Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.9 Santosa: “I have actually seen that one who becomes a criminal by committing sinful acts is punished by the government’s law, but although rebuked, he does the same thing again. One also hears from the scriptures spoken by learned scholars that committing sin throws one into hell in the next life. Nevertheless, although he has received full experience through seeing and hearing, which are the sources of practical knowledge, he is forced repeatedly to commit sins and again perform acts of atonement. What then is the value of such atonement?” Prabhupada: drsta-srutabhyam yat papam janann apy atmano ’hitam karoti bhuyo vivasah prayascittam atho katham [SB 6.1.9] This is intelligence. Maharaja Pariksit is Vaisnava, and his inquiry was: “How these men who are rotting in this hellish condition can be relieved?” That was his question. So… (about music on loudspeakers:) What is that? Jayatirtha: The radio, some interference on the microphone. The radio is being picked up outside. Prabhupada: I have already explained that there are three ways, karma-kanda, jnana-kanda, and upasana-kanda. Therefore Veda is called trayi, three kinds of activities. So devotees, they are not in the karma-kanda, jnana-kanda. He is not pure devotee. Bhakti means jnana-karmady-anavrtam: [Madhya 19.167] “There is no touch of this fruitive activities or speculative knowledge.” The devotees do not accept this. anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama [BRS 1.1.11] That is first-class bhakti, anukulyena krsnanu-silana, just to satisfy Krsna. Just like Arjuna. He was not willing to fight or to kill the other party. That is very good. He is a Vaisnava. Naturally he does not like to fight or pick up quarrel with others or do some harm to others. Vaisnava is para-duhkha-duhkhi. He knows very well that “If something harmful is done to me, I am unhappy, so why should I commit the same thing to others?” So But in spite of his conviction that he should not fight, still, when Krsna insisted up to the point that “Your this mercy upon them will not act because it is already My plan that they will have to die. So you have become very kind, but you cannot surpass My plan. That is not possible. I have come here…” Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam [Bg. 4.8] “That is My true mission: to save the devotees and to annihilate the nondevotees. So here I have brought them all together in this battlefield, and it will be finished.” Whenever there is some crash, either railway or the airplane, it should be noted that all those passengers are destined to die by the will of God, and they come together and destroy.(?) Because without the sanction, will, of God, nothing can take place. [break] …some reason. Father is not unkind, but when father denies the same facility he is giving to the other child, that does not mean he is unkind. [break] …the devotee is suffering from some reverse condition, then he is feeling very much obliged to Krsna, “Oh, my dear Lord, it is Your great mercy that I am suffering.” This is devotee. He is suffering and he is taking it as great mercy of God. Tat te anukampam. Anukampa. Anukampa means mercy. So it is Your mercy. Tat te ’nukampam susamiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam. He knows the same thing, that a man suffers on account of his past sinful activities or present sinful activities. The past or present doesn’t matter. If one is sinful, then he must be punished. Just like here it is said, drsta. Drsta means by direct experience. Direct experience everyone has seen, that a thief, he is arrested. This is our direct experience. He has committed theft, and therefore he is arrested by the police. It is our direct experience. And srutabhyam, by hearing from the lawbook or scripture, whatever you take… In the lawbook it is stated that “You commit a theft, then you will be punished, imprisoned, for six months. Or if you commit murder, then you will be hanged.” This is called srutabhyam, by hearing. We have got two senses: one, by the knowledge-acquiring senses, and practical working senses. So drsta means our eyes are working, and we see that a criminal is arrested and he is punished. And sruta means knowledge-gathering. Just like you gather knowledge from book. So we have got two senses—not two senses, but ten senses: five senses, knowledge gathering, and five senses, directing, knowledge, working senses. So drsta-srutabhyam means by two senses, two kinds of senses: knowledge-gathering senses and working senses. We have experience by two kinds of senses. So Pariksit Maharaja says that a person, means a sinful person, he is getting experience from the both kinds of senses, drsta-srutabhyam, and by that experience he knows that “This is not good. This is a sinful act.” Just like in your country, in each cigarette packet, what is written there? Sudama: “It is hazardous for the health.” Prabhupada: So he knows it, that “I am smoking something which is detrimental to my health.” But why he is smoking? Why he is smoking? This is the