Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.27 Nitai: “From the false ego of goodness, another transformation takes place. From this evolves the mind, whose thoughts and reflections give rise to desire.” Prabhupada: vaikarikad vikurvanan manas-tattvam ajayata yat-sankalpa-vikalpabhyam vartate kama-sambhavah So this mind is material because it is the product of transformation of the modes of goodness. Then, gradually, being contaminated by different kinds of material desires, it becomes degraded. Kama esa krodha esa rajo-guna-samudbhavah. When it is deteriorated, then, from the standard of goodness, it comes to rajo-guna. And rajo-guna means lusty desires, unending desires. And if desires are not fulfilled, then there is krodha, anger. In this way, kama krodha lobha moha matsarya—everything becomes very prominent, and we become servant of these propensities, kama, krodha, moha, matsarya, mada, lobha. This is called illusion, gradually degraded mind. And the business of the mind is sankalpa and vikalpa. Sankalpa means decide to do something, and vikalpa means again to reject it. That is the business of mind. Everyone desires the peacefulness of mind, but the material mind—the nature is sankalpa and vikalpa, restlessness. You cannot fix up. So if you can control the senses by the yogic, mystic yogic process, this mechanical endeavor, how to control the mind, then you can again be placed in the original spiritual status. That is the yoga system. The yoga system is recommended to persons whose mind is very restless. Everyone’s mind is restless—not a particular man mind is restless. Everyone’s. But it is very difficult, also, to bring the mind into peaceful status. So long the desires are there, it is not possible to bring the mind in complete peace and tranquillity. It is not possible because the sankalpa-vikalpa… Vartate-kama-sambhavah. So long there is desire, so it is not possible to bring the mind under control. Therefore Caitanya-caritamrta says, Kaviraja Gosvami, that even the pious actors, those who are acting very piously… Those who are acting impiously, sinfully, there is no question of peace of the mind. That is not possible. Even those who are acting very piously, that is also not possible. You cannot control even the mind in that way. Then those who are desiring to stop these material activities completely, pious or impious, they also cannot control the mind. And then the yogis… The first group, who are interested in pious activities, they are karmis. And those who are neither interested in pious activities or impious activities—they want to stop all kinds of activities… Just like the Buddha philosophy says, nirvana: “Stop the activities of the mind or desires.” On that status also, it is not possible to control the mind, meditation. And… These mukti-kami. And then siddhi-kami, the yogis, they also cannot control the mind, what to speak of ordinary man who are neither interested in pious activities or in mukti or yogic perfection? So when Krsna advised Arjuna to practice yoga for controlling the mind in the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna refused. Arjuna said, “My dear Krsna, You are advising me to control the mind by practicing yoga, but I have no such opportunity because I am a family man. I am also politician, royal family. I have to see things, administration of the kingdom. And besides that, in family life I have to seek for my material interest. So how it is possible for me to control the mind?” So he flatly said, cancalam hi manah krsna pramathi balavad drdham tasyaham nigraham manye vayor iva suduskaram “My dear Krsna, I think the mind is very, very restless.” Cancalam hi manah krsna. Pramathi: “as madman.” As madman is always restless… “And very strong. I want to control the mind, but it does not come under control. So this is the position. Therefore, You are asking me to control the mind…” Tasya aham nigraham manye vayor iva suduskaram: “I think it is more difficult than controlling the wind.” Suppose there is very strong wind, and if you want to stop it, you see, it is not possible. There is cyclone. Similarly, Arjuna has compared the mind with the speed of cyclone. How it is to be controlled? So completely denied. But Krsna said, just to encourage Arjuna, that he should not be disappointed because he could not control the mind. But still, because his mind was always engaged in the lotus feet of Krsna, he is the best of all the yogis. yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah [Bg. 6.47] He encouraged Arjuna that “Don’t be disappointed because your mind is always engaged in Me.” Arjuna might be anything, but he was always thinking of Krsna. He was always associating with Krsna. He did not know anything else, Krsna. That is the position of first- class yogi. Otherwise, if you try to control the mind from kama, krodha, lobha, moha, matsarya, that is not possible. You have to change the position of such activities. Narottama dasa Thakura… Here it is said that kama-sambhavah. Kama, kama means desire. So mind is restless, always desiring something, desiring something. So the best policy to control the mind is to desire how to spread Krsna consciousness. This is the best. Kamah krsna-karmarpane. Narottama dasa Thakura has said that you cannot be free from desire. That is not possible. This is useless attempt. They say that “You become desireless.” No, that is not possible. How can I…? If I become desireless, I become dead. So long I am living entity, I must desire. I cannot check it. Therefore kama means desire. So at the present moment, we are desiring how to become happy in this material world, how to acquire so much money, how to acquire this, how to acquire this, how to get this, how to get that. This is kama. So this brain taxation, if you engage in Krsna’s service—how