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kvacit—sometimes; ca—also; sita-vata-adi—such as cold and strong wind; aneka—various; adhidaivika—created by the demigods; bhautika—adhibhautika, created by other living beings; atmiyanam—adhyatmika, created by the body and mind; dasanam—of conditions of misery; pratinivarane—in the counteracting; akalpah—unable; duranta—very severe; cintaya—by anxieties; visannah—morose; aste—he remains.

Being unable to protect himself from the threefold miseries of material existence, the conditioned soul becomes very morose and lives a life of lamentation. These threefold miseries are miseries suffered by mental calamity at the hands of the demigods [such as freezing wind and scorching heat], miseries offered by other living entities, and miseries arising from the mind and body themselves.

The so-called happy materialistic person is constantly having to endure the threefold miseries of life, called adhidaivika, adhyatmika and adhibhautika. Actually no one can counteract these threefold miseries. All three may assail one at one time, or one misery may be absent and the other present. Thus the living entity is full of anxiety, fearing misery from one side or the other. The conditioned soul must be disturbed by at least one of these three miseries. There is no escape.

SB5.14.26

TEXT 26

kvacin mitho vyavaharan yat kincid dhanam anyebhyo va kakinika-matram apy apaharan yat kincid va vidvesam eti vitta-sathyat.

kvacit—sometimes; mithah—with one another; vyavaharan—trading; yat kincit—whatever little bit; dhanam—money; anyebhyah—from others; va—or; kakinika-matram—a very small amount (twenty cowries); api—certainly; apaharan—taking away by cheating; yat kincit—whatever small amount; va—or; vidvesam eti—creates enmity; vitta-sathyat—because of cheating.

As far as transactions with money are concerned, if one person cheats another by a farthing or less, they become enemies.

This is called samsara-davanala. Even in ordinary transactions between two people, there is invariably cheating because the conditioned soul is defective in four ways—he is illusioned, he commits mistakes, his knowledge is imperfect, and he has a propensity to cheat. Unless one is liberated from material conditioning, these four defects must be there. Consequently every man has a cheating propensity, which is employed in business or money transactions. Although two friends may be living peacefully together, due to their propensity to cheat they become enemies when there is a transaction between them. A philosopher accuses an economist of being a cheater, and an economist may accuse a philosopher of being a cheater when he comes in contact with money. In any case, this is the condition of material life. One may profess a high philosophy, but when one is in need of money, he becomes a cheater. In this material world, so-called scientists, philosophers and economists are nothing but cheaters in one way or another. The scientists are cheaters because they present so many bogus things in the name of science. They propose going to the moon, but actually they end up cheating the entire public of large sums of money for their experiments. They cannot do anything useful. Unless one can find a person transcendental to the four basic defects, one should not accept advice and become a victim of the material condition. The best process is to take the advice and instructions of Sri Krsna or His bona fide representative. In this way one can be happy in this life and the next.

SB5.14.27

TEXT 27

adhvany amusminn ima upasargas tatha sukha-duhkha-raga-dvesa-bhayabhimana-pramadonmada-soka-moha-lobha-matsaryersyava-mana-ksut-pipasadhi-vyadhi-janma-jara-maranadayah.

adhvani—on the path of material life; amusmin—on that; ime—all these; upasargah—eternal difficulties; tatha—so much also; sukha—so-called happiness; duhkha—unhappiness; raga—attachment; dvesa—hate; bhaya—fear; abhimana—false prestige; pramada—illusion; unmada—madness; soka—lamentation; moha—bewilderment; lobha—greed; matsarya—envy; irsya—enmity; avamana—insult; ksut—hunger; pipasa—thirst; adhi—tribulations; vyadhi—disease; janma—birth; jara—old age; marana—death; adayah—and so on.

In this materialistic life, there are many difficulties, as I have just mentioned, and all of these are insurmountable. In addition, there are difficulties arising from so-called happiness, distress, attachment, hate, fear, false prestige, illusion, madness, lamentation, bewilderment, greed, envy, enmity, insult, hunger, thirst, tribulation, disease, birth, old age and death. All these combine together to give the materialistic conditioned soul nothing but misery.

The conditioned soul has to accept all these conditions simply to enjoy sense gratification in this world. Although people declare themselves great scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians and sociologists. they are actually nothing but rascals. Therefore they have been described as mudhas and naradhamas in Bhagavad-gita (7.15):

na mam duskrtino mudhah
prapadyante naradhamah
mayayapahrta-jnana
asuram bhavam asritah

“Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, lowest among mankind. whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons, do not surrender unto Me.”

