, they also think, “When there will be disease and there will be point of death, I shall take care very nicely. There are so many good physicians. I shall call them, and they will give me life.” So this is demonic. You cannot protect yourself by so-called science, physician, or power. It is not possible. Because the death is Krsna.

Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, all, many demons, they thought it that “We shall live forever.” So anyone who is thinking like that, he’s a demon. He cannot stop death. Mrtyuh sarva-haras caham. Krsna…If you don’t give to Krsna, then Krsna will appear just like Nrsimhadeva, and He will take away everything from you and kill you. That’s all. Now who can challenge? Who is there who can challenge Krsna? No, nobody can. That is Krsna. So the sarva-kamah … So up to the end of life … All these politicians, we have seen. Gandhi, in our country. Jarwahal Nehru. He was attacked, heart attack, several times, and doctor says, “Within a week, you’ll have to go away.” Still, he was going to the hillside to recoup his health. And when he was on the point of death, he was brought to New Delhi and died. So up to the point of death he was thinking that “I must remain a prime minister; otherwise the whole thing will be lost. In my absence, if I am not on the seat, then everything will be lost.”

This is maya. Gandhi was thinking like that. He agitated his political movement against the British rule. So Britishers went away. I requested him that “Now you have got sva-rajya, and you are so respectable in the world. You take this propaganda, to preach Bhagavad-gita.” No. He’ll still stick to these politics. Unless he was killed. He was killed, you know. So this is the propensity, sarva-kamah. There is no end of their desire, no end. They are called sarva-kamah. So here it is recommended: akamah… Just the opposite. Akamah, niskincana. They have finished all these nonsense, material desires. Vaisnava. Just like you have taken sannyasa. It is supposed that you have finished all your material desires. This is called akamah. And the other side: sarva-kamah. There is no end of desire, material desire. So Vyasadeva recommends, “All right, you may be sakamah…” Sakamah means without end of any desires. Full of desires… (break in tape)… and between this there is another… (break in tape)… moksa-kamah. So sakamah, sarva-kamah—karmis, those who are working very hard, just like animals.

Animals are meant for working hard, but now, men are being educated to work like animals. And there is no end. So they are called karmis. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna has designated these animals, these karmi animals, who are working very, very hard, just like hogs and dog… they have been described in the Bhagavad-gita as mudhah. Mudhah, rascal, foolish. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has explained why they are mudhah. These karmis, they want some eating, sleeping, mating. But why so much hard work? Now, eating, sleeping, mating… Just see the birds; they are free. They don’t work at night, at least. But human beings, day and night. Night also, night duty. “I shall get some more money.” So there is no end. How they can be happy? They are simply thinking of, that “I shall work very hard, and I shall get money and enjoy my senses.”

Then where is the question of happiness? The karmis cannot have happiness, because their method is to work hard. How they can be happy? Similarly, jnanis, moksa-kamah. After being disgusted that “I worked so hard throughout my whole life. I could not get peace. Therefore it is false.” Jagan mithya. Mithya means false. This is Sankaracarya philosophy. Jagan mithya. Mithya means false. Brahma satyam. “Now let me search out where is Brahma and become one with him.” That is also another labor. Speculating. They have to interpret all these Vedic literature to make God dead, void, impersonal, nullified. So they have to gather their arguments. That is another labor, hard labor. So they are also working hard. Yogis, they want to show some magic: “I can walk on the water. I can fly in the air without any airship. I can go this planet, that planet.” Yogis can do that. They have got this magical power. “I can create immediately gold.” And if you can show these magical feats, immediately you get so many…

But that kind of yogi also very rare to be found, and now, in your country, yogi means who can show some gymnastics, that’s all. So they are also working hard. Because they have got kama. The yogi, he wants to be very popular by showing magic. Because general people, they cannot walk on the water. But if somebody can walk on the water, oh, millions of people immediately go to the Pacific Ocean to see. So therefore they want siddhi. Actually, there are yogis in Siddhaloka, without any flying machine, they can go from one planet to another. Durvasa Muni, he went. Within a year, he came back. He went to Vaikuntha planet. Yogi, great yogi. He saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, but he was not excused. He went to beg pardon so that he may be saved from the sudarsana-cakra. So he went to Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and all big, big demigods: “Please save me. The sudarsana-cakra is after me.” So everyone said, “We are unable to do anything. You can go to Lord Visnu.” So he went to Lord Visnu, he saw Him, he talked with Him. And Lord Visnu also said that “I cannot do anything. You must go to Ambarisa Maharaja and fall down on his feet and beg his pardon. Then you can be saved.” So this is the position.

