Harikesa: Translation: "Money is so
dear that one conceives that money is sweeter than honey, and who can give up
the desire of accumulating such money, especially in the household life? The
thieves, the professional soldiers, or the mercantile community try to acquire
money by risking the very life."
Prabhupada:
ko nv artha-trsnam visrjet
pranebhyo 'pi ya
ipsitah
yam krinaty asubhih presthais
taskarah sevako vanik
[SB
7.6.10]
So here is one condemnation, that taskarah, sevakah and
vanik. Similarly, there is another verse in Bhagavad-gita, striyah vaisya tatha
sudra. So stri sudra quality, vanik quality, they are very backwards. So here it
is said, sneha-pasair drdhair baddham. Professor Marshall, he has given reason
for economic development: the family affection. Unless one has got family
affection, he is not interested in money. So therefore I sometimes say that
these hippies, they are little advanced because they have no affection for
family and they have no affection for money also. This is... In the other way,
these are good qualification: no interest, no affection. Everyone is working on
account of family affection, sneha-pasair. He has got wife and children, and he
requires money to make the family happy. So..., and for maintaining the family,
he requires money. Ato grhesu sutapta-vittair janasya moho 'yam.
This world is going on, this
material (world) is going on the principle of sense gratification, pumsah striya
mithuni-bhavam. Everyone is hankering after sex life, man and woman. This is the
beginning of material life. In the Vaikuntha-loka there are thousands times
beautiful women and thousand times strong men (noise in background) (aside:)
Where is this sound coming? ...but there is no sex desire. This is Vaikuntha
life. Here in this material world, as soon as there is strong man, as soon as
there is beautiful woman, then there is sex impulse. In the Vaikuntha world
there is no such thing, because they are so much absorbed in Krsna consciousness
that sex life is very insignificant. There is no sex life in the Vaikuntha
realm. But in this material world, the sex life is the basic principle of
pleasure.
pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etat
tayor mitho
hrdaya-granthim ahuh
ato grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittair
janasya moho 'yam
aham mameti
[SB 5.5.8]
So when they are united, then the attraction for man or
attraction for woman becomes very, very strong. Then it requires grha,
apartment, home. Then it requires field, land, because land is the means of
livelihood. Ato grha-ksetra. Then children, then friends. In this way he becomes
implicated. Moho 'yam. These things are not required, but out of illusion he is
thinking that "These things will give me protection, life and pleasure." That is
explained in the previous verse: sneha-pasair drdhair baddham. He becomes too
much entangled and captivated by this family affection. So therefore in the
Vedic civilization, from the very beginning of life the brahmacari is educated
not to be attracted by family life, very strictly. Even though he is educated
so, if he is found unable, then he is allowed to marry. That also not for many
years. To remain in the household life for twenty-five years, then compulsory, I
mean to say, separation, pancasordhvam vanam vrajet. Then when the mind is
settled up, he is awarded sannyasa. This is the system.
So on account of this deep
affection for maintaining family, everyone is risking life. The example is given
here that taskarah. There are many professional thieves, any country, India
also. They are family men -- not they are loafers -- but their business is to
steal. Their business is to steal. Why? They steal, they know it is risky,. He
has heard it that "If you steal you'll be arrested, you'll be put into jail."
Knowledge is gathered by hearing and by seeing. Hm? In Hindi it is called 'dekha
suna'-dekhavyair sunavyair, that "Have you seen or heard it?" That is
experience. So thief knows he has heard it from lawbooks that stealing is not
good, and from religious scripture also, that "It is sinful. Do not commit
theft. Do not become criminal." But still he does, at the risk of ad At night he
goes in the house of rich man and risk his life. Especially in Western
countries, there is fire gun, and trespassers, even without permission, if
anyone enters anyone's house, he can kill him. Is it not the law in your
country? Trespassing? So there is risk of life, but he has entered the house for
stealing. And why stealing? The family affection. That is the impetus for
economic development. The Professor Marshall, the economist, he has given the
definition, that "Wherefrom the economic development begins? By family
affection." Or by sex attraction. So this earning money, there are so many
smugglers, so many illicit businessmen, black market, they are risking their
lives to get money. The purpose is when one becomes too much attached to family
life and too much devoted to maintain it, he doesn't care. He has to earn money,
some how or other, even risking life. Even risking life.
So taskarah. Who risks his life?
First of all taskarah, thieves. And the next? Taskarah sevakah. Sevakah,
servant. Still, in India, in the, some district, there was a servant of mine, he
belonged to that... There are professional class of servant, they voluntarily
sell themselves to the master: "Sir, I'll require five hundred rupees, and if
you advance me this five hundred rupees I shall remain lifelong your servant."
Still you get. Formally there were slaves, slave trade, but..., you get it
still. You advance, the servant class, sudra class -- nowadays may not be five
hundred -- you advance five thousand, you can purchase. There will be agreement.
That is law court, that "He has to work lifelong." And, specially the
professional soldiers, nowadays the economic activities are so..., varieties.