Due to their foolishness, all these materialists are described in Bhagavad-gita as naradhamas. They have attained the human form in order to get released from material bondage, but instead of doing so. they become further embarrassed amid the miserable material conditions. Therefore they are naradhamas, the lowest of men. One may ask whether scientists, philosophers, economists and mathematicians are also naradhamas, the lowest of men, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead replies that they are because they have no actual knowledge. They are simply proud of their false prestige and position. Actually they do not know how to get relief from the material condition and renovate their spiritual life of transcendental bliss and knowledge. Consequently they waste time and energy in the search for so-called happiness. These are the qualifications of the demons. In Bhagavad-gita it says that when one has all these demonic qualities, he becomes a mudha. Due to this. he envies the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore birth after birth he is born into a demonic family, and he transmigrates from one demonic body to another. Thus he forgets his relationship with Krsna and remains a naradhama in an abominable condition life after life.

SB5.14.28

TEXT 28

kvapi deva-mayaya striya bhuja-latopagudhah praskanna-viveka-vijnano yad-vihara-grharambhakula-hrdayas tad-asrayavasakta-suta-duhitr-kalatra-bhasitavaloka-vicestitapahrta-hrdaya atmanam ajitatmapare ’ndhe tamasi prahinoti.

kvapi—somewhere; deva-mayaya—by the influence of the illusory energy; striya—in the form of one’s girl friend or wife; bhuja-lata—by beautiful arms, which are compared to tender creepers in the forest; upagudhah—being deeply embarrassed; praskanna—lost; viveka—all intelligence; vijnanah—scientific knowledge; yat-vihara—for the enjoyment of the wife; grha-arambha—to find a house or apartment; akula-hrdayah—whose heart becomes engrossed; tat—of that house; asraya-avasakta—who are under the shelter; suta—of sons; duhitr—of daughters; kalatra—of the wife; bhasita-avaloka—by the conversations and by their beautiful glances; vicestita—by activities; apahrta-hrdayah—whose consciousness is taken away; atmanam—himself; ajita—uncontrolled; atma—whose self; apare—in unlimited; andhe—blind darkness; tamasi—in hellish life; prahinoti—he hurls.

Sometimes the conditioned soul is attracted by illusion personified (his wife or girl friend) and becomes eager to be embraced by a woman. Thus he loses his intelligence as well as knowledge of life’s goal. At that time, no longer attempting spiritual cultivation, he becomes overly attached to his wife or girl friend and tries to provide her with a suitable apartment. Again, he becomes very busy under the shelter of that home and is captivated by the talks, glances and activities of his wife and children. In this way he loses his Krsna consciousness and throws himself in the dense darkness of material existence.

When the conditioned soul is embraced by his beloved wife, he forgets everything about Krsna consciousness. The more he becomes attached to his wife, the more he becomes implicated in family life. One Bengali poet, Bankim Chandra, says that to the eyes of the lover the beloved is always very beautiful, even though ugly. This attraction is called deva-maya. The attraction between man and woman is the cause of bondage for both. Actually both belong to the para prakrti, the superior energy of the Lord, but both are actually prakrti (female). However, because both want to enjoy one another, they are sometimes described as purusa (male). Actually neither is purusa, but both can be superficially described as purusa. As soon as man and woman are united, they become attached to home, hearth, land, friendship and money. In this way they are both entrapped in material existence. The word bhuja-lata-upagudha, meaning “being embraced by beautiful arms which are compared to creepers,” describes the way the conditioned soul is bound within this material world. The products of sex life—sons and daughters—certainly follow. This is the way of material existence.

