"The First Lesson--Not This Body"

"The First Lesson--Not This Body"

73/04/11 Los Angeles, Bhagavad-gita 2.13


Prabhupada:

dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati
[Bg. 2.13]

So this is a statement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, bhagavan uvaca, that you are not this body. The first instruction for spiritual understanding is to know that I am not this body. This is the beginning. The so-called yogis, they are exercising the body, studying the psychology of the mind by charts, by so many humbugs. But our philosophy (is) that we are not this body. Then where is the question of exercising the body and spiritual realization? If I am not this body, then how I can realize myself simply by some gymnastic process? So this is the mistake -- the karmis, jnanis and the yogis. The karmis, fruitive workers, materialistic persons, they want bodily comforts. Their only idea is how to get the best comfort of this body. This body means the senses. We have got eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, hands, genital -- so many senses we have got.

So as soon as we are in the bodily concept of life, immediately the necessity is for sense gratification. But Krsna says to Arjuna that "You are not this body." So therefore my self-interest does not depend on my bodily comforts. They do not know this. Everyone, at the present moment, in this age, their only business is how to gratify the senses. The Western countries, they have got little information, but in India, there was cultivation of all kinds of philosophy So atheist philosophy was there. Carvaka Muni is the chief of the atheist class of philosophers. So he said, hedonism. The Western philosophy is hedonism, that eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. This philosophy. So long you have got this body, eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. The Carvaka Muni also said like that. Rnam krtva ghrtam pibet. In India, bodily enjoyment means first, tongue. Tongue's enjoyment. Everywhere. Here also. Tongue's enjoyment. So if we want to control our senses... Therefore Bhaktivinoda Thakura, following the footsteps of previous acarya, he says that "Control your tongue." Control your tongue. And in the Bhagavata also it is said, atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih [Brs. 1.2.234]. With our, these blunt senses, we cannot understand Krsna. It is not possible. The senses are so imperfect that you cannot acquire any perfect knowledge, material or spiritual, by the senses. That is not possible. Atah. Even if you cannot know perfectly the affairs of this material world. Just like they are studying the moon planet, the nearest planet. Besides this moon planet, there are millions and trillions of other planets. They cannot say anything. Because the senses are imperfect. How you can understand? I can see, say up to one mile. But when there is question of millions and trillions of miles, how you can use your senses and have the perfect knowledge? So you cannot have even material knowledge perfectly by using these senses. What to speak of God and spiritual knowledge? That is beyond, manasa-gocara, beyond your conception. Therefore sastra says: atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih [Brs. 1.2.234]. If you want to know God by mental speculation, that is frog philosophy, Dr. Frog, calculating Atlantic Ocean, sitting down in the well. This is called frog philosophy. You cannot understand. Then how it is possible to understand? The next line is sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty. If you employ your tongue in the service of the Lord, He'll reveal Himself to you. He'll reveal, revelation.

So therefore we have to control the tongue. What is the tongue's business? The tongue's business is taste and vibrate. So you vibrate in service of the Lord, Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna means "O Krsna, O the energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service." Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare... This is the meaning of Hare Krsna. It has no other meaning. "O my Lord Krsna and O the energy of Krsna, Radharani, especially, kindly both of You engage me in Your service." As Narottama dasa Thakura says: ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta-juta: "My Lord, Krsna, You are well known as the son of Nanda Maharaja. And Your eternal consort, Radharani, She's also known as the daughter of King Vrsabhanu. So both of You are here." Ha ha prabhu nanda-suta vrsabhanu-suta... koruna karoho ei-bara. "Now I have come to You. Please both of You be merciful upon me." This is Hare Krsna: "Be merciful upon me." Narottama-dasa koy na theliho ranga pay: "Your lotus feet, You have got, don't neglect me or push away with Your lotus feet." I think if Krsna kicks and push away, that is our great fortune. You see. If Krsna kicks with His lotus feet: "You go away," that is also a great fortune. What to speak of accepting? Just like when Krsna was kicking on the hood of the Kaliya. So the Kaliya's wives prayed: "My dear Sir, I do not know, this culprit, Kaliya, how he became so fortunate that his hood is being kicked by You? Your touch of lotus feet, great, great sages, saintly persons are trying to meditate upon millions of years, but this Kaliya... I do not know, what did he do in his past life that he's fortunate that his hood is being kicked by You?"