And Ambarisa Maharaja was a devotee. He did not know anything. He was simply depending on Krsna. So just see who is powerful, that… Even the yogis are not so powerful as the devotees. Why? Because devotee’s fully surrendered to Krsna. Fully surrendered means “If Krsna likes, He will save me; otherwise, I don’t try for myself. I have to simply serve Krsna. That’s all.” And Krsna takes charge of your saving. And when Krsna wants to kill… Just like Prahlada Maharaja. Ordinary… not ordinary, but a simple boy, and how much torturing was going on upon him by his father! But he was saved by Krsna. Ultimately, when it was intolerable, then He appeared and killed the rascal. So therefore devotees are akamah.

They don’t have any desires. Even in greatest danger, they do not ask Krsna. That is pure devotion, anyabhilasita-sunyam [BRS 1.1.11] So Caitanya-caritamrta says that

krsna-bhakta——niskama, ataeva ‘santa’ bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami——sakali ‘asanta’

Santa means peaceful. Who is peaceful? Only krsna-bhakta, devotee of Krsna. He is peaceful. Others? No. They cannot be peaceful. Why? Now, there is demand. The karmi is wanting to lord it over this material world. The jnani is wanting to become one with God. The yogi is wanting some wonderful power. So there is wanting. It may be of different category, but there is demand. But akamah, he has no demand. That’s all. He doesn’t want anything from Krsna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teaching is: na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadisa kamaye. “I don’t want. I don’t want money, I don’t want followers, I don’t want nice wife.” These things are wanted by the materialists. A devotee simply wants “Give me the chance of serving You.”

That’s all. Hare Krsna. “Hare, Radharani; Krsna, Lord, You are both present here. Kindly give me the chance to serve You.” That’s all. This is akamah. So akamah, they have no other business, simply to serve Krsna. Mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi. “My dear Lord, I don’t want anything. But give me this facility, that I may be engaged in Your service.” That’s all. (pause) So Bhagavata recommends that “Even though you are a fool number one, you are demanding from Krsna, sarva-kamah, or moksa-kamah, still, you worship Krsna. Don’t go to other demigods.” Because… we have seen the list of demigods. If you want… The prescription is there, “If you want this, you worship this deity. If you want this, you worship this deity.” But they are all kama. In the Bhagavad-gita these kamis, these lusty persons, have been condemned. Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah [Bg. 7.20]. Hrta-jnanah, lost of all intelligence. That means rascal. In good language it is hrta-jnanah, one who has lost his intelligence.

So hrta-jnanah is explained by Visvanatha Cakravarti: nasta-buddhayah. Nasta-buddhayah, no intelligence. No intelligence. So why no intelligence? Now, that is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita: antavat tu phalam tesam. The benediction they get from the demigods… Just like it is recommended, we have read it, that if you want beautiful wife, you worship Uma. If you want very strong sexual powers, then you worship Indra. So the prescription is there. But they are foolish. Why foolish? Suppose you get very beautiful wife and very strong sex power, then how long you will enjoy it? Antavat tu phalam tesam. It will end. Five years, ten years. Even in living condition, if you have become old, seventy years, eighty years old, then what you will do with beautiful wife? There will be no more sex power. Vrddhasya taruni-bharya. Vrddhasya … These are useless. When one has become old, to have a young wife is troublesome for him. So therefore we should not desire anything material.

They’re all temporary. It will finish. It will finish. Therefore Caitanya-caritamrta, the same Caitanya… Krsnadasa Kaviraja says, krsna yei bhaje sei bada catura. Anyone who takes to Krsna consciousness, takes the shelter of Krsna, he is the perfect intelligent man. He is the perf… So here it is recommended that “You fools, you rascals…” Akamah sarva-kamah, eh, sarva, not akamah. Sarva-kamah, moksa-kamah. “You are all rascals.” There Vyasadeva is advising “All right, even though you are rascal, you are full of desires, you are full of becoming one with the Supreme, still, you worship,” yajeta purusam param, “the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Still, you do that.” That is the recommendation. Don’t go to others. Now, the question is that bhakti means anyabhilasita-sunyam [BRS 1.1.11]. One must be free from all kinds of desires. That is pure bhakti. Now, it is recommended here that sarva-kamah, moksa-kamah, “Those who are desiring for all material opulences, those who are desiring for becoming liberated…”

