"Material Affection Has No Meaning"

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.47
Mayapura, October 27, 1974

Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


Pradyumna: Translation: "King Yudhisthira, son of Dharma, overwhelmed by the death of his friends, was aggrieved just like a common, materialistic man. O sages, thus deluded by affection, he began to speak."

Prabhupada:

aha raja dharma-sutas
cintayan suhrdam vadham
prakrtenatmana viprah
sneha-moha-vasam gatah

Sneha, love, affection, and moha, illusion. So, prakrtena. Prakrtena means on the bodily conception of life. Actually, sneha is different. There are affection in different stages. This morning I was reading the statement of a fisherman who caught Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His trance, and by touching Caitanya Mahaprabhu he became spiritually ecstatic, but he thought that he has become ghostly haunted: "Here is a ghost." And he was thinking, "I am ghostly haunted, so if I become mad, who will take care of my wife and children?" This is the position. The fisherman was actually, spiritually, by the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, simply by touching Him, he was so much spiritually advanced that he was chanting, dancing, crying -- means all the symptoms of spiritual ecstatic transformation was visible in his body -- but he thought that he had gone mad on account of touching the body, ghost. He was thinking like that. And the man thinking was that "If I become mad like this, then who will take care of my wife and children?"

This is sneha. Everyone is thinking. Even the lower animals, they are also thinking of giving protection to the children. I have got personal experience in Kanpur, I was sitting in my room, and one monkey was outside the door with his (her) kitty to take something out of my eating. But by chance the small kitty entered through the bars of the window within the room, and I saw the mother became almost mad immediately: "Oh, my son has gone inside, and it will not be allowed to come again." Anyway, I managed to push the small kitty to go away; then she was relieved. So this affection for children, for wife, for family members, increase, then to society, to country, even to the whole human society. There are so many persons. They have given their state (estate) for benefit of the whole human society. There are many, many philanthropists, charitably disposed men. They do that.

But all these activities are simply moha, illusion, only moha. It has no value. If you say that "So many things, it has no value?" it has value -- temporary, punya. Punya... There is also papa also. Suppose if you give charity... Charity is pious activities, but if you give charity to a brahmana, then it is -- proper brahmana, qualified brahmana, Vaisnava -- then your charity is properly utilized. And if you give the same charity to a drunkard, then you commit sinful activity. If you do not know what kind of charities we shall perform, if you blindly give charity, then sometimes you may be doing pious activities, but sometimes you are clearing the way for going to hell. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated there are three kinds of charities: sattvika, rajasika, tamasika. If you perform sattvika charity, then you get good result; rajasika charity, you get some profit; and tamasika charity, you go to hell. So one must be very careful even for this sneha, or charity, or philanthropy.

There is another story -- it may be fact -- that a boy was raised by his aunt very liberally. Then, gradually, the boy became, in bad association, a thief. And the aunt was encouraging, "Oh, it is a very good business. You are bringing so many things without any labor." So... Or out of affection he (she) did not chastise the boy when he was stealing. Then he, at the end, became a murderer. So he committed a murder. Then when he was to be hanged, so the government men inquired, "What is your last wish?" "Now, I want to speak with my aunt through the ear." Then he was allowed. And the aunt was generally crying that "My nephew is going to be hanged." She was... So he caught up her ear with the teeth and cut it. So he said, "My dear aunt, if you would have chastised me in the beginning, then today, this position, that you are crying and I am going to be hanged, this would not have happened. But you did not do that. Therefore you are uselessly crying now, and this is your punishment: I cut off your ear with the teeth." A very good instruction.

So the so-called sneha, if it is not properly done... Nature's regulation is so strict that you cannot avoid the consequence. That is not possible. These are practical. I have seen another practical... In front of our residence there was another neighbor. So the old man had his daughter-in-law. So she was beating her one child. So I inquired through my servant, "Why this young woman is beating her child?" Now, then the servant brought me the news that this boy gave parata to his elder brother who is suffering from typhoid. The typhoid... In typhoid fever, solid food is forbidden strictly, but the boy did not know. He asked his younger brother that "If you steal one parata and if you give me, I am very much hungry." So he became very sympathetic to his brother, and he gave the parata. And the boy was ill; he aggravated the illness. So as soon as the mother heard that he gave a parata to him, he (she) began to beat: "Why did you give?" Now, it was charity, it was affection and sympathetic, but the result was beating with shoes. So if we do not know where charity should be given, then, where affection should be there, then we are under the laws of nature; we shall be punished if it is not properly done. There is punishment.