SB5.14.29

TEXT 29

kadacid isvarasya bhagavato visnos cakrat paramanv-adi-dvi-parardhapavarga-kalopalaksanat parivartitena vayasa ramhasa harata abrahma-trna-stambadinam bhutanam animisato misatam vitrasta-hrdayas tam evesvaram kala-cakra-nijayudham saksad bhagavantam yajna-purusam anadrtya pakhanda-devatah kanka-grdhra-baka-vata-praya arya-samaya-parihrtah sanketyenabhidhatte.

kadacit—sometimes; isvarasya—of the Supreme Lord; bhagavatah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; visnoh—of Lord Visnu; cakrat—from the disc; paramanu-adi—beginning from the time of minute atoms; dvi-parardha—the duration of the life of Brahma; apavarga—ending; kala—of time; upalaksanat—having the symptoms; parivartitena—revolving; vayasa—by the chronological order of ages; ramhasa—swiftly; haratah—taking away; a-brahma—beginning from Lord Brahma; trna-stamba-adinam—down to the small clumps of grass; bhutanam—of all living entities; animisatah—without blinking the eyes (without fail); misatam—before the eyes of the living entities (without their being able to stop it); vitrasta-hrdayah—being afraid in the heart; tam—Him; eva—certainly; isvaram—the Supreme Lord; kala-cakra-nija-ayudham—whose personal weapon is the disc of time; saksat—directly; bhagavantam—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yajna-purusam—who accepts all kinds of sacrificial ceremonies; anadrtya—without caring for; pakhanda-devatah—concocted incarnations of God (man-made gods or demigods); kanka—buzzards; grdhra—vultures; baka—herons; vata-prayah—like crows; arya-samaya-parihrtah—who are rejected by authorized Vedic scriptures accepted by the Aryans; sanketyena—by concoction or with no basis of authority indicated by scripture; abhidhatte—he accepts as worshipable.

The personal weapon used by Lord Krsna, the disc, is called hari-cakra, the disc of Hari. This cakra is the wheel of time. It expands from the beginning of the atoms up to the time of Brahma’s death, and it controls all activities. It is always revolving and spending the lives of the living entities, from Lord Brahma down to an insignificant blade of grass. Thus one changes from infancy, to childhood, to youth and maturity, and thus one approaches the end of life. It is impossible to check this wheel of time. This wheel is very exacting because it is the personal weapon of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sometimes the conditioned soul, fearing the approach of death, wants to worship someone who can save him from imminent danger. Yet he does not care for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose weapon is the indefatigable time factor. The conditioned soul instead takes shelter of a man-made god described in unauthorized scriptures. Such gods are like buzzards, vultures, herons and crows. Vedic scriptures do not refer to them. Imminent death is like the attack of a lion, and neither vultures, buzzards, crows nor herons can save one from such an attack. One who takes shelter of unauthorized man-made gods cannot be saved from the clutches of death.

yada pakhandibhir atma-vancitais tair uru vancito brahma-kulam samavasams tesam silam upanayanadi-srauta-smarta-karmanustha-nena bhagavato yajna-purusasyaradhanam eva tad arocayan sudra-kulam bhajate nigamacare ’suddhito yasya mithuni-bhavah kutumba-bharanam yatha vanara-jateh.

It is stated: harim vina mrtim na taranti. No one can save himself from the cruel hands of death without being favored by Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te: [Bg. 7.14] whoever fully surrenders unto Krsna can be saved from the cruel hands of material nature. The conditioned soul, however, sometimes wants to take shelter of a demigod, man-made god, pseudo incarnation or bogus svami or yogi. All these cheaters claim to follow religious principles, and all this has become very popular in this age of Kali. There are many pasandis who, without referring to the sastras, pose themselves as incarnations, and foolish people follow them. Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has left behind Him Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. Not referring to these authorized scriptures, rascals take shelter of man-made scriptures and try to compete with Lord Krsna. That is the greatest difficulty one encounters when trying to promote spiritual consciousness in human society. The Krsna consciousness movement is trying its best to bring people back to Krsna consciousness in its pure form, but the pasandis and atheists, who are cheaters, are so numerous that sometimes we become perplexed and wonder how to push this movement forward. In any case, we cannot accept the unauthorized ways of so-called incarnations, gods, cheaters and bluffers, who are described here as crows, vultures, buzzards and herons.

