Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.9 Harikesa: Translation: “Who is the person who is too much attached to household life on account of being unable to control the senses and (who can) liberate himself because he is bound up very strongly with the rope of affection for the family, namely wife, children, relatives, etc.?” Prabhupada: ko grhesu puman saktam atmanam ajitendriyah sneha-pasair drdhair baddham utsaheta vimocitum The point is discussed, how one can get out of the bondage of material existence, vimocita. But people do not know that “This is my business, how to get out of this entanglement.” They do not know even what is that entanglement. Such foolish civilization is going on. And they are passing as scientist, philosopher, big, big politician, but they do not know what is the aim of life. The aim of life is vimocita. We are spirit soul, eternal, na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20], nityo sasvato ’yam. They do not know. At the present moment almost everyone, 99.9% people, they do not know what is our problem and how to get out of it. They do not know. Ignorance, stupidity, mudha. na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah andha yathandhair upaniyamanas te ’pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah [SB 7.5.31] Again the same thing. Isa tantryam, uru-damni baddhah. We are bound up, hands and legs, by the tantryam, the shackles or ropes of nature, or God. We are not free. ’Pisa tantryam baddhah. We are not free; still, we are trying to excel the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The modern scientists, they are very much proud that they have advanced very much so that there is no need of talking about God. This is the material civilization. So many wonderful things are going on. They cannot explain even how things are going on, and still they are proud of scientific advancement and declare, “There is no God.” This is foolish civilization, naradhama. Na mam duskrtino mudhah [Bg. 7.15] And they are engaged in sinful activities. To solve the population—janma, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi—they are killing. That means increasing problem. They do not know the actual fact, that by this killing process they are increasing the problems of life. So what is due to? This is due to sneha-pasair drdhair baddham. We are bound up by the shackles of nature, and it is due to our attachment for material existence. Attachment. And we have to undo this attachment, vairagya. Undo this attachment means vairagya, detachment. That is the thing necessary. So how we become detached? We are so much attached; how we can become detached? That is also given. The process is given in the Bhagavatam: vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah [SB 1.2.7]. If you engage yourself in executing devotional service to Vasudeva, vasudeve bhagavati… Vasudeva means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, most opulent. Bhagavati. Bhagavan means most opulent, full with six kinds of opulence. Vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah— no other means. You cannot become liberated by any other means except bhakti-yoga. That is Bhagavatam. Bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi… [Bg. 18.55]. Krsna says, “You can simply become liberated by the bhakti process.” There are many processes. Accepting those…, they are also different processes. But nothing is powerful except the process enunciated by God Himself, Krsna. He says, bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah [Bg. 18.55]. vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah janayaty asu vairagyam… [SB 1.2.7] That is detachment. And bhakti-yoga means vairagya-yukta. Vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yogam. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya explained this verse in connection with Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s activities, that “Who is this personality?” So he explained. He composed one hundred verses with reference to Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s activities. Some of them are available, mentioned in the Caitanya-caritamrta. So first of all, ascertaining Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya says that “This movement, Krsna consciousness movement enunciated by, inaugurated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, what is this? Vairagya-vidya. This is the instructional lesson, or education, vidya, education.” It is vairagya-vidya, detachment education. It is not attachment education. The material education means attachment education. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said, ’yara vidya sa maya boyba: our attachment for this material world, it is maya, illusion. Maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43] This material happiness is made by maya, and they are making gorgeous arrangement, these fools and rascals, maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43]. They’re making gorgeous arrangement. Why? Because they are vimudhan, all rascals. “Why rascals? They are scientists, they are philosophers.” That’s all right, but after making all these arrangements, you are under the clutches of maya. You are not free from the clutches of maya. So why you are wasting time in this way? You cannot…, you did not make any solution or any assurance that whatever you are creating for enjoyment you will be able to enjoy. No. That is not possible. That they do not see. They are constructing big, big roads, motorcars, and skyscraper building, but there is no assurance that you’ll be able to enjoy it. That is not possible. At any moment, finished. Your skyscraper building, your big, big road, your big, big motorcars, it will remain where you manufactured and you have to leave. That they do not see. This is called mudha. Mudho nabhijanati. They…, they’re not They are afraid of death, but on account of foolishness