to spread Krsna consciousness, how to convince people about Krsna, how to take them to the Krsna’s desire, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66]—and in this way, if you go on making plan for spreading Krsna consciousness, then your mind is controlled. You cannot stop desire. That is not possible. The kama-sambhavah… Sankalpa-vikalpabhyam vartate kama-sambhavah. This is the mind’s position. I am desiring something, and if it is not very palatable, then I reject it. I accept another desire. This is. You cannot keep the mind vacant even for a single moment. Nobody has got this experience, that mind is vacant. If, by force, you are trying to do that, it is simply laboring. It is not possible. Just like to concentrate one’s mind in the vacant… Kleso ’dhikataras tesam avyaktasakta-cetasam [Bg. 12.5]. Klesah, klesah adhikataras tesam. Impersonal and void. If you want to engage your mind in the impersonality or voidness of variegatedness, it is simply very, very difficult. The best, easy way of controlling the mind… Because Krsna has said that yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana [Bg. 6.47], antar-atmana, sraddhavan bhajate yo mam. This is the way. Anyone who is making plan, the plan-making… Kama-sambhavah means plan-making. You see the whole world, the big, big politicians. In our government, central government, there is a planning commission. Perhaps every one of you know it, planning commission. From, for the last twenty years they are making simply plans, and no plan has become successful. Every plan (chuckling) is unsuccessful, and the result is eight rupees kilo rice, your staple food. The plan has come successfully to bring rice eight rupees per kilo. That is not possible. So long the, you are materially affected and making plan how to get out of it, the material nature is so strong that it will baffle all your plans, and therefore you will have to remain perpetually restless. One plan you make, and it is baffled by the material nature, stringent laws of nature. And at last, making plan, making plan, making plan—one day the time comes and immediately orders, “Please vacate your presidency, your prime ministership.” Although I am trying to make plan, successful plans, up to the point of death… Pralayanta, pralayanta, asuric plan, up to the end of life… And then he entrusts. He says, “My dear son, my dear daughter, I could not fulfill this plan, so you do it. Now I hand it over to you.” And the son also going on, making plan, plan, plan. It will never be fulfilled. That is the verdict of the sastra. Durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah. Durasaya. It is impossible. Therefore this sankalpa-vikalpa, accepting some plan and rejecting again, this is going on perpetually. It is never fulfilled; neither it will be fulfilled at any time. And for making this plan, sankalpa-vikalpa, perpetually I am giving up one kind of body; I am accepting another body. I am giving up the residence of one planet. I am going to the heavenly planet: urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha madhye tisthanti rajasah jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha adho gacchanti tamasah [Bg. 14.18] Plan in the modes of goodness and passion, in ignorance. So different plans, different kinds of body, different residential quarter in different planets, different… You see? We have got experience even in Bombay. If one body is living here in Bombay for fifty years, how many plans he has had made and how many apartments he has changed and still, the plan-making business is going on. Everyone has got this experience. It is not very difficult. So as it is going on in this life, in this span of life, similarly, it is going on life after life, this plan-making business. So the intelligent persons, they should understand that how to stop this unlimited plan-making business. Still there is no solution. That is called athato brahma jijnasa. That is life, athato brahma-jijnasa, when one is inquisitive to know the broader plan, Brahman plan. Brahman means the biggest, brhatva, the biggest. The biggest plan, if anyone wants to understand, becomes inquisitive, then his life, real life, begins. Athato brahma jijnasa. So wherefrom brahma-jijnasa? Brahma-jijnasa… This ordinary jijnasa, inquiry, “What is the price of rice today?” or “What is the situation of strike? What is the situation of this, that?” that you can ask from the newspaper or from anyone, friend. But so far brahma-jijnasa, inquiry of Brahman, then where shall you inquire? Will you go to the exchange market or in the other market? No. Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum eva abhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. Sa gurum evabhigacchet. That is the injunction of the Vedas, that you must find out guru. Samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham. Guru means brahma-nistham. Brahma-nistham. That is the guru’s qualification. And srotriyam, one who has heard from the disciplic succession, he is guru, not anyone, magician, no. Guru, as Krsna said… Krsna is the original guru. He is Brahma’s guru. Then who can be better guru than Krsna? Tene brahma hrda adi-kavaye. He instructed Brahma. Brahma instructed Narada, and Narada instructed Vyasadeva, and Vyasadeva has given us so many literatures. This is called parampara system. Vedavyasa. Vyasadeva has given us four Vedas: Sama, Yajur, Rg, Atharva; then explained them in the 108 Puranas. Then again, he has summarized them in Vedanta-sutra. Then again, he has explained the Vedanta-sutra by Srimad-Bhagavatam. Brahma-sutra-bhasya. In every chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam you will find this statement by Vyasadeva, brahma-sutra-bhasya. Brahma-sutra-bhasya is not that Sankara’s bhasya, Sariraka-bhasya. That is