One of our disciples' son, he has accepted the service of a diver. He enters
into the ocean. This is his service. Sometimes they accept the service of coming
down from the aeroplane, paracy... What is called? Parachute. Fall down. They
are forced, from three miles up. These are all risky things. At any moment... Of
course, at any moment there is death, that is a fact, but people voluntarily
accept these kind of services. For what purpose? For getting money. And what for
money? For sense gratification. And where is the sense gratification? In
family.
So actually, if one becomes too
much attached to family life and one has to become -- this is the way -- then
has to earn money by risking life. He has to earn money. Similarly, the vanik,
mercantile community, they also risk imprisonment by so many illegal activities.
So formerly, these classes of men were after money. The higher class, the
brahmana, ksatriya, they were very, I mean to say, pious. They did not do
anything for risking life for earning money. The brahmana, they were trained up
not to earn money, but to learn how to become self-controlled, sama damas
satyam, how to speak truth, or how to understand the Absolute Truth. Then
cleanliness, sama dama satyam saucam. Titiksa, how to become tolerant. Arjava,
simple. Jnanam, fully aware of all kinds of knowledge. Vijnanam, practical
application of knowledge. So then astikyam. Astikyam means to accept the
authority of the sastra. That is called astik. That is theism. Theism means just
like Veda, one who accepts the authority of Vedas, he is called astik. And one
who does not accept the authority of the Vedas, he is called nastik. Astik and
nastik.
According to Vedic civilization,
one who does not follow the Vedic principle, he is called nastik. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu has explained about the Buddhist. Buddhists, they do not believe in
the Vedic injunction, or the Muslims. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that veda na
maniya bauddha haya ta' nastika. Buddhists are called nastik, atheist. Why? Veda
na maniya: he does not believe in the Vedas. Veda na maniya bauddha haya ta'
nastika. Vedasraya nastikya-vada bauddhake adhika. But a person, hypocrite, who
accepts the Vedas but he preaches atheism... Just like you are praying that
sunyavadi, nirvisesa sunyavadi, pascatya desa tarine. These two, very dangerous
position, nirvisesa. The Buddhists, they say there is no God, sunyavadi.
"Everything, at the end, everything is zero. You have got this body. When this
body is finished, then everything becomes zero." Because they do not believe in
the soul, not in God. There are many nastik. Vasu bhuta sa dehasya kuta purna...
bhavet: "The body, I see it is burnt into ashes. Where is life? There is no
life. There is no soul." So this is bauddhya-vada, sunyavada -- everything
becomes zero. And the vedasraya nastikya-vada, the Mayavadis, they do not say
there is no God, because in the Vedas there is God. So they do not say directly,
but they say, "Yes, there is God, but He has no head, no leg, no hand. He cannot
talk, He cannot eat." Then what remains? He is making zero, God, zero, by
negative definition -- "He has no head, He has no... And he has no leg." So both
of them are zero, advocate of zero. But one directly says, "No, there is no God.
Everything is zero." And these Mayavadis, nirvisesa-vadi, they say the same
thing -- zero -- but in a different way. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that
these Mayavadis, zero-vadis, they are more dangerous than the bauddha. Vedasraya
nastikya-vada. All these Mayavadi sannyasis, they are very learned, but they'll
never accept that God has form. They say it is kalpana, it is imagination. So
Caitanya Mahaprabhu has designated them very, very dangerous, these Mayavadis.
He has therefore strictly forbidden, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa:
[Cc. Madhya 6.169] If you hear this Mayavadi speaking, then your future is
doomed. You are finished. Because as soon as you have become infected with the
Mayavada philosophy, it will take millions of years to come to the platform of
devotional service. It is so dangerous. Mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva-nasa.
Sarva-nasa means everything is finished when you become godless, or you think
yourself as you are God. The Mayavadis do that. They accept God, Krsna, as God,
but Krsna's body is maya. He has assumed a form, with a body which is created by
maya, just like our body is created by maya.
That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
isvarah sarva-bhutanam
hrd-dese arjuna
tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhutani
yantrarudhani mayaya
[Bg.
18.61]
This body is given by the material nature at the
direction of..., by the direction of Krsna. Because the nature is working by the
direction of Krsna. Nature is not independent. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate
sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. So isvara, Krsna, as Supersoul, He is in the core of my
heart, sitting with me. I am also in the heart. And I am desiring, and Krsna is
fulfilling my desire. Mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca [Bg. 15.15]. Smrtih,
Krsna gives a body, by the living entity: "You wanted to eat anything and
everything, without any discrimination -- now take this body of a hog. You can
eat even stool. I give you the facility." Mattah smrtir jnanam. "Now, here you
have got this body, you eat stool." Smrtir jnanam. In this way we are going on,
life after life. We are creating different types of body. This is called
seasonal changes. Just like there is tree, and every season there are fruits.
The fruits, they are undergoing six kinds of transformation. First of all it is
just like a small bud, or flower, then grows into a green fruit, then it is
ripened fruit, then there is seed, then it is completely ripened, then falls
down and finished. The fruit is going on, these six kinds of transformation, but
the tree is standing. Similarly, as living entity we are permanent, and
according to our karma, fruitive result of our karma, we are getting different
body. So I am steady, as spirit soul. My bodies are changing, seasonal changes.
But Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20].
Because the fruit is grown, stays for some time, then dwindles, then vanishes,
that does not mean the tree is finished. This is a crude example. So this change
of body is there on account of presence of the Supersoul. He is noting down. He
doesn't require to note down, but He notes that "This living entity wants this
kind of facility." So each and every body means a kind of facility for
fulfilling our desires. So that desire is fulfilled by Krsna. He is within our
heart. He is giving, has given full independence. "Desire Whatever you desire, I
will give you." Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham [Bg.
4.11].
So for fulfilling our desires...
In the morning we were talking on the street about desire. So desire cannot be
stopped. Desireless, it is not possible, because we are living entity; we must
have desires. But this kind of desires we are proposing: "My Lord, give me a
facility for fulfilling these desires." So that means you get a particular type,
and these desires are generated on account of our different association --
sattva-guna, rajo-guna, tamo-guna. So if we associate with sattva-guna, then we
get a body like the demigods.
urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha
madhye tisthanti
rajasah
jaghanya-guna-vrtti-stha
adho gacchanti tamasah
[Bg.
14.18]
In this way it is going on, vasana. Therefore we have to
become vasana -- less -- without any vasana, means without any material desires.
Vasana cannot... It is therefore not actually to make it null and void, but to
make it purified. That is the aim of human life: to purify our desires. That
purification is possible by Krsna consciousness. Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-paratvena nirmalam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. If you simply desire how to serve
Krsna, then that is really desirelessness. Desirelessness means not to become
without desire. You desire to serve Krsna, then these material desires will
automatically finish. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayor [SB 9.4.18]. So you fix
up your mind at the lotus feet of Krsna, then non-Krsna desires will be
finished. Sa vai manah krsna. Everything will be there: the hands will be there,
the legs will be there, the eyes will be there, the ears will be there --
everything will be there. But if you change your desire, they will be purified.
It is not to make it null and void. No. The hand is there, but if you engage
your hand in cleansing the temple, then you are transcendental. If your... If
you walk to go to the temple, then your desire for walking will be spiritual. If
you smell the flower offered to the Deity, then your desire for smelling so many
scented things will be finished. If you eat prasadam, then your desire for going
to the restaurant and making satisfy..., satisfaction of the tongue will be
finished. Therefore if we simply desire eating, sleeping, mating -- everything,
even mating also... If you desire that "If I can beget a child who will be Krsna
conscious," then you have sex life; otherwise stop it. If you take this
responsibility that you will beget a child who will be Krsna conscious, you can
produce thousands of children, allowed; otherwise don't become mother and
father. This is sastra. Don't become. Pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat na
mocayed yah samupeta. Why? That is the duty. Make your children Krsna conscious,
then your duty is all right. Otherwise, don't become father and
mother.
So desireless means when we don't
desire anything material. Simply desire to serve Krsna. That is desirelessness.
Sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam [Cc. Madhya 19.170]. Then it is nirmala, purified. And
the, what is the function of the purified senses? Hrsikena hrsikesa sevanam
bhaktir ucyate. When your..., there is no more material desires, none of your
senses are engaged in anything except Krsna's service, this is purification. And
in that purified state, when your senses are purified by this way, then you can
render service to Krsna. That service is accepted. Then patram puspam phalam
toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati tad aham asnami [Bg. 9.26]. In that stage of
transcendental position, that is bhakti. Everything you offer to Krsna, He'll
eat, with a great relish, "Oh, it is very nice." Just like Vidura(?) was
offering the skin of the banana, and Krsna was eating. He was so much absorbed
in Krsna thought, Krsna came to his house, and in great ecstasy he was opening
the banana, and the skin was being offered to Krsna and the pulp was thrown
away. But Krsna was eating that skin. Because yo me bhaktya prayacchati. Krsna
can eat anything, He is all-powerful. Even if you give the skin or the pulp, it
doesn't matter. But it must be yo me bhaktya prayacchati. The real thing is
bhakti. So this is, when you are bhakta, then you are desireless. Otherwise
desire cannot be finished. That is not possible. The Mayavadi philosophers say
you become desireless. It is not possible. Desire can be purified in connection
with service of Krsna.
So the whole idea is that our
desires, ko nv artha-trsnam... Artha-trsnam meens desiring for getting money,
visrjet. That is not possible. So long you are in this material world, one
cannot give up these desires. Therefore I was saying these Europeans, American
boys, they prefer to become hippies. That is another process of desirelessness
-- don't want. They are coming from rich man's house, but they don't want. That
is a desireless, but it is not properly utilized. Now they have got this
opportunity: how to serve Krsna. Therefore they are advancing so quickly. So
desirelessness is not possible. Desire there will be. When we change our
consciousness, desire is transferred for Krsna's service, that is perfect
life.
Thank you very much.
Devotees: Jaya, Srila
Prabhupada.
>>> Ref. VedaBase =>
Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.10 -- Vrndavana, December 12,
1975
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