they declare, “Oh, we don’t We are not afraid of death.” They’re afraid. So actually we should not increase our foolishness. Human life is meant for utilizing our intelligence. That is human life. Instead of utilizing intelligence, if we increase our foolishness, that’s the wrong type of civilization. That is not actual civilization. Caitanya Mahaprabhu very kindly inaugurated this civilization, Krsna consciousness, the same thing as it is confirmed in the Vedas: vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah projitah janayaty asu vairagyam Asu: “very soon.” The examples are here. You are Europeans and Americans; you were attached to so many things. But because you have taken to Krsna consciousness, means vasudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogam. This, you have come to Vrndavana to worship Vasudeva or Krsna, or in your country you have established some many temples. In account of being engaged in the devotional service of Vasudeva, although you are young boys and girls, you have given up so many nonsense things. This is called vairagya. This is called vairagya, detachment. Meat-eating is the general life of Europeans and Americans, but at the present moment if someone offers you millions of dollars and he requests you that “You take some meat with me,” I think you will deny. This is called vairagya. This is called vairagya. I’ve actually seen our Gargamuni was sent to his father. I advised him that “Your father has big business. Just take it for Krsna consciousness.” So father was very glad, his father, but he offered meat, and when he said, “Father, Daddy, I cannot take meat,” then the father became angry. He drove him away. (indistinct) So he came back. The young man, father’s property, he refused to take it. So this is vairagya. And the whole Krsna consciousness movement means vairagya-vidya, the education of vairagya, detachment. Vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yogam. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna, and He wanted to teach the people this vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yogam. As Krsna He commanded, “Just give up all this nonsense engagement.” Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: [Bg. 18.66] “Just surrender unto Me. That is good for you. I shall save you from the reactions of your sinful activities.” Material life means simply sinful activities. Simply. Even though there is some covering of pious activities, that is also sinful. You are in this world It is said in the Caitanya-caritamrta, dvaite bhadrabhadra jnana. Dvaite means “in this world of duality,” bhadra and abhadra. We have manufactured so many things. We say “This is very good” and “This is bad.” Bhadra abhadra. Bhadra means good, and abhadra means bad. But Caitanya-caritamrta-kav, Krsna dasa Kaviraja Goswami, he says that this good and bad—concocted. They are neither good nor bad. They are the same thing—material quality. Dvaite bhadrabhadra sakali sang… Then how things are going on, “This is good; this is bad”? Ei bhala ei manda saba manodharma. This is mental concoction. In the material world there cannot be anything good. It is bad. If there is real goodness, that is spiritual world, suddha-sattva. Sattva-guna. In the material world there are three gunas. Of these, sattva-guna is accepted as very good—the modes of goodness. But above this mode of goodness there is suddha-sattva, pure goodness. “Goodness is goodness”—no. This goodness is polluted with ignorance and passion. Therefore we see in the material world a person very good But yesterday morning we were discussing about Brahma: very good, but sometimes he is also polluted. Therefore it is not pure goodness in this material world. Even there is goodness, it is not pure. There is always chance of becoming polluted by the other base qualities, ignorance and passion. Therefore here cannot be pure goodness. Pure goodness is Krsna consciousness platform, devotional service. If you keep yourself rigidly on the platform of devotional service, then you are pure goodness. And as soon as you are slack, immediately the other two base qualities will attack you. Therefore it is very difficult to keep pure goodness. Take for example: goodness is brahmana. How at the present moment the brahmana, the hereditary brahmana, by birth, how they have fallen on account of attack of these base qualities. But they’re trying to keep their brahminical platform in spite of being polluted by the other two base qualities. Therefore the Caitanya-caritamrta author’s statement that ei bhala, ei manda, saba bhrama: even if you are raised to the brahmana quality, there is always chance of falling down. Therefore you have to keep always in the transcendental platform, brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati… [Bg. 18.54] Even from brahma-bhutah platform one falls down. One who is already mixed, or merged into the Brahman, they fall down. Aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adhah [SB 10.2.32]. Why? Anadrta yusmad anghrayah. Unless one is very rigid devotee, even he has approached the other feature—that means the Brahman feature: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan—so he falls down, very, very easily. And why? That is this attachment—sneha-pasair drdhair baddham. Drdhair baddham. That, I was citing Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s song, jada-vidya saba mayara vaibhava tomara bhajane badha, anitya samsare moha janamiya jivake karaye gadha. Gadha means ass. Ustra khara. Sva-vid ustra khara. So this so-called advancement of civilization means the living entity is always compared as an ass, mudha. So instead of becoming intelligent, by material education one becomes more and more first-class ass. jada-vidya saba mayara vaibhava tomara bhajane badha, because the more you become advanced in so- called material civilization, you’ll forget God. Mayara vaibhava. Maya’s business is