BG 13.8–12

Giriraj Swami: I was thinking how to reconcile the two events because death is generally an occasion for sorrow, and marriage is occasion for happiness. But from the spiritual point of view, we don’t actually see any difference between death and marriage, or between any items of the material world. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta advises that we may say that something is good or something is bad, but actually, to make such distinctions is mental concoction. In other words, nothing is really good, and nothing is really bad. Only in our minds do we imagine that something is good or something is bad. Today they were married; it is very good. Today he died, it is so bad. But actually, nothing in the material world is good or bad. Or in reality, everything in the material world is bad, everything. Our guru Maharaja used to give the example of the madman. The insane person, that sometimes he laughs hysterically and sometimes he cries hysterically, but actually, there is no difference between his laughing and his crying because, in any condition, he is suffering. When he is laughing, he is suffering, and when he is crying, he is suffering.

So everyone in the material world is suffering. Sometimes he may laugh, and sometimes he may cry, but inside he is always suffering because the soul inside the body is never satisfied by anything of the material world. The soul can only be satisfied by activities of the spiritual world. Therefore, people who are very rich, very famous, very powerful, they are also very miserable. Sometimes in the West, or even in India, fairly recently, we have the instance of Hinduja. And in the West also, there are many examples of persons from very rich, famous, influential families, commit suicide because they are not happy. So the soul can never be satisfied by anything material, and therefore, to consider something material to be good and something else material to be bad is mental concoction because everything is bad. And the same thing which in the material sense is bad, in the spiritual sense is good. For example, in material life, as we are discussing death and marriage, in material life, death is bad, but in spiritual life, death is not bad because the soul is eternal, and especially the devotee engages in the service of the Lord, whether in this life or in the next life, it makes no difference.

There is the story of one sadhu who was giving different blessings to different persons. So the first to approach him was a rāja-putra, the son of the king, or the prince. The sadhu gave him the blessing that you should not die. Due to your past pious activities, you have taken birth as a prince, and you are enjoying life as a prince. While enjoying life, you are committing so many sins for which you will have to suffer. So you should not die because after you die, you will have to suffer for all of your sins. And in your present life, you are enjoying for your past pious activity, so you should not die. Next came a brahmachari, and the sadhu blessed him that you should not live because as a brahmachari, you are performing so many austerities; you are undergoing so many hardships. But after you die, you will enjoy the results of so many austerities. So he gave him the blessing that you should not live; you should die and immediately get the results of all the tapasya that you have done and enjoy the results. Next came a butcher. The sadhu blessed him, “You should not live, and you should not die.” You should not live because, in your present life, you are killing the animals. The blood is coming out, the animals are suffering, you are getting dirty from the blood of the animals. It is so horrible; your present life is horrible. And after you die, you will have to suffer more. You will have to suffer for the sin of killing the animals. So you should not live; you should not die. And then came a devotee. So the sadhu blessed him that you may live, or you may die, either way, because while living, you are serving Krishna, and you are experiencing bliss. And after you leave the present body, you will continue to serve Krishna, and you will experience bliss. So you may live, or you may die; it makes no difference.

So here, we see that something is good for someone, and the same thing is bad for another person. Therefore, the sadhu blessed one person, “You should not die,” because for him, it will be good if he doesn’t die. Because after he dies, he will suffer because of his sins. And another person, he blessed, “You should die,” because for him, it will be good because after death, he will get the fruit of all of his austerities. But for a devotee, it doesn’t matter because, in any condition, he is happy in the service of the Lord, chanting Hare Krishna. Therefore, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati, that the devotees of the Lord are always equipoised. In any condition, they are always peaceful; svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ, they are always equipoised because they are always engaged in the service of the Lord. They are not elated in happiness. Suppose if I gain some money, but I won’t be excited because anyway I have to engage in the services of the Lord. So if I have money, I can engage it in the service of the Lord, and if I have no money, still I can engage myself in the service of the Lord. So devotional service is not dependent on any material condition. With money or without money, I can serve the Lord.