Therefore it is said, prakrtena atmana. Prakrtena, by worldly relationship, prakrtena atmana viprah sneha-moha-vasam gatah. Sneha, affection; moha, illusion. Just like Arjuna, the same thing: out of affection he was denying. He was denying, "No, no, Krsna, I shall not fight. There, on the other side, there are my brothers, my nephews, my grandfather, and my teacher, Dronacarya, all my object of affection and obeisances, and I will have to kill them. You are inducing me. No, no, don't do it." That is prakrtena. He did not know the spiritual necessities. Sometimes we take sannyasa. I have seen. One of our Godbrother, big Godbrother, he took sannyasa. So his son was crying, and he was also crying. Then, if you have got affection for your family, society, then why you are taking sannyasa? That is prakrtena. We should not be carried away by this material affection, no. That is not good. You must do your duty. That is the instruction of Bhagavad-gita, that "Arjuna, you are being carried away by your material affection, and you are hesitating to execute your duty. This is not good." Anarya-justam: "This is befitting for the anarya, non-Aryan." Non-Aryan means not civilized, and Aryan means civilized. This is the distinction. Now people are very much fond of calling themselves as civilized, Aryan, belonging to the Aryan family. Where is the Aryan civilization? Aryan civilization means this Vedic civilization. Just like Arjuna, a ksatriya, belonged to the Aryan civilization, and because he was denying to fight, Krsna accused him, "Oh, this is just like non-Aryans." Anarya-justam, non-Aryans.

So this is Aryan civilization. Aryan civilization means giving importance to the spiritual life. That is Aryan civilization. And those who are giving importance to the material life, prakrta, that is called prakrta. Sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah. In devotional life also, there are prakrta-bhaktas. Prakrta-bhaktas are described,

arcayam eva haraye
pujam yah sraddhayehate
na tad-bhaktesu canyesu
sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

"A devotee" -- of course, that is the beginning -- "who is carrying the arca, Deity worship very nicely," arcayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhaya, "with great affection, regulative principle, but he does not know," arcayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhayehate, na tad-bhaktesu, "but he does not know how to respect a devotee," na tad-bhaktesu canyesu, "he does not know how to do good to others -- simply he is attached to the Deity worship -- "sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah, "he's still on the material platform."

So one has to make advance. What is that advance? That advance is... What is that verse? The four kinds of... Prema-maitri-krpopeksa yah karoti sa madhyamah. Isvare tad-adhinesu. The further advancement... One has to make advance, stage by stage, from the kanistha-adhikari, from the lower stage, to the middle stage to the higher stage. So the next stage, from prakrta, from material position... Of course, any devotion is, any devotee is not on the material platform. He is... But if we remain more on the material platform, not on the spiritual platform, then we'll fall down. We'll fall down. Therefore one should try to make forward march. The forward march is to become a preacher. Bhaktesu canyesu. Preaching means to obey the order of the spiritual master or superior authorities and to do good to others, do good to others. They are suffering for want of Krsna consciousness. Try to preach them. This is the second stage. If we simply become blocked up for Deity worship and do not preach, then we remain in the lowest stage. But when we take up this work, preaching...

Preaching means he must be conscious, Krsna conscious, advanced. Krsna conscious means that he's a lover of Krsna. Isvare tad... He'll see four things: first Krsna, isvara; and tad-adhina, the devotees... Isvare tad-adhinesu and balisesu. Balisa means people, ignorant men, who do not know what is Krsna consciousness. They are called balisa, just like child. Child is called balisa. Ignorant men, balisesu, dvisatsu ca, and other class. He'll see four things: isvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he'll see the devotees of Krsna; he'll see some ignorant person; and he'll see some envious person. That you will have to meet. If you become preacher, then you'll create so many enemies also. Just like Prahlada Maharaja. His father became enemy, not outside. Outside he might have many enemies, but the five-years-old boy, because he was taking opportunity in the school and as soon as the teachers are out, in the tiffin hour, he would immediately stand up on the bench and preach... You have seen the picture. He was preaching amongst his small class friends. That preaching work is there in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, how he was intelligently preaching.