SB5.14.30

TEXT 30

yada—when; pakhandibhih—by pasandis (godless atheists); atma-vancitaih—who themselves are cheated; taih—by them; uru—more and more; vancitah—being cheated; brahma-kulam—the bona fide brahmanas strictly following the Vedic culture; samavasan—settling among them to advance spiritually; tesam—of them (the brahmanas who strictly follow Vedic principles); silam—the good character; upanayana-adi—beginning with offering the sacred thread or training the conditioned soul to qualify as a bona fide brahmana; srauta—according to the Vedic principles; smarta—according to the authorized scriptures derived from the Vedas; karma-anusthanena—the performance of activities; bhagavatah—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yajna-purusasya—who is worshiped by Vedic ritualistic ceremonies; aradhanam—the process of worshiping Him; eva—certainly; tat arocayan—not finding pleasure in it due to its being difficult for unscrupulous persons to perform; sudra-kulam—the society of sudras; bhajate—he turns to; nigama-acare—in behaving according to Vedic principles; asuddhitah—not purified; yasya—of whom; mithuni-bhavah—sex enjoyment or the materialistic way of life; kutumba-bharanam—the maintenance of the family; yatha—as it is; vanara-jateh—of the society of monkeys, or the descendants of the monkey.

The pseudo svamis, yogis and incarnations who do not believe in the Supreme Personality of Godhead are known as pasandis. They themselves are fallen and cheated because they do not know the real path of spiritual advancement, and whoever goes to them is certainly cheated in his turn. When one is thus cheated, he sometimes takes shelter of the real followers of Vedic principles [brahmanas or those in Krsna consciousness], who teach everyone how to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the Vedic rituals. However, being unable to stick to these principles, these rascals again fall down and take shelter among sudras who are very expert in making arrangements for sex indulgence. Sex is very prominent among animals like monkeys, and such people who are enlivened by sex may be called descendants of monkeys.

By fulfilling the process of evolution from the aquatics to the animal platform, a living entity eventually reaches the human form. The three modes of material nature are always working in the evolutionary process. Those who come to the human form through the quality of sattva-guna were cows in their last animal incarnation. Those who come to the human form through the quality of rajo-guna were lions in their last animal incarnation. And those who come to the human form through the quality of tamo-guna were monkeys in their last animal incarnation. In this age, those who come through the monkey species are considered by modern anthropologists like Darwin to be descendants of monkeys. We receive information herein that those who are simply interested in sex are actually no better than monkeys. Monkeys are very expert in sexual enjoyment, and sometimes sex glands are taken from monkeys and placed in the human body so that a human being can enjoy sex in old age. In this way modern civilization has advanced. Many monkeys in India were caught and sent to Europe so that their sex glands could serve as replacements for those of old people. Those who actually descend from the monkeys are interested in expanding their aristocratic families through sex. In the Vedas there are also certain ceremonies especially meant for sexual improvement and promotion to higher planetary systems, where the demigods are enjoying sex. The demigods are also very much inclined toward sex because that is the basic principle of material enjoyment.

First of all, the conditioned soul is cheated by so-called svamis, yogis and incarnations when he approaches them to be relieved of material miseries. When the conditioned soul is not satisfied with them. he comes to devotees and pure brahmanas who try to elevate him for final liberation from material bondage. However, the unscrupulous conditioned soul cannot rigidly follow the principles prohibiting illicit sex. intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. Thus he falls down and takes shelter of people who are like monkeys. In the Krsna consciousness movement these monkey disciples, being unable to follow the strict regulative principles, sometimes fall down and try to form societies based on sex. This is proof that such people are descendants of monkeys, as confirmed by Darwin. In this verse it is therefore clearly stated: yatha vanara jateh.

SB5.14.31

TEXT 31

tatrapi niravarodhah svairena viharann ati-krpana-buddhir anyonya-mukha-niriksanadina gramya-karmanaiva vismrta-kalavadhih.

tatra api—in that condition (in the society of human beings descended from monkeys); niravarodhah—without hesitation; svairena—independently, without reference to the goal of life; viharan—enjoying like monkeys; ati-krpana-buddhih—whose intelligence is dull because he does not properly utilize his assets; anyonya—of one another; mukha-niriksana-adina—by seeing the faces (when a man sees the beautiful face of a woman and the woman sees the strong build of the man’s body, they always desire one another); gramya-karmana—by material activities for sense gratification; eva—only; vismrta—forgotten; kala-avadhih—the limited span of life (after which one’s evolution may be degrading or elevating).

In this way the descendants of the monkeys intermingle with each other, and they are generally known as sudras. Without hesitating, they live and move freely, not knowing the goal of life. They are captivated simply by seeing the faces of one another, which remind them of sense gratification. They are always engaged in material activities, known as gramya-karma, and they work hard for material benefit. Thus they forget completely that one day their small life spans will be finished and they will be degraded in the evolutionary cycle.