So it doesn’t really matter if it comes; I will use it to serve Krishna. If it doesn’t come, still I serve Krishna. So, nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati, devotees always equipoised. And svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ, he sees heaven, hell, and liberation all the same because if he is in hell, it doesn’t matter; he chants Hare Krishna. And if he is in heaven, he will chant Hare Krishna; and if he is liberated, he will chant Hare Krishna. So for him, heaven and hell and liberation are all the same because, in any condition, he will serve Krishna and chant Hare Krishna. But in the material world, we distinguish - this is good, this bad. Nothing in the material world is good or bad, or everything is bad. But as far as marriage in the material world, well everybody knows. But the same thing in Krishna consciousness is not bad. So I will read something from Bhagavad-gītā, some small bits about death and marriage.

In Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna defines knowledge and ignorance. So I will read the Sanskrit and the translation. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Chapter Thirteen,

TEXT 8–12

amānitvam adambhitvam
ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam
ācāryopāsanaṁ śaucaṁ
sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ

indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam
anahaṅkāra eva ca
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-
duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam

asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ
putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu
nityaṁ ca sama-cittatvam
iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu

mayi cānanya-yogena
bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī
vivikta-deśa-sevitvam
aratir jana-saṁsadi

adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaṁ
tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam
etaj jñānam iti proktam
ajñānaṁ yad ato ‘nyathā

TRANSLATION

Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

This process of knowledge is sometimes misunderstood by less intelligent men as being the interaction of the field of activity. 

COMMENT

So the Thirteenth Chapter is called “Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness.” Nature is prakriti, enjoyer is purusha. So this body is the field, and the soul is the knower of the field. And beyond the field and the knower of the field is the Supersoul, who is the knower of all fields. For example, I know the pains and pleasures in my body, but I don’t know the pains and pleasures of your body, or your body, or your body. You know the pains and pleasures in your body; you don’t know the pains and pleasures in my body. But Krishna, or the Supersoul, knows the pains and pleasures of everybody. Now there are so many interactions in the field which someone might think are illusion, but actually, the things mentioned in the verse here are not illusion; they are the actual process of knowledge.

PURPORT (continued)

If one accepts this process, then the possibility of approaching the Absolute Truth exists. This is not the interaction of the twenty-four elements, as described before. This is actually the means to get out of the entanglement of those elements. The embodied soul is entrapped by the body, which is a casing made of the twenty-four elements, and the process of knowledge as described here is the means to get out of it. Of all the descriptions of the process of knowledge, the most important point is described in the first line of the eleventh verse. Mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī: the process of knowledge terminates in unalloyed devotional service to the Lord. So if one does not approach, or is not able to approach, the transcendental service of the Lord, then the other nineteen items are of no particular value. But if one takes to devotional service in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the other nineteen items automatically develop within him. 

COMMENT

So now, one of the items is, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam, one should try to understand the distress of accepting birth, death, old age, and disease. Now the plague has come, and someone was giving me some scientific information about the plague. Of course, there are different types of plagues, and from what I have heard, we have two right now: bubonic plague and pneumonic plague. So bubonic plague is spread by fleas from the bodies of rats, and it comes from the word bubah, which means lymph glands. The lymph glands become infected and swollen, and I think within twenty-four hours, most people die. And pneumonic plague goes into the lungs; they can be spread by breathing. So the plague has existed for hundreds of years. About 300 BC, it became an epidemic in Athens and spread throughout Europe. Then, somewhere around 1000 AD, after 700 AD., before 1300 AD, the plague spread throughout Europe, and one-fourth of the entire population from Europe died. The plague is considered especially dangerous in port cities like Bombay because it can be spread to other continents from the port. And the worst instance of the plague in recent times came in 1894. It began in Hong Kong, and from the port of Hong Kong, it spread, especially through Asia and Africa. The place that was most affected was India, and in twenty years, from 1894 to 1914, ten million people died due to the plauge.