His first was... Kaumaram... Bhakta? I forget now. My memory is becoming old. (laughs) So, kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha [SB 7.6.1]. That, he was preaching: "My dear friends, we are now unmarried boys, so this is the opportunity. Now we are unmarried. We are not very much attached to family life. This is the opportunity." Kaumara acaret prajnah. Because as soon as one becomes materially affectionate... Here it is said, prakrtena atmana viprah sneha-moha-vasam. The more we increase... When the child, when we are children, we have got little affection for playing or for father, mother, that's all, limited. But the more we grow, and especially when you are married, then this material affection increases, more entangled. That is also stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam. This material life means sex life. So a man is searching after woman, and woman is searching after man. This is material bondage. This is natural not only human society -- in dog society. Just see. The dog is crying, is crying at night because he has lost that woman. Is it not? Just see, even in the dog, what to speak of human being. So this is material life, to be affectionate unnecessarily. Therefore devotional service means vairagya-vidya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed by His example how He gave up the affection of young, beautiful wife, very nice home, most affectionate mother, most influential position in the society -- gave up.

So this is the..., people do not know what is devotional service. Devotional service means... Just like Kunti was praying, "My dear Krsna, kindly help me how can I give up this affection of my family, the Pandavas and the Vrsnis." This is required. This is the first sacrifice, not prakrtena vasam gatah. Then it is... Actually, the perfection of life is no more affection for anything material: brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati [Bg. 18.54]. That is the beginning, when we have lost complete affection for... We are not cruel; that is not another... But we know, we should know, that this is not required. This is simply moha. This is simply moha. This is illusion. It has no meaning. It is simply entanglement. That one must know. That is called vairagya. Vairagya-vidya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya wrote hundred verses appreciating Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, of which two verses are available, because when he sent the hundred verses glorifying Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He immediately torn the papers, but the devotees collected the torn papers and saved one or two slokas. So one of the most important sloka is,

vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga-
siksartham ekah purusah puranah
sri-krsna-caitanya-sarira-dhari
krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye
[Cc. Madya 6.254]

Who is this Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu? He immediately recognized, "He is Krsna. He is Krsna." Krsna, as the Supreme Person, He ordered this vairagya-vidya, "Just give up, nonsense, all these things. Just surrender to Me." This is vairagya-vidya. The so-called affection and duty and so on, so on, sarva-dharman parityajya: [Bg. 18.66] "Give up." This is vairagya-vidya. So Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya could understand that "He is the same Krsna, same Krsna. Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead ordered, but He did not personally teach how to become elevated in vairagya-vidya. Here is the same person, He has come again to teach practically how to attain this vairagya-vidya stage." Therefore he said, vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yogam. Vairagya-vidya means you become detestful to the material thing -- param drstva nivartate -- but, as Kunti said that "My affection may increase for you," vairagya-vidya means not only simply give up affection of this material, but you increase your affection for Krsna. That is vairagya, not that giving up all affection for the material world, you become zero. The zero stage is brahma-bhuta stage: "I have no more any affection for material things." But zero stage, you cannot stay. That is not our nature. Anandamayo 'bhyasat. We want ananda.

So we give up this association. Unless we take Krsna's association there will be no ananda; it is simply zero. In the zero platform you cannot remain for many years or many days. Then you'll fall down. If you don't get, if you don't increase your affection for Krsna -- simply you give up the affection of this material world -- then you cannot stay for many days. You'll fall down. You'll fall down. Aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adho 'nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah [SB 10.2.32]. Simply negative process will not help you. You must take the positive position. So that is required. Otherwise, devotional service means vairagya-vidya. It is the transcendental education to become unattached to this material world. This is called vairagya.

In another place it is said,

vasudeve bhagavati
bhakti-yogah prayojitah
janayaty asu vairagyam
jnanam ca yad ahaitukam
[SB 1.2.7]

Vairagya or jnana, these two things required in human life, to become unattached to this material world and, based on jnana, knowledge. Just like a so-called sannyasi, they give up as a sentiment and take sannyasa, but unless he has knowledge, he cannot stay; he'll fall down. He'll fall down. Therefore vairagya and jnana, two things must be there. Jnana means full knowledge that "I am spirit soul; my only necessity is