So this is our position, that we cannot understand Krsna by our mental speculation, limited sense. That is not possible. We have to engage -- sevonmukhe hi jihvadau [Brs. 1.2.234] -- beginning from jihva, tongue. Tongue is the greatest enemy, and it is the greatest friend also. If you allow the tongue to do whatever it likes, smoking, drinking, eating meat, and this and that, then it is your greatest enemy. And if you do not allow the tongue, you can control the tongue, then you can control the, all the senses. Automatically. Ta'ra madhye jihva ati lobhamoy sudurmati, ta'ke jeta kathina samsare, krsna bado doyamoy koribare jihva jay, sva-prasad-anna dilo bhai, sei annamrta pao, radha-krsna-guna gao, preme dako caitanya-nitai. So tongue should be used always for glorifying the Supreme Lord. That is our business with the tongue. And the tongue should not be allowed to eat anything except krsna-prasada. Then you become liberated, simply by controlling the tongue. And if you allow the tongue to do anything, then it very difficult. So the spiritual education, as Krsna says, begins when you understand that I am not this body. And satisfying the senses is not my business, because I am not this body. If I am not this body, why shall I bother myself to satisfy the body only? Body means the senses. This is the first instruction.

So the karmis, jnanis, yogis, they're all trying to satisfy the demands of the body. The karmis are directly doing that. "Eat, drink, be merry, enjoy." That is their philosophy. Jnani also, he's simply trying to understand that "I am not this body." Neti neti neti neti: "This is not, this is not, this is not, this is not, this is no..." The yogis, they are also trying to come to the point of controlling the senses by bodily exercise, hatha-yoga. So their center of activity is body. Center of activity is body. And our philosophy begins that "You are not this body." You see? When they will pass their M.A. examination in studying this body, then they may be able to understand what is their function. But our philosophy begins that "You are not this body."

Postgraduate study. "You are not this body." That is Krsna's instruction. We have seen so many big, big politicians and scholars in India. They write comments on Bhagavad-gita, but they write on this bodily concept of life. We have seen in our country the great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, his photo is with Bhagavad-gita. But what did he do throughout his whole life? The bodily concept: "I am Indian. I am Indian." Nationalism means that bodily concept of life. "I am Indian." "I am American." "I am Canadian." But we are not this body. Then were is the question of "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Canadian"? So they have no, this knowledge, the bodily concept of life, they're absorbed, and still they're authority of Bhagavad-gita. Just see the fun. And Bhagavad-gita teaches in the beginning "You are not this body." And they are in the bodily concept of life. Then just try to understand what is their position. What they can understand Bhagavad-gita? If one is feeling that "I belong to this nation, I belong to this family, I belong to this community, I belong to this cult, I belong to this, I belong to this religion...," everything is bodily concept of life. The yogis, they are also trying to understand by bodily exercise. The jnani is also trying to know, understand fully that "I am not this body." And the karmis, they cannot understand. They are as animals. The animals cannot understand that he's not body.

So factually the karmis, jnanis, yogis, are a little, maybe elevated than the animals. That's all. They are on the animal platform, but it is little elevated. So I give this example -- perhaps you heard it -- that the dry side of the stool. India, they pass stool on the open field. So at the end of day, because there is sunshine, the upper side of the stool becomes dried up. And the lower side, still moist. So somebody says, "This side is very good." He does not know. It is stool after all. This side, or that side. So these rascals, they are on the bodily concept of life, and they are thinking that "I am nationalist," "I am yogi," "I am this, I am that, I am that..." You see. This is the philosophy.

So long you are in the bodily concept of life, we are no better than the animal. That is the Bhagavata philosophy. You are animal. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dha... [SB 10.84.13], sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih, yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij janesv abhijnesu sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]. So go-khara means, go means cow, khara means ass. Animals. So who is that? Now yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatu. This bag of tri-dhatu -- kapha pitta vayu -- if one thinks that "I am this body, I am this body, and, in bodily relation,..." Because in bodily relation I have got my family, society, children, wife, country, and therefore they are mine. So yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dha..., sva-dhih. Sva-dhih means thinking: "They are mine. I am theirs." Sva-dhih kalatradisu. Kalatra means wife. Through wife, we get children, we expand. The Sanskrit word is stri. Stri means expansion. I remain one. As soon as I get wife, I get, become two. Then three, then four, then five. Like that. That is called stri. So, our expansion, these expansions, these material expansion, bodily expansion, means illusion. Janasya moho 'yam aham mameti [SB 5.5.8]. This illusion increases, that "I am this body, and in bodily relation, everything is mine." Aham mama. Aham means "I", and mama means "my."

So, so long one shall remain in the bodily concept of life, his illusion will increase. It will never decrease. Therefore the first instruction of Krsna to Arjuna... Because if Arjuna would not have been in that position of illusion, that "I am this body, and the other side, my brother, my grandfather, my nephews, they're all my relations. How can I kill?" This is the illusion.