Materialistic people are sometimes called sudras, or descendants of monkeys, due to their monkeylike intelligence. They do not care to know how the evolutionary process is taking place, nor are they eager to know what will happen after they finish their small human life span. This is the attitude of sudras. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission, this Krsna consciousness movement, is trying to elevate sudras to the brahmana platform so that they will know the real goal of life. Unfortunately, being overly attached to sense gratification, materialists are not serious in helping this movement. Instead, some of them try to suppress it. Thus it is the business of monkeys to disturb the activities of the brahmanas. The descendants of monkeys completely forget that they have to die, and they are very proud of scientific knowledge and the progress of material civilization. The word gramya-karmana indicates activities meant only for the improvement of bodily comforts. presently all human society is engaged in improving economic conditions and bodily comforts. people are not interested in knowing what is going to happen after death, nor do they believe in the transmigration of the soul. When one scientifically studies the evolutionary theory, one can understand that human life is a junction where one may take the path of promotion or degradation. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (9.25):

yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino ’pi mam

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.”

In this life we have to prepare ourselves for promotion to the next life. Those who are in the mode of rajo-guna are generally interested in being promoted to the heavenly planets. Some, unknowingly, are degraded to lower animal forms. Those in the mode of goodness can engage in devotional service, and after that they can return home, back to Godhead (yanti mad-yajino ’pi mam). That is the real purpose of human life. This Krsna consciousness movement is trying to bring intelligent human beings to the platform of devotional service. Instead of wasting time trying to attain a better position in material life, one should simply endeavor to return home, back to Godhead. Then all problems will be solved. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17):

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti su-hrt-satam

“Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.”

One simply has to follow the regulative principles, act like a brahmana, chant the Hare Krsna mantra and read Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way one purifies himself of the baser material modes (tamo-guna and rajo-guna) and, becoming freed from the greed of these modes, can attain complete peace of mind. In this way one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and one’s relationship with Him and thus be promoted to the highest perfection (siddhim paramam gatah).

SB5.14.32

TEXT 32

kvacid drumavad aihikarthesu grhesu ramsyan yatha vanarah suta-dara-vatsalo vyavaya-ksanah.

kvacit—sometimes; druma-vat—like trees (as monkeys jump from one tree to another, the conditioned soul transmigrates from one body to another); aihika-arthesu—simply to bring about better worldly comforts; grhesu—in houses (or bodies); ramsyan—delighting (in one body after another, either in animal life, human life or demigod life); yatha—exactly as; vanarah—the monkey; suta-dara-vatsalah—very affectionate to the children and wife; vyavaya-ksanah—whose leisure time is spent in sex pleasure.

Just as a monkey jumps from one tree to another, the conditioned soul jumps from one body to another. As the monkey is ultimately captured by the hunter and is unable to get out of captivity, the conditioned soul, being captivated by momentary sex pleasure, becomes attached to different types of bodies and is encaged in family life. Family life affords the conditioned soul a festival of momentary sex pleasure, and thus he is completely unable to get out of the material clutches.

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.9.29): visayah khalu sarvatah syat. Bodily necessities—eating, sleeping, mating and defending—are all very easily available in any form of life. It is stated here that the vanara (monkey) is very much attracted to sex. Each monkey keeps at least two dozen wives, and he jumps from one tree to another to capture the female monkeys. Thus he immediately engages in sexual intercourse. In this way the monkey’s business is to jump from one tree to another and enjoy sex with his wives. The conditioned soul is doing the same thing, transmigrating from one body to another and engaging in sex. He thus completely forgets how to become free from the clutches of material encagement. Sometimes the monkey is captured by a hunter. who sells its body to doctors so that its glands can be removed for the benefit of another monkey. All this is going on in the name of economic development and improved sex life.

SB5.14.33

TEXT 33

evam adhvany avarundhano mrtyu-gaja-bhayat tamasi giri-kandara-praye.

evam—in this way; adhvani—on the path of sense gratification; avarundhanah—being confined, he forgets the real purpose of life; mrtyu-gaja-bhayat—out of fear of the elephant of death; tamasi—in the darkness; giri-kandara-praye—similar to the dark caves in the mountains.

In this material world, when the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and does not care for Krsna consciousness, he simply engages in different types of mischievous and sinful activities. He is then subjected to the threefold miseries, and, out of fear of the elephant of death, he falls into the darkness found in a mountain cave.