artificial. Here the brahma-sutra-bhasya. Brahma-sutra is written by Vyasadeva, and because he knew that in future so many rascals will misinterpret this Brahma-sutra, therefore he compiled personally the bhasya of Brahma-sutra. That is Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bhasyam brahma-sutranam vedartha-paribrmhitam **: “The meaning of the Vedas is completely described, and it is the original comment on Brahma-sutra.” Therefore you will see Srimad-Bhagavatam begins from the words of Brahma-sutra: jivasya tattva-jijnasa. As it is said in the Brahma-sutra, athato brahma jijnasa, the Bhagavata says that jivasya tattva-jijnasa: “The living entity’s only business is to inquire about the Absolute Truth.” Na yas ceha karmabhih: “No other business.” Dharmartha-kama-moksa. So dharma… generally, people think that “Becoming religious, we shall be economically developed.” Dharma artha. “We shall get artha. We shall be…” That is… Automatically it comes. If you are actually following the religious principle, artha will come. There is no doubt. And… But we do not know what is dharma. That is the difficulty. That you have to learn from Krsna, athato brahma jijnasa, from the guru. And what guru says, Krsna says? sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66] This is dharma. Anything else, that is all cheating. Dharmah projjhita-kaitavah atra. Kaitava. Kaitava means cheating. And Sridhara Svami says, “This moksa is also another cheating.” Moksa is another… “I shall make me void. I shall finish my existence, individual existence. I shall merge into the existence of the Absolute,” this conception, moksa, mukti, is also commented by Sridhara Svami, “This is another cheating, another cheating.” Because there cannot be moksa. You cannot become one with the Supreme. How you can be? As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, mamaivamso jiva-bhutah jiva-loke sanatanah [Bg. 15.7]. Sanatanah. You are part and parcel of the Supreme. How you can become one? So this kind of attempt is also cheating. You cannot become one. Because eternally, sanatana, eternally, you are different. Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita that “Myself, My dear Arjuna, yourself, and all the soldiers and kings who have assembled in this battlefield, they were the same individual in the past, and they are individual now, and they will continue to remain individual.” So where there is oneness? In the past, present, future the individuality is there. So it is a concoction, to finish the individuality. It is called spiritual suicide. Just like if a man becomes disappointed and he cuts his own throat or hangs him, some way or other, eats some poison, to finish, does it mean that he is finished? Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. He is rascal. He does not know. By finishing this body he is finished—no, that is not possible. The result is, because he violated the rules of nature, he becomes a ghost. That is his life. One who commits suicide, he becomes a ghost. Ghost means he does not get this material body. He remains in the subtle body, mind, intelligence. Therefore ghost can go because he is in the mind. Mind speed is very strong. If you have got this material body, you cannot go immediately hundred miles off. But if you are in the mental body, you can go immediately, thousand miles immediately, within a second. So the ghost, they can play something wonderful because… But they are not happy because they have no gross body. They want to enjoy. He’s materialist. He has committed suicide for some material want. So he is want of material…, fulfilling material desire. He could not fulfill in this body; therefore commits suicide, but the desire is there. The desire is there, and he cannot fulfill it. He becomes perplexed. Therefore the ghost create disturbance sometimes. So in this way desires cannot be finished. That is not possible. Kama-sambhavah. It is not possible. Therefore the best thing is that fix up your mind in Krsna, in Krsna consciousness. Then you will be happy, the mind always engaged in Krsna’s business, planning how to satisfy Krsna. That you are, require. That is intelligence. Krsna wants everyone to surrender unto Him. When Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66], He does not say only to Arjuna; He says to everyone. So that is Krsna’s desire, and if you want to serve Krsna, to fulfill His desire, that means you canvass everyone to surrender to Krsna. This is preaching. Krsna wants it. It is declared. So your business is to satisfy Krsna. So do it. Why don’t you do it? Why you are aspiring after mukti, siddhi, and bhukti? These are all personal. Anyone who is executing pious activities, acquiring punya, what is the result? Punya means he will go to the heavenly planet. That is sense gratification. Heavenly planet, you go to the heavenly planet. You live for many thousands of years, many millions of years, and get the association of apsaras, very nice standard of life, and so on, so on. These are all personal comforts, bhukti, a better standard of material enjoyment. To go to the heavenly planet means a better standard of, thousand times better, millions times better than this planet. As you go up and up… This is Bhurloka. Then Bhuvarloka, Svarloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Brahmaloka, so many lokas. Urdhvam gacchanti sattva-sthah. If you increase your modes of goodness, then you gradually promoted more and more comfortable situation. If you go to the Siddhaloka, immediately you become a perfect yogi. The yogis are trying to get some power, material power, anima laghima prapti-siddhi. If one gets this prapti… Prapti-siddhi means whatever he likes he can get immediately. That is cal… And people become after him, “Oh, here is God. He is creating rasagulla.” (laughter) You