Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.47
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, May 9, 1973

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

aha raja dharma-sutas cintayan suhrdam vadham prakrtenatmana viprah sneha-moha-vasam gatah

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

Prabhupada: So when friends die, family members die, we talk of that we are not this body. Theo… Not theory; this is actually the fact. I say, you say, everyone says. At least, we have understood from Bhagavad-gita, dehino ’smin yatha dehe [Bg. 2.13], the body is different from the soul. And it is also clearly said, na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. After the destruction of the body, the soul is not destroyed. He remains. He gets another body. Arjuna was also consoled by Krsna that “Why you are so much anxious about your grandfather? He will get another body, new body. What is the use of this old body?” So actually that is the fact. But still, why a man becomes aggrieved when the body is lost? That is explained here, that sneha-moha, illusion of affection. Actually, there is nothing to be aggrieved. Tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati [Bg. 2.13]. Dhira, those who are sober, they are not bewildered. Sober man knows that “My, this relative, my father or my brother, my grandfather, his death means he is changing this body. He is going to another body. He is not dead.”

So dhira… Dhira means one who is not disturbed. That requires training. In great dangerous position, one is not disturbed, that is not ordinary thing. Therefore the word has been used: dhira. Dhira and adhira. There are two classes of men. Dhira means, acts very conscientiously, without being disturbed by the external factors. I have explained several times the dhira. The example of dhira is given in the Kumara-sambhava poetry, by Kalidasa. We had our syllabus studying Kumara-sambhava in our I.A. class in college. So there the example, Kalidasa is giving example: the dhira is Lord Siva. Just see. The story is when Lord Siva lost his wife in the daksa-yajna… Daksayani, daughter of Maharaja Daksa, became the wife of Lord Siva. And because Lord Siva sometimes by chance did not show any good respect to Daksa, so there was misunderstanding between the son-in-law and father-in-law, and the episode ended that Daksayani, the wife of Lord Siva, gave her life. His (her) father was very much angry upon the son-in-law. So she wanted to mitigate the misunderstanding, but her father was very stubborn. So at last she said, “My dear father, you are thinking of Lord Siva, my husband, as ordinary man, and you have become so angry. So this is due… You are thinking that I am your daughter. So all right, I have got this body from you. I am returning you.” So she immediately died.

So daksa-yajna, the Lord Siva’s devotees, they massacred all the yajna arena. You know daksa-yajna. Maharaja Daksa was also cut off by his head, and he was put in a goat’s head, in this way. So after the death of his wife, Lord Siva was very much aggrieved. He went to the forest and engaged himself in meditation. So there was a need of one soldier commander, and the calculation was that such soldier must be there, by the demigods… Because there was always fighting between the demigods and the demons, so to kill the demons, there was need of a very great soldier who must be born by Lord Siva, by the semina of Lord Siva. So at that time Parvati, Daksayani, after death she has taken another body as daughter of King of Himalaya, Parvati. Therefore her name was at that time Parvati. Parvati means “the daughter of Parvata.” Parvata means mountain. So the plan was that within the womb of Parvati and by the semina of Lord Siva, one son must take birth, and later on he took and his name was Karttikeya. Karttikeya was born. So, but they were… Lord Siva was in meditation, and Parvati was not married at that time with Lord Siva, although she was destined to marry Lord Siva, because in the transcendental world, the husband and wife, they are also eternal. Even the wife or husband changes body, again they become husband and wife. This is in the higher sense. They do not separate. So but Lord Siva was in meditation. And it is very difficult to break his meditation. So he was naked, and Parvati was engaged to worship siva-linga, the genital of Lord Siva. Still in the Vedic culture, there is worshiping of siva-linga, the genital of Lord Siva. So Parvati was engaged to worship the genital of Lord Siva. Certainly there was touching by young girl, but he was not agitated. So Kalidasa said, “Here is a dhira. Here is dhira.” We become excited by seeing one beautiful girl. But the most beautiful girl, young, she was touching the genital of Lord Siva, still there was no disturbance.