So someone commented, “Now we are in 1994. One hyndred years, this is the centennial celebration.” It started in 1894. So, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam, one should always be conscious of the miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease. But generally, due to the influence of maya, we don’t want to think of that. We want to enjoy life, but actually, death can come at any moment. Epidemics like the plague make us realize. So we should not be intoxicated with wealth, family, friends, because death can come at any moment and finish everything. Yes, one other thing about the plague I forgot to mention, that in one of the varieties of the plague, before the person dies, he begins to dance. It is not that he feels like dancing, but the effect of the disease is such that his body, as a reaction, begins to dance. It is called the dance of death. He dances for minutes and then dies. That dancing is the sign of death. So we should not be intoxicated; we should be sober. Just like an intoxicated person, there may be some danger, but because he is intoxicated, he doesn’t care; he doesn’t do anything for it, and he suffers for it. He is intoxicated; he is lying in the footpath; he is dirty; he is wretched; he is cold, in the winter. But because he is intoxicated, he doesn’t do anything to protect himself. So we are intoxicated by maya, and we don’t take care to protect ourselves. Protect ourselves from what? janma-mṛtyu-birth and death. People think there is no way that we can protect ourselves, or they think they can protect ourselves by material medicine but that is not protection. We may do so many things to keep away death, but death will come. So, only we can postpone, not stop it, and postponing it is no solution.

So what is the actual protection from death and reaper? The actual protection is Krishna consciousness. As mentioned here, mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī, this can protect us. How? Because it will give us eternal life. We are subject to birth, death, old age, and disease in the body, and we are forced to take birth in the body because of our material consciousness. Because we want to enjoy the world, so Krishna says, “Okay, here is the material body; you try to enjoy the world.” But when we try to enjoy the world, the result is that we suffer and ultimately, we die. So there is protection, but not by having a good house, a good strong door with a good strong lock, and a dog. It will not protect us from death. Materially we cannot escape death. There is one story from the literature of Persia, that one wealthy landlord sent his servant to the bazaar in Baghdad. While in the bazaar in Baghdad, death jostled him, he ran to the death personified. So, death personified jostled him, he was looking at death in the eyes, face to face, and he became scared and ran back to his master’s home. So finally, they decided that since Death was there in Baghdad, he should go to Samarra. And then the master himself went to Baghdad to finish the work. So when the master was in the bazaar, he also met Death, and he told Death that, “Why did you jostle my servant? And why did you look at him so menacingly? You have scared him terribly, and now he has run away. Why did you do it?” So Death replied that, “I wasn’t looking at him menacingly; I was only surprised to see him in Baghdad in the morning because I had an appointment with him in Samarra in the afternoon.” So he, the servant, ran away from Baghdad to escape Death, but Death was already planning to meet him in Samarra. In other words, he could not escape Death, and nobody can escape Death. Sometimes we think of it, and sometimes we try to forget it, but in any case, we can’t escape. And thinking about it without a real solution is no use. So the real solution, the only solution is to become Krishna consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada comments, “At the time of death, there are all kinds of suffering.” Actually, the dying person suffers so much, but because of the disability of the body, he cannot express himself. And the relatives and friends see the person; they know that the person is suffering, and the person wants to speak, but the person is unable to speak because the body is not working. Srila Prabhupada comments: “Unless we have a pessimistic view of this material life, considering the distresses of birth, death, old age, and disease, there is no impetus for our making advancement in spiritual life.” The next is, asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ, freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home, and the rest.

PURPORT (continued)

As for detachment from children, wife and home, it is not meant that one should have no feeling for these. They are natural objects of affection. But when they are not favorable to spiritual progress, then one should not be attached to them. The best process for making the home pleasant is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can make his home very happy, because this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very easy. 

COMMENT

“Young man, what is your name, and are you Krishna conscious? You are, to some extent. And do you feel some happiness from Krishna consciousness?” This is living proof. “And do you have some Krishna conscious activities at home?” Once in a while. We can’t say completely. But it could be more. So this is the best way to make the home happy, Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

One need only chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, accept the remnants of foodstuffs offered to Kṛṣṇa, have some discussion on books like Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and engage oneself in Deity worship. These four things will make one happy.