see? Yes. One yogi in Benares, he… Anyone who would come to him, immediately he will present two rasagulla in a pot. He will give, and immediately rasagulla will be there. And big, big men, they become surprised, “Oh, here is God.” He does not say, “What is the price of these rasagulla?” Say, four annas? So by jugglery of four annas, he became God. This is going on. This rascaldom is going on. By jugglery of four annas, eight annas, or four hundred or four thousand, if one can make some jugglery, then he becomes God. This is foolishness. This is going on. Therefore Krsna says that this kind of yoga practice is simply cheating. The first-class yogi is he… Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana [Bg. 6.47]. One who is thinking of always Krsna, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,” he is first-class yogi. And they are all cheaters. Some foolish people are cheated by this yogic jugglery and he gets some position, some material position. So material positions there are many. Even a politician, if he talks, many millions people gather to hear him. But what is the benefit of such hearing? First of all we have to see what is the benefit. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23]. If you are interested of hearing lectures, then sastra says that “Hear of Visnu,” not of any rascal. Hear from Vaisnava. Then you will be benefited. Otherwise you will not be benefited. Avaisnavo gurur na sa syat. This is the injunction of the sastra. One who is avaisnava, he cannot become guru. Sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah. A brahmana, and he is very expert in sat-karma… Sat-karma means six kinds of occupational duties. What is that? Pathana. A brahmana must be very, very learned scholar by reading Vedic literature, and pathana, and teach others of the Vedic literature. Therefore it was the custom of the brahmanas—they would not accept anyone’s service. They will sit down anywhere and open a school for teaching Vedic literature. Pathana pathana. He will personally become learned, and he will teach others. And the students, they will go from door to…, brahmacari, door to door for begging, “Mother, give me some alms,” and they will give because their students are there in the gurukula or catuspathi. So whatever they will bring, that will be cooked and offered to Krsna, and the prasadam will be distributed amongst themselves. This was the process, not twenty rupees’ fee and give some bribe to enter into the school, and that is also all rascal education, no. First-class education, without any fee, from the realized soul—that was educational system, varnasrama-dharma. So we have to find out such guru, Vaisnava. Sastra says, sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah. Not only expert in six kinds of occupational…, pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigraha, but mantra-tantra-visaradah: “Vedic mantra or tantra—everything he knows perfectly well.” Sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra…, avaisnavo gurur na sa syat: “But if he has got one disqualification— he is faithless; he does not believe in the Supreme Personality of Godhead or Visnu; he is believer in other demigods and other process, even Lord Siva or Lord Brahma, the best of all the demigods—then he becomes avaisnava.” Just like Ravana. Ravana was very learned scholar, son of a brahmana, very good scholar, and economically developed, but only fault was avaisnava: he did not care for Rama. So he is designated as raksasa. So avaisnava, who is not devotee of Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, gurur na sa syat, he cannot become guru. That is not possible. And vaisnavah sva-paco guruh. Sva-paca. Sva-paca means the dog-eaters, the lowest of the mankind, dog-eaters, candala. Candalo ’pi dvija-srestho hari-bhakti-parayanah. If somehow or other he has become Vaisnava, then he can become guru, not this brahmana, sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah. Because that one disqualification is there, that he is not a Vaisnava, he cannot become guru. But a person born in the lowest of the human society, papa-yoni, which is called papa-yoni… Mam hi partha vyapasritya ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32]. Krsna says that “Anyone who takes shelter of Me, even he belongs to the papa-yoni…” Papa-yoni means the candalas, less than the sudras. Striyo vaisyas tatha sudrah… Again He mentions. Te ’pi yanti param gatim. So they are eligible to go back to home, back to Godhead. There are so many instances. Kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah, ye ’nye ca papah: “Lower than them, still more sinful,” sudhyanti, “they can be purified,” prabhavisnave namah, “if he becomes a Vaisnava.” So vaisnave jati-buddhih is naraki-buddhih. One should not consider a Vaisnava, whether he is born of low family, he is not born of brahmana family. This kinds of consideration is naraki-buddhi. So there are many instances. Sri Sanatana Gosvami says that avaisnava-mukhodgirnam putam hari-kathamrtam, sravanam na kartavyam. If a avaisnava, if a Mayavadi, he speaks about Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita, one should not hear it. He should avoid it because it will create some misimpression. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has forbidden strongly, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa: “If one hears from a Mayavadi about Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, then that person is doomed.” So this is, therefore, tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. This injunction means one should approach a Vaisnava to accept him as guru and then take lessons from him and make his life successful. Thank you very much. (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Bombay, January 4, 1975