So they are not anyabhilasita-sunyam [Madhya 19.167]. They have desires. So how they can be bhakta? How they can be devotee? Because devotee is pure, he has no… Akamah. Why it is recommended? The recommendation is there also for demigods. That is freedom. The sastra is giving you all freedom. “If you like, you do this.” But ultimately gives this instruction… Just like Krsna. He has spoken so many things, jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, karma-yoga. But at the end He says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sara… [Bg. 18.66]. “You give up all this nonsense, simply surrender unto Me.” That is the ultimate instruction. So that means sastra gives you freedom, at the same time gives you chance. Sastra is not… Just like we are free, and the state laws are there, and we are free to violate it or to abide by it. Similarly, all the sastras, everything is there. And the freedom is also there. Not, I mean to say, the ultimate freedom, but there is freedom, small freedom. We can make our choice.

Here, also, the same thing. Vyasadeva is giving list, that “If you want this, you worship this demigod.” Yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. But if you are intelligent, udara-dhihUdara-dhih, very intelligent. Then, in spite of, despite all your desires, you become Krsna conscious. You go to Krsna. Purusam param. Who is purusam param? Krsna. Arjuna accepted: param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. All paramam, Supreme. Purusam, “You are the Supreme Person.” The same thing. Purusam param. The Brahma-samhita: isvarah paramah krsnah [Bs. 5.1]. This param, supreme, superlative, is Krsna, in every respect. He’s the supreme power, purusottamam. Uttamam. Nobody greater than Krsna. So here it is recommended that “Even if you have got desire…” All kinds of desire. There are varieties of desire. Even you want jnana-siddhi, yoga-siddhi, karma-siddhi, or dhyana-siddhi, simply go to Krsna. That’s all. Yat karosi, yaj juhosi.

Krsna also says. Yat karosi. You want to do something. This is all activities. Either you are karmi, jnani, or yogi, there are activities. The meditation, so-called meditation, that is also another activity, mental activity. So why it is recommended like that, that how…? They are not devotees. They are sarva-kamah. If they go to worship Krsna, that is, there is facility. Just like Dhruva Maharaja. Dhruva Maharaja, he was sarva-kamah. He wanted material happiness. He was insulted by his step-mother. He determined that “I shall have such kingdom which even my father also did not enjoy. My father’s wife has insulted me. I shall show him.” This kind of determination was there, that “I shall show him.” So it was sarva-kamah. When Narada approached Dhruva Maharaja and informed him, “My dear boy, you are a prince, you are so delicate. You cannot accept these troubles of living in the jungle. It is very, very difficult. Great, great sages, they could not. You better go home. And when you get old, when time will be ripe, you can come. Now you go home.”

So he was a son of ksatriya. He was so determined. He said, “My dear sir, I thank you for your instruction. But I’m so rascal, I cannot accept.” Just see. “I am ksatriya. Your, this brahminical instruction will not be accepted by me. So if you can give me any mantra by which I can see the Supreme Lord, just talk of that. I want to see Him.” Then Narada Muni saw, “Oh, he’s so determined, he’s not going back.” Then he gave him: om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. “Chant this.” And he saw Krsna, Visnu, within six months. He was so determined. But when Krsna offered him, “Now, you ask Me whatever you like. You can take from Me. You have undergone such severe austerities. You can take.” So he was sorry. “Oh…” Now, svamin krtartho ’smi varam na yace. “My dear Lord, I have no more any desire. I don’t want anything. I have got everything. Not only everything, more than everything. I have seen You. So I don’t want anything.”

You see? This chance is there. Even with your kama, desires, you execute devotional service, make connection with the Supreme Lord. A time will come, you’ll become akamah, no more… A time will come. Therefore it is recommended. Not that sarva-kamah goes to Krsna and simply bothers Him, “Give me this, give me this.” No. Let him talk like that, “Give me this, give me that.” Krsna will see to that. But devotional service, if he comes in contact with Krsna seriously, then time will come, he will become akamah. Therefore it is recommended. Not that it is advised that you go to Krsna and ask all nonsense from Him. That is not pure devotion. Pure devotion is akamah. Nothing. Na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jaga… So it is recommended here only that a devotee, even he’s foolish in the beginning, to ask from Krsna all material facilities. Still, when he’s engaged in devotional… when he comes to the perfectional stage, or when he comes in contact with a pure devotee, he gives up all this nonsense, and as a pure devotee, he simply engages himself without any return, without any profit, in the service of the Lord.

Thank you very much. (devotees offer obeisances) Chant Hare Krsna. (end)