COMMENT

So chanting Hare Krishna, what we are doing here tonight, we can do at home without any difficulties. So one—chants Hare Krishna, two—take the remnants of food off the situation. In any case, we are preparing food, so when we offer the food to Krishna, it becomes prasāda. And when we take the remnants of Krishna’s prasāda, it gives us spiritual bliss in addition to physical nourishment. And have some discussion on books like Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam like we are reading, discussing, and engage oneself in deity worship. Of course, in the beginning, we can keep a picture, but gradually as we advance, we should ultimately keep a Vigraha, Sri-Vigraha, and do puja or ārati at home. These four things will make one happy.

What are the four things? Chanting, honoring prasāda, reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—discussing and . . . you don’t do it; that is why you don’t remember - worship the deity.

PURPORT (continued)

One should train the members of his family in this way. The family members can sit down morning and evening and chant together Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. If one can mold his family life in this way to develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following these four principles, then there is no need to change from family life to renounced life.

COMMENT

Sometimes people think they have to retire if they want to make spiritual progress. They have to retire, leave their wife, leave their children, leave their home – but it is not true. With wife, with family, in the home, one can practice Krishna consciousness. There is no difficulty.

PURPORT (continued)

In all cases, one should be detached from the happiness and distress of family life, because in this world one can never be fully happy or fully miserable.

COMMENT

In other words, we want happiness, and we don’t want distress, but we cannot have only happiness. Some distress will be there, and we don’t want distress, but anyway, happiness will also be there. The Bhāgavatam gives the example that nobody wants problems, isn’t it? Nobody goes to the temple to say, “Dear Lord, please give me more problems.” The problems automatically come. So, just as the problems come without any effort, the miseries come without any effort, the happiness will also come without any effort. So, we should not waste time trying to increase our happiness or decrease our distress because whatever is due to us as our destiny, will come. Some amount of happiness will come without any effort, just as much as some distress comes without any effort. So, we should not devote all of our energy to how to get more happiness and how to have less distress because both are bound to come in any case. We should use our valuable energy and our good intelligence to how to become Krishna conscious. This is the actual purpose of human life; this is the actual activity of human beings.

So, we have only touched on some points just to give some little idea, but if you get Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and other books like Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and study them, then you will get so much information, knowledge, real knowledge, and then you can practice and progress step by step. And then, when you achieve the goal of life, you go back home, back to Godhead, and then no more birth, no more death, no more old age, and no more disease. You are free.

Are there any questions?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:40:10]

Giriraj Swami: He says that the suffering at the time of death is only in the body; it is not in the soul, and it is not true, it is not real.

Well, it is true that suffering is in the body, not in the soul, but when we identify with the body, we suffer. Just like if I am riding in my car and another car hits or anyone, he is riding in his car and another car hits his back. So, he jumps out of the car and starts shouting at the other driver, “You hit me! You hit me!” So, why does he say, “You hit me"? He didn’t hit him; he hit the car. So why does he say, “You hit me.” Because he identifies with the car. Now, he has not been touched, only the car has actually been damaged, but he is upset because he identifies with the car. If I am riding in somebody else’s car and that car is hit, the driver or the owner will become upset because he identifies, “This is my car.” But I won’t be upset because I haven’t been touched, and he hasn’t been touched, but because he identified, “This is my car,” he is upset. So, it is true, all the pain in the body is only in the body; it is not in the soul. But when we identify with the body, as almost everyone does, we suffer. And we don’t say that the body is unreal or anything is unreal. It is real but temporary. You don’t say it is illusion. If I think I am the body, that is illusion. But the body itself is not illusion; it is real, but it is temporary. So, the suffering is also real, but it is temporary. But it is not real also; it is based on the illusion that I am the body or “This is my body.”

