SB 3.31.31

Giriraj Swami: 

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Thirty-one, “Lord Kapila’s Instructions on the Movements of the Living Entities,”

TEXT 31

tad-arthaṁ kurute karma
yad-baddho yāti saṁsṛtim
yo ‘nuyāti dadat kleśam
avidyā-karma-bandhanaḥ

TRANSLATION

For the sake of the body, which is a source of constant trouble to him and which follows him because he is bound by ties of ignorance and fruitive activities, he performs various actions which cause him to be subjected to repeated birth and death.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that one has to work to satisfy Yajña, or Viṣṇu, for any work done without the purpose of satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a cause of bondage. In the conditioned state a living entity, accepting his body as himself, forgets his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and acts on the interest of his body. He takes the body as himself, his bodily expansions as his kinsmen, and the land from which his body is born as worshipable. In this way he performs all sorts of misconceived activities, which lead to his perpetual bondage in repetition of birth and death in various species.

In modern civilization, the so-called social, national, and government leaders mislead people more and more, under the bodily conception of life, with the result that all the leaders, with their followers, are gliding down to hellish conditions birth after birth. An example is given in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānāḥ: when a blind man leads several other blind men, the result is that all of them fall down in a ditch. This is actually happening. There are many leaders to lead the ignorant public, but because every one of them is bewildered by the bodily conception of life, there is no peace and prosperity in human society. So-called yogīs who perform various bodily feats are also in the same category as such ignorant people because the haṭha-yoga system is especially recommended for persons who are grossly implicated in the bodily conception. The conclusion is that as long as one is fixed in the bodily conception, he has to suffer birth and death.

COMMENT

So those who identify with the body are called blind because they cannot see the soul within the body. They cannot see what their actual identity is and therefore they pursue false goals to achieve false happiness. And when they engage in fruitive activities for material enjoyment, they become implicated in sinful actions and reactions. From sinful reactions, they fall down in the ditch. Fall down in the ditch means they fall down into hellish conditions. So we should not follow blind leaders; we should follow visionary leaders who can see. And how can they see? They can see through the eyes of the scriptures. From the scriptures, we can get perfect knowledge, but through direct perception or mental speculation, we cannot see the truth; we remain in darkness.

So, the Upanishads declare, Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya: come out from the darkness and go into the light. The light is Krishna consciousness. kṛṣṇa—-sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakār: Krishna is the sun, and maya is darkness. Where there is sunlight, there can be no darkness. Wherever there is Krishna consciousness, there can be no ignorance, darkness. Due to ignorance and false identification with the body, due to fruitive activities, which invariably include sinful activities, one has to suffer so many kleśas. Kleśas means miseries. Everybody in the material world is forced to suffer miseries because they identify with the body and they work for the benefit of the body. Actually, they should know that they are not the body; they are the soul within the body. The soul is part and parcel of Krishna or Vishnu, and therefore the soul should engage in the service of the Lord. When the soul engages in the service of the Lord, he becomes relieved from all material miseries. Therefore, one of the first benefits of engaging in devotional service is kleśaghnī, eradication of material miseries. By engagement in devotional service, one becomes relieved from material miseries.

Therefore, Bhagavad-gītā says, yajñārthāt karmaṇo ‘nyatra loko ‘yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ, that unless work is done as a sacrifice for Vishnu, it binds one to the material world. So as a sacrifice for Vishnu means as an offering in devotional service. Vishnu is the proprietor of everything; therefore, everything is the property of Vishnu. We have no right to claim anything as our own. Whatever we see, whatever we know, whatever we have actually belongs to God, and therefore it should be used in the service of God. Yajño vai viṣṇuḥ, sacrifice should be done for Vishnu because Vishnu is the supreme proprietor. Unless we sacrifice for Vishnu, we have to suffer in material existence. We cannot have even peace, so what to speak of happiness. Therefore, Lord Krishna states in Bhagavad-gītā, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ, that He should be the beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities. Sarva-loka-maheśvaram. Why? Because he is the proprietor of all planetary systems and the demigods thereon. So if we think that if we sacrifice everything for Krishna, what will happen to us? What will we get? Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ. Krishna is the best friend of the living entities, and therefore He will take complete care of them, especially if they surrender unto Him. Jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati, and one who understands these facts can attain peace. Peace means relief from material miseries, relief from sinful reactions. But as long as we identify with the body, we think, I am the body, and everything in relation to the body is mine. I am the supreme enjoyer, I am the supreme controller, I am the supreme proprietor, we are bound to be punished by the laws of nature for the sinful activity of trying to enjoy the Lord’s property for ourselves.