So here is the example of dhira. Dhira means who are not sexually disturbed, even there is cause, even there is cause of disturbance. A young woman… Therefore the woman’s name is kamini. Kamini…Kama means lust. So they invoke one’s lust. Therefore by nature, women are beautiful, they dress themselves beautifully. This is nature, to invoke the lusty desire of man. So according to Vedic civilization, woman, when she is dressed nicely and she is beautiful, she must invoke lusty desires. Therefore Vedic civilization does not allow a woman to be nicely dressed unless she is before her husband, unless she is before her husband. Because if she, I mean to say, agitates the lusty desires of all others, that is not very good. So woman is allowed to dress herself very nicely when her husband is present. Otherwise she will not dress. There are some restrictions. Prosita-bhartrka. By the woman’s dress, one will understand who is she—whether she is living with her husband, whether she is widow, whether she is unmarried, or whether her husband is out of home, or whether she is prostitute. The culture is so nice, simply by the dress one will understand that “Here is a woman; her husband is not at home. Here is a woman; she is widow. Here is a woman; she is prostitute.” In this way, there are. “Here is a woman, she is not married.” By dress, one will understand. That vermillion sign means she is married. When she is nicely dressed, oh, she has her husband at home. When she is in white cloth without any ornament, she is widow. When the simanta… What is called in English, simanta? This? Parting. If it is not in the middle, it is in side, she is a prostitute. So woman should dress in such a way that man will understand. And not married, she will not have this veil. It must be open. So anyway, these are social customs in the Vedic civilization.

So a girl is advised to worship siva-linga. Just like we will find in Caitanya-caritamrta, the neighboring girls of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, they were going to the Ganges. In our childhood we have seen, our sisters; they were also worshiping. Mother taught them. Now these things are gone. Nobody is worshiping siva-linga because there are so many lingas. So this custom (laughs) is now gone. Anyway, this girl, Parvati, was engaged to worship the linga, or the genital, of Lord Siva, but Lord Siva was not disturbed. So that is called example of dhira. Dhira means very sober, not disturbed. That soberness can be had… That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Dhiras tatra na muhyati, and how one can become dhira? Now,

yam labdhva caparam labham manyate nadhikam tatah yasmin sthito na duhkhena gurunapi vicalyate

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

Just like Dhruva Maharaja. There are so many examples. Dhruva Maharaja so severely underwent austerities, penances, meditation, to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The purpose was that “When I will see Lord Visnu, I will ask some benediction so that I can get better kingdom than my father.” He was insulted by his stepmother. So ambition was how to get a better kingdom than his father or his grandfather, Lord Brahma. That was his ambition. But when he actually saw Lord Visnu, and He was ready to give him any benediction, he said, “Oh, my dear Lord, I am quite satisfied. I don’t want any benediction.” Svamin krtartho ’smi varam na yace: “My dear Lord, I am so satisfied that I have no more need of asking any benediction.” This is perfection of Krsna consciousness. When he is fully Krsna conscious, he has achieved all success; so why he will ask for anything more? He is so full in power and satisfaction that even great calamity, dangerous position, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. He knows that “These things are coming and going. Why I shall be agitated? Let me depend on Krsna.” Just like Prahlada Maharaja. So many times he was tortured by his father. He never became agitated. His father’s only request was that “You give up this Hare Krsna mantra.” He would not give up. So this is determination. This is called gravity, and this is called soberness, that you go on talking like this. Just like in pushing our Krsna consciousness movement, so many dangers we have to meet. But we don’t care for it. If I am, I mean to say, real servant of Krsna, then this movement will go on, in spite of so many obstacles. So that is called soberness. Dhiras tatra na muhyati.

So Maharaja Yudhisthira was that kind of dhira. He is the son of Dharmaraja, dharma-putra, highly elevated. So everyone was astonished that “How he is aggrieved for the death of his relatives!” Because the other side, Duryodhana was his cousin-brother. All the sons of Dhrtarastra, they played together, they ate together, they were family members, friends, and… But there was misunderstanding. [break] …life is coming out of matter. Now, you, daily you are slaughtering animals. Now, what do you see? The bones and the blood and the flesh and urine and the stool, after cutting this body. So these are the ingredients out of which this man has come or this animal has come. Take these ingredients and create another living entity. There is no answer. What do you think, scientist? These are the ingredients we will see. But can anyone manufacture a life? No, that is not possible. Therefore who are thinking, anyone who is thinking that “I am this combination of bones and blood or chemicals…” They will say some jugglery of words, combination of chemical. Take this chemical. No, that is not possible. Therefore it is my mistake to think that “I am a product of this material thing.” That is nonsense. Sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]. Such person who is thinking like that, that “I am the combination of this matter,” he is no better than the cows and the asses. Sa eva go-kharah. Everything is detailed in there.

yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij janesv abhijnesu sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]

Anyone who is thinking this bag of bones and flesh as the “I am,” “I am this body,” and out of this misconception, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, sva-dhih, “Out of this body or in relationship with this body, the persons, men and woman, they are my kinsmen. They are my nationality, they are my society…” Sva-dhih kalatradisu. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih [SB 10.84.13] “And where this body is produced, that land is my land, motherland.” “I am American,” “I am Indian,” “I am German,” “I am this.” And we are mad after this, this, these nationalists. In this way, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih, yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicit. They go to the place, holy places of pilgrimage, and they take their bath. In India you will see, so many people are going to Haridwar, Vrndavana, and take their bath and shave their head, and then come back: “I went to tirtha, holy place.” That is not tirtha. Tirtha means to meet a high-grade saintly person. Tirtha. Tirthi-kurvanti tirthani. They make tirtha holy place. Anywhere a saintly person is there, that is tirtha. That is holy place. Not that I have to go Haridwar, five thousand miles from here. Wherever there is experienced holy persons, that is tirtha. But they do not know. They go five hundred, five thousand miles away. Sometimes from your country they go to find out a guru in India. (laughs) And the guru who is canvassing here, he is useless. He is useless. So these things. Anyone who is of such conception of life, they have been described as asses and cows, means an animal.

So this sneha-moha, this so-called material affection, it is due to prakrtena atmana. When we consider this body, “I am this body,” then this sneha-moha, this illusion of affection, comes. Atmana. This atma-sabda can be used in terms of this body, in terms of the mind, and in terms of the spirit soul. Therefore, distinctly it has been differentiated: prakrtena atmana. Prakrta means this body is prakrta. This is not aprakrta. But the soul is aprakrta. Aprakrta means not material, and prakrta means material. So those who are absorbed in this material concept of life, they become in this way delusioned or illusioned. Yasyatma-buddhih. So the others, they considered that “The Maharaja Yudhisthira’s this illusion is due to his conception of this body.” This we have to avoid.

This question was raised by Arjuna also, that “I understand that I am not this body and my grandfather is not this body. Still, I am affected when my body or my grandfather is in danger.” So what Krsna advised? Krsna advised, “Yes, that affection is possible.” I know that I am not this body. Theoretically or… But if somebody comes to cut my body, I will be very much protective. Although I know… I cannot feel that “I am not this body; let the body be cut off. I don’t mind.” No. Then Krsna said that this position… Agamapayinah anityas tams titiksasva bharata. Matra-sparsas tu kaunteya sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah. “These temporary happiness and distress which come and go like seasonal changes…” Seasonal changes. Just like there is summer season, there is winter season. So sometimes it is very cold, sometimes it is very warm. And how these feelings are appreciated? Due to this body. The water is the same, but in summer season water is very pleasing to take bath. The same water is very troublesome to take bath in winter season. So according to the changes of the season and according to the affection of this material body, we are feeling pains and pleasure. Otherwise there is no pains and pleasure. Asango ’yam purusah. Atma, real spirit soul… Just like our scientist was asking whether soul is dependent on the matter. No. Soul is independent. Asango ’yam purusah. That is the Vedic instruction. It is never affected. Although therefore it requires knowledge. It requires knowledge. Matra-sparsas tu kaunteya. Our pains and pleasure we feel on account of this skin, matra-sparsah. So we should not deviate from the duty. Even there are pains and pleasure due to this body, we should not deviate from our duty. That is the instruction of the sastra. It is not that because it is very, I am feeling very much cold, I shall not take my bath. No. That’s my duty. I must take. And because I am feeling very hot, therefore I shall not go to the kitchen. There shall be no cooking today. No, that is not possible. Cooking must go on. Similarly, despite all difficulties, all inconveniences on account of this false body, one must do his duty. And that was the instruction to be given to Maharaja Yudhisthira.

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

Thank you very much. (end)