Therefore to dissipate this illusion, darkness, Krsna begins the first lesson that "You are not this body." Dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptih [Bg. 2.13]. You'll have to change this body as you have already changed. You have already changed. You were a baby. You change your body to child. You change your body to boyhood. You change your body to youthhood. You change your body to old man. Now, after change is ... As you have already changed so many times, similarly, there will be another change. You'll have to accept another body. Very simply logic. You have already changed.

So tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati: [Bg. 2.13] "So don't be afraid that your nephews and grandfather or guru and they will die. They'll not die. Change the body." That's it. So na muhyati dhira. Dhira means sober, whose brain is nice, cool brain. One should not be bewildered when there is change of body. But the point is, Krsna says that tatha dehantara-praptih. Another change of... So the sober, one who is sober, he will think: "Then what kind of body I'm going to get next?" That is the problem. But these rascals, they do not know. Still, they are proud of their intelligence. He does not know for what kind of body he has come to this body, and what he's going to get next body. They have no intelligence. Even they are said that "Suppose if you get next body, dog's body," they say, "What is the harm?" Yes. In, what is called, Hawaii University, one student says like that. He's student. He's being educated. But he doesn't care even if he's going to become a dog next life. This is the education. This is the education. And they're intelligent. Professor Kotovsky said, in Moscow: "Swamiji, after finishing this body, everything is finished." Just see. He's professor. And he's student.

So this is the position of so-called professor, student, university, all rascals. This is our challenge. All rascals. Because they are in the bodily concept of life, "I am this body. And the body has no change." Body's changing. He's seeing actually in this life. Still he'll not believe that "After changing this body, I'll get another body." It is very logical. Dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha dehantara-praptih [Bg. 2.13]. Exactly in the same way, as we have changed so many times this body, I'll have to change. Therefore, one who is intelligent, he should try to understand that "What kind of body I going to get next?" That is intelligence. So that is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita, what kind of body you can get.

yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam
[Bg. 9.25]

If you want to go to the higher planetary system where demigods live for hundreds and thousands and millions of years... Just like Brahma. Brahma's one day you cannot calculate. So in higher planetary system, you have got thousands and thousands of better facility for sense gratification and duration of life. Everything. Otherwise, why the karmis, they want to go to the heavenly planet? So yanti deva-vrata devan [Bg. 9.25]. So if you try to go the higher planetary system, you can go. Krsna says. There is process. Just like for going to the moon planet, one must be very expert in the karma-kanda, fruitive activities. By karma-kanda, you get, by the resultant action of your pious activities, you can be promoted to the moon planet. That is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But you cannot enter moon planet by your, this process: "By force we shall go with this aeroplane and jets and sputniks. Oh..." That's not possible. Suppose I got a nice motorcar in America. If I want to enter in another country forcibly, is it possible? No. You must get the passport, visa. You must get sanction from the government. Then you can enter. Not that because you have got a very good car, you'll be allowed. So we cannot by force... This is foolish attempt, childish attempt. They cannot go. Therefore nowadays they stopped. They do not speak. They are realizing their failure. In this way, you cannot. So, but there is possibility. You can go if you adopt the real process. You can be promoted. Similarly you can go to the Pitrlokas by offering sraddhas and pinda; you can go to the Pitrloka. Similarly you can remain in this loka. Bhutejya. Similarly you can go back to home, back to Godhead. So who is intelligent? And if you ask: What is the benefit by going to the planet, back to home, back to Godhead? That is assured in the Bhagavad-gita: mam upetya tu kaunteya duhkhalayam asasvatam napnuvanti: [Bg. 8.15] "If you come to Me, then you won't have to accept again this material body, which is full of miserable conditions. You will remain in your spiritual body."

So our Krsna consciousness movement is meant for, I mean to say, allowing, elevating all living entities... Of course, it is not for all. It is very difficult. But anyone who has accepted this Krsna consciousness movement, if he follows the principles, then he's surely going to home, back to home, back to Godhead. That is certain. But if you deviate, if you become attracted by maya, that is your business. But we are giving you information: This is the process, a simple process. Chant Hare Krsna maha-mantra, be purified, be..., remain always liberated from material clutches, and tyaktva deham. Mam upetya. Janma karma me divyam yo janati... If you simply try to understand Krsna, then tyaktva deham, after quitting this body, mam eti, "You'll come to Me."

So this is our philosophy. It is very simple. And everything is explained in the Bhagavad-gita. You try to realize and preach this cult for the benefit of the whole world. Then everyone will be happy.

Thank you very much. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.13 -- Los Angeles, April 11, 1973