So, one who is advancing in Krishna consciousness, he doesn’t experience pain like ordinary people, because he doesn’t identify with the body. And by chanting, we can divert our attention to Krishna. Recently, I had a kidney stone, which was very painful, and on the way to the hospital, I was chanting. And by chanting, when my consciousness became absorbed in chanting, I felt completely peaceful. Not only peaceful, I felt some spiritual satisfaction. So, I was vaguely aware in the background there is some pain, but just vaguely aware in the background, but mostly I was just absorbed in the holy name and feeling completely calm and actually blissful. So, whatever difficult situation we may be in, or whatever painful situation we may be in, if we chant and become absorbed in the chanting, then we will feel blissful. We won’t feel it, or vaguely something is something, but not our consciousness will be somewhere else. Our consciousness will be fixed on Krishna.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:45:20]

Giriraj Swami: He says that Bhagavad-gītā tells us about rebirth, so can we predict what will be our next life?

So, yes, in a general way, yes. It is said that if you want to know your past life, you should look at your present life. If you want to know your future life, you should look at your present life. So, you may know that there are three material modes – sattva-guṇa, raja-guṇa, tama-guṇa. Have heard of these? So, they are described in Bhagavad-gītā. You can understand, basically, the mode of goodness is the mode of knowledge. Generally, philosophers are in the mode of goodness. And the mode of passion is intense hankering and desire. People are running after money, people are running after material objects, they are running after material pleasures, that is the mode of passion – raja-guṇa. And the mode of ignorance is laziness, sleeping, taking intoxicants, dreaming, and ultimately madness. These are symptoms of the mode of ignorance. So, in the material world, no one can be completely in one mode; the modes are always mixed. So generally, people are in the mode of passion. They work hard, they want money, and they want to spend, get material things, and enjoy. But after working hard all week, they feel frustrated, and they want to relax. They want some recreation.

So, those who are more mixed with the mode of ignorance, they will think, Okay, let me relax, have a cigarette, play cards with some friends, have a drink, have another drink, and they relax. They get relief from the mode of passion by going in the mode of ignorance, where they sleep so many hours. Okay, it is Sunday, let me sleep late. And some people, who are fortunate, look for relief from the mode of passion in the mode of goodness. Some thinks, Okay; let’s go to the club and get meat and drink. And some thinks, Okay, let’s go to the mandir, have darshan, join the kirtan, join the satsaṅga, take prasāda.” So, they get the relief from mode of passion by mode of goodness. So, Bhagavad-gītā says that someone who is in the mode of goodness, he takes birth on the higher planets as a demigod, like a demigod. And those in the mode of passion, they take birth again as human beings on the earth. And those in the mode of ignorance, they take birth as animals, or they take birth in hellish planets.

So, we can judge if someone is in the mode of ignorance, he is going down, surely he is going down. If someone is in the mode of passion, he will take birth again and suffer and enjoy. And those in the mode of goodness will go to the higher planets of the demigods and enjoy life worth millions of years, much higher standard than here. And those who are Krishna conscious, they will go to Krishna.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:50:50]

Giriraj Swami: That is liberation. That is liberation. Because kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti, by pious activities, you can go to the higher planets, to the heavenly planet, but after your stock of pious activities is finished, you fall down again to earth. Like you work hard, and you amass some money, then you go on holiday to Mauritius or any place, and you enjoy your holiday. But while you are enjoying your holiday, you are spending every day: hotel charges, food, transportation, this, that. And eventually, you don’t have so much money that you can stay in Mauritius, which is like a heavenly planet, and you come back. So, going to the heavenly planet is not liberation. You can only enjoy as long as your pious credits remain, and every moment your pious credits are being depleted. You are spending, you are spending, and when your pious credits are exhausted, you can’t stay there anymore. You fall down again. But when you go to Krishna, to Krishnaloka, that is permanent, that is transcendental. That is beyond the material world. That is liberation. But you still remain a person, but you have a purely spiritual identity, not in sattva-guṇa or tama-guṇa or raja-guṇa. But it is completely beyond maya. But it is hard to understand how, after liberation, one can remain. That is real liberation, not merging in God. That is also not real liberation. Vaikuntha is innumerable. You cannot count.

So now, we will end here.