question. Prayascitta… Now from smoking sometimes he gets bronchitis or something, some disease in the heart. So he goes to the doctor, he suffers, and he takes medicine and he is cured, then again smoking, again do the same thing. One is suffering from syphilis, and he is suffering so much. The doctor gives injection and so on, so on. Then, after being cured, again doing the same. That is his question. It is not that a man always commits sinful activities without knowledge. No. They have full knowledge. So if one does, cannot resist himself from sinful activity, then what is the meaning of this atonement? He rejects, “This is useless.” You commit some sinful activities and go to the church and pay some fine, and again you commit sinful acts. So it is useless. That is questioned by Pariksit Maharaja. Prayascittam atho katham: “What is this?”That is intelligence. He is devotee. He knows that this kind of atonement is useless. It has no meaning. So the problem is that within the heart we have got so many dirty things. So unless those dirty things are removed or cleansed, this kind of prayascitta or medicine or fine or going to the jail—he is not saved. He will commit the same thing. Again will suffer. Again he will suffer. Bhutva bhutva praliyate. Real problem is that we should stop our suffering. But the karmis, they are interested in the temporary cure, and they do not know how to cure completely. There will be no more suffering. That they do not know. But a Vaisnava, because he is Krsna conscious, he knows what is real suffering—because he understands from Krsna. So Krsna says that “Your real suffering is these four things, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi: repetition of birth, death, old age, and disease. Actually this is your problem.” So without devotees, without hearing from Krsna, these rascals, they do not know actually what is the problem nor what is suffering. They are simply concerned with temporary suffering and temporary cure. Therefore they have been explained, they have been described in the Bhagavad-gita, as mudhas. Mudha means ass. So the whole world is going on like that, full of asses. Not only asses, but like other animal… That past sinful activities or present sinful activities. The past or present doesn’t matter. If one is sinful, then he must be punished. Just like here it is said, drsta. Drsta means by direct experience. Direct experience everyone has seen, that a thief, he is arrested. This is our direct experience. He has committed theft, and therefore he is arrested by the police. It is our direct experience. And srutabhyam, by hearing from the lawbook or scripture, whatever you take… “O my dear lion, O king…” Lion is considered as the king of the animals, pasu raja. Actually, he is the king in the jungle. Everyone is afraid of him, he is so powerful. Even the elephant is afraid of the lion. So if the lion is praised by some small animals, does it mean the lion is not animal? Has it any value like the human being? No. Still he is animal. Even though the small animals are praising, giving votes, “You become president,” (laughter) but who is these voters? Another animal. This is democracy. The small animals are voting the big animal. So how you can expect peace? That much I have already explained. So this is not civilization, that the small animals giving vote to the big animals to occupy the government. That is going on. This will not help. So according to Vedic civilization, the king or the president or the ruling chief must be representative of God. That is wanted. Therefore you will find in the Bhagavad-gita, imam rajarsayo viduh: “This Bhagavad-gita was understood by the rajarsi.” Rajarsi means… Raja means king, and rsi means great saintly person. Rajarsi. So education, culture, is meant for the higher two classes, the brahmanas and the ksatriyas. Education means for them, those who are intelligent, for them. Education is not for masses. Now it is called mass education. So mass education means it will produce undesirable elements. That’s all. So the Vedic system is there must be first of all the most intelligent class of men. They should be given education how to become self-controlled, samah; how to control the mind, how to control the senses; sama damah satyam, how to become truthful; saucam, how to become cleanse; samo damah satyam saucam titiksa, how to become tolerant; arjavam, how to become simple, no intricacy; samo damas satyam saucam titiksa arjavam eva ca, jnanam vijnanam astikyam, full of knowledge; and vijnanam, practical application in life; astikyam, and to believe in the existence of God or knowing God partially or fully. Partially knowing God means impersonal or Paramatma. This is partial. Brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate. They say religion is a kind of faith. Similarly, during some play I heard it is that…(?) So “You are okay; I am okay.” Our proposal is not that. Our proposal is: “You are not okay; I am okay.” (laughter) Devotees: Jaya! (end)
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, June 22, 1975