to keep you always sleeping, forgetting God. This is maya’s business. Daivi hi esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya. This is maya’s business. The more you forget Krsna, the more you are under the influence of maya. Jada-vidya saba mayara vaibhava. If you increase your volume of material civilization, then more and more you’ll forget God and you’ll be attached to this material world, mayara vaibhava. So people are increasing more and more and becoming under the clutches of maya. That is janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. Clutches of maya means birth, death, old age, and disease. This is maya’s shackles, or ropes. But they do not care for it. They do not take into account that “I am eternal, na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. I do not die even after the destruction of this body, so why shall I suffer in this way repeatedly birth and death?” And that is also not only inconvenient, but very much painful. Today you are American or something, or Indian, but tomorrow if you become a tree in the American land, then what is your position? But they do not care for it, do not understand it, therefore it is mayara vaibhava. This advancement of material civilization is mayara vaibhava. Therefore the Vedic civilization is voluntarily accepting poverty. Voluntary. Big, big kings, they voluntarily accepted poverty. Rupa Goswami Don’t go to the past, big, big…, Bharata Maharaja and others. Even Lord Ramacandra. Take recent history, within five hundred years. Rupa Goswami, the chief minister of the government of Bengal, most opulent position: tyaktva turnam asesa-mandala-pati-srenim. They became mendicant, voluntarily accepting, tyaktva turnam asesa-mandala-pati-srenim sada tucchavat. “What is this nonsense position, minister, opulent life? Kick it out.” They are not fools. They are politicians. But why they “Kick it out.” Then what they became? Bhutva dina-ganesakau karunaya kaupina-kanthasritau. They become mendicant. So voluntarily accepting poverty, this is Indian civilization, this is Vedic civilization. Not to increase material opulence but to decrease. The more you decrease, you are civilized. And the Western countries, if you decrease, if you instruct them that “Decrease these nonsense activities. No more tire(?) civilization,” they’ll say “Oh, this is primitive, primitive.” This tendency is present. But actually, the primitive civilization… Not primitive; that is very sober civilization, anartha. Instead of increasing unwanted necessities, decrease it. That is Srimad-Bhagavatam. Anarthopasamam saksad bhakti-yogam adhoksaje. Lokasya ajanatah vidvams cakre satvata samhitam. This satvata samhitam bhagavata is there, simply to decrease this unwanted so-called material civilization. It is very difficult to understand, but our Krsna consciousness movement is for that purpose. We are interested to construct a nice temple, but we are not interested to construct a very big skyscraper building for people’s generally No. We should live very humbly. But for Krsna we can In India you’ll find there are so many valuable temples which cannot be constructed at the present moment. You will see in this Vrndavana that the broken Govindaji’s temple, it is not possible to construct such costly temples at the present moment. Even by spending crores of rupees you cannot construct. But one who has money, they used to do that. It should be engaged for Krsna’s comfort. This is bhakti. This is bhakti. For Krsna’s The Vrndavana means everyone is engaged how to keep Krsna in comfort. This is Vrndavana. Not for personal comfort. The whole Vrndavana is engaged, beginning from Mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, the young gopis and the young cowherd boys—that is Vrndavana. Krsna is the center. So the more we become engaged with the view to give Krsna the comfortable position, that is our aim of life. Then we can be liberated. Sneha-pasair drdhair baddham. So we should not be very much interested for personal comfort, but if the comfort of the superior, Krsna, then it will be possible to get out of these material clutches. That is called vairagya. Sneha-pasair baddham. At the present we are bound up by the laws of material nature, and if we want to undo it, then we should learn vairagya-vidya. vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga siksartham ekah purusah puranah sri-krsna-caitanya-sarira-dhari krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye [Cc. Madya 6.254] This is Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. If you want to get out of this material bondage, vairagya-vidya, then learn bhakti-yoga, vairagya-vidya. And how to learn? Krsna Himself is teaching, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Just see His vairagya. At home, the most affectionate mother, and the most beautiful young wife, Visnu-priya—He renounced everything. Tyaktva su-dustyaja-surepsita-rajya laksmim dharmistha arya-vacasa yad agad aranyam [SB 11.5.34] He became sannyasa. In full young time, twenty-four years, having nice wife at home, very affectionate mother, they’re very, mother end wife, they take care of very nicely. The home appears to be very, very happy home due to mother and due to wife. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu had both of them. Not only that—He was a learned scholar, very influential in Nabadwip. He could gather 100,000 men by His order only. He was so influential and so beautiful, so learned—everything. Su-dustyaja-surepsita-rajya laksmim [SB 11.5.34]. His opulence was very, very great, but He gave up. Tyaktva turnam. Similarly, the Goswamis also gave up their position. So this Krsna consciousness movement means vairagya-vidya: to get detached. Don’t increase attachment. Try to decrease attachment, then you’ll be successful. Thank you very much. Devotees: Jaya!
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Vrndavana, December 11, 1975