When people hear the word yajña, they think of Vedic sacrifices where tons of grains and ghee are offered in the sacrificial fire with mantra and rituals. People may argue, in Kali-yuga, how can we perform sacrifice? And actually, in Kali-yuga, we cannot perform the same type of sacrifice as was performed in Treta-yuga, but we can sacrifice, and the sacrifice is saṅkīrtana-yajña, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ. Those who are intelligent will worship the Lord by performance of saṅkīrtana in the age of Kali. Sometimes people starve due to drought. In India also, there were periods of drought and hunger, and Srila Prabhupada used to quote the verse from the Gītā: annād bhavanti bhūtāni, that all living entities subsist on food grains. Food grains are produced from rains. Rains are produced by sacrifice, and sacrifice is done by prescribed duties. So by performing one’s prescribed duties in varnashrama, one gets material opulence, and the material opulence should be offered in sacrifice to Vishnu. But in Kali-yuga, we have very little opulence. We struggle just to survive, so how can we perform sacrifice? So the answer is, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ, by performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña. And in Bhagavad-gītā also, Lord Krishna says that of all sacrifices, He is the chanting of the holy names. So without any expenditure, without any paraphernalia, without any difficulty, one can chant the holy names of Krishna, and that is the best sacrifice.

Of course, saṅkīrtana means complete glorification, and complete glorification means glorification of the Lord’s name, form, qualities, pastimes, and everything else related to Him. So the saṅkīrtana-yajña includes not only chanting the holy name but also discussion of the transcendental science of Krishna. Therefore, book distribution is also included in the saṅkīrtana-yajña because book distribution means glorification of the Lord’s holy name, fame, pastimes, paraphernalia, and so on. Now, is simply performing one’s duties for the satisfaction of Vishnu complete? No, because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains that there should be some result. What result? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that the result of performing one’s prescribed duties in varna and ashram should be to achieve attraction, taste, or attraction for the messages of the Lord. If one engages in one’s duties according to varna and ashram but does not please the Lord and, by the mercy of the Lord, become attracted to śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ, then śrama eva hi kevalam—he has simply wasted his time. So, the performance of one’s duties in varna and ashram and sacrifice for the sake of Vishnu should culminate in attraction for the subject of Krishna consciousness and engagement in devotional service. Then our work is successful; otherwise, it is useless. We simply wasted our time.

I will read the verse once more:

“For the sake of the body, which is a source of constant trouble to him and which follows him because he is bound by ties of ignorance and fruitive activities, he performs various actions which cause him to be subjected to repeated birth and death.”

One more point about the eradication of material miseries or kleśaghnī. Srila Rupa Gosvami explains that the cause of suffering is sin, and the cause of sin is ignorance. Therefore, the root cause of suffering is ignorance. Devotional service destroys ignorance. There are other processes of atonement which destroy sinful reactions but do not remove the desire to sin, which is based on ignorance. Therefore, processes of atonement like bathing in the Ganges, giving in charity, and so many others cannot really give permanent relief from material miseries. Srila Prabhupada has quoted the expression that every day, one thousand prostitutes take bath in the Ganges. The purport is that by taking bath in the Ganges, one becomes free from sinful reactions, but the prostitutes who take bath in the Ganges do not become free from the sinful desire to engage in prostitution. Therefore, they remain as prostitutes, and every day the same prostitutes take bath in the Ganges.

Maharaja Pariksit has given a similar example to Śukadeva Gosvami. Maharaja Pariksit had heard how the conditioned souls have to suffer hellish punishments because of sin. Śukadeva Gosvami replied that by atonement, they can become free from sinful reactions and, tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca. But Maharaja Pariksit was very intelligent; the disciples should be very intelligent. He thought that the processes of atonement cannot be the real way to become free from sinful reactions because, although one may perform some atonement to become free from sinful reactions, he still maintains the desire to sin. So again, he will sin, and again he will have to suffer and perhaps atone again. So, Maharaja Pariksit gave the example to Śukadeva Gosvami that the elephant takes bath in the lake or the river and cleanses his body very nicely, but as soon as he comes out of the water, he begins to roll around in the dirt and again becomes filthy. So what is the use of taking bath if immediately after finishing the bath, one begins rolling in the mud and covers himself with dirt again? In the same way, Maharaja Pariksit asked Śukadeva Gosvami, “What is the use of performing atonement to become free from sinful reactions if, as soon as one finishes the atonement, he engages in the same sins again and becomes contaminated by sinful actions and reactions?”

Srila Prabhupada used to point out the same phenomenon in the Christians: they would go to the church on Sunday and confess to atone and become free from sinful reactions. But as soon as they finished confessing, they would begin engaging in the same sinful activities all over again. So there is no real relief. Śukadeva Gosvami was very pleased with the inquiry of Maharaja Pariksit. He was testing Maharaja Pariksit to see if he would accept the answer of Śukadeva Gosvami that atonement is the way because, actually, material atonement or prāyaścitta is not really the way. Then he said, “Yes, you are right,” that by atonement one burns the upper portion of the plant, one burns the sinful reactions, but the root remains under the soil, and again the plant will grow and sprout leaves and everything else. So the root of sinful activities is ignorance, and with ignorance, the desire to commit sin. Atonement does not free the person from ignorance; therefore, he will again engage in sinful activities and again be liable for sinful reactions.

Therefore, Lord Krishna also states in Bhagavad-gītā that the sacrifice of knowledge is better than the sacrifice of work because, by transcendental knowledge, one can become enlightened and free from sinful actions and reactions. Again, simply by engaging in devotional service, one automatically gets knowledge and thus automatically becomes free from ignorance.

vāsudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ
jñānaṁ ca yad ahaitukam

By engaging in devotional service, causeless knowledge and detachment from everything not favorable to Krishna consciousness follow very soon. Without any separate effort, just by engaging in devotional service, we get knowledge and detachment, become free from ignorance and sinful activities, and thus become free from suffering.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:36:10]

Giriraj Swami: The result depends on the intensity of the practice. It is true that devotional service burns to ashes all sinful reactions and ignorance, but the effect of the burning depends on the intensity of the fire. If the fire is very weak and the pieces of wood in the fire are very big, the fire will burn but very feebly and very slowly the log in the fire will get burnt up, but it will take a long time. But if the fire is blazing, then very quickly, no matter how big the wood is, it will be burned to ashes. So the effect of our devotional service will depend on the intensity of our desire and our practices. It may have efficient effects very quickly, or it may take long.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:37:33]

Giriraj Swami: Well, varnashrama-dharma comes in the category of karma, but if someone is a devotee and also trying to follow varnashrama-dharma, then he has some bhakti at least because bhakti begins with faith. So if he has faith, it means he has some bhakti. By practicing bhakti-yoga, even with varnashrama-dharma, he should gradually develop taste because the conditioned soul is in a diseased condition. Rupa Gosvami compares the disease of the conditioned soul to the disease called jaundice. When one has jaundice, he cannot appreciate the sweetness of sugar. In the diseased condition, sugar tastes bitter, but the only cure for jaundice in the ayurvedic system is to take sugar candy. So if you take sugar candy, even tasting it as bitter but taking it because the doctor has prescribed it, then gradually the disease will become cured. As he recovers from the disease, he will gradually be able to taste the sugar as sweet. When he is completely cured, he will taste the sugar as it is, which is sweet like nectar.

Rupa Gosvami says again that the root cause of the diseased condition is ignorance. By chanting the holy names, form, qualities, and pastimes of Krishna, having faith that in the end he will be cured of the disease and be able to taste the sweetness of Krishna consciousness, gradually the disease of ignorance will be destroyed. Then the person will be able to relish the sweetness of Krishna’s name and pastimes. So, we should continue even if immediately we don’t get the result, but eventually, we will get the result if we continue with faith, sincerity, and good practices. Even if the progress is gradual, we should feel or perceive the progress because if we chant and at the same time commit offenses, we won’t get the result of chanting, or the result will be delayed. But if we chant and do other services without offense, the result will come sooner. We should always be checking whether we are progressing, and if we are not, we should think, Am I doing something wrong which I shouldn’t be doing, or am I not doing something which I should be doing so that my progress can be accelerated?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:42:10]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, in Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna asks the same question that how we are compelled to sin even as if against our own will. And Lord Krishna replies that it is due to lust and lust only, which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of men. Lust destroys the desire for self-realization, jñāna-vijñāna-nāśanam, one’s knowledge, and one’s practices are destroyed by lust. And here, lust means anarthas, beginning with lust. So even if we know we should do something, due to the presence of anarthas, we don’t do it. Even if we know we shouldn’t do something, due to the presence of anarthas, we do it. But we come back to the same point: that by intense practice of bhakti-yoga, we become free from anarthas. Anarthas are also in the category of kleśas, so they all become destroyed by devotional service according to the intensity of the practices and desire.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Gaura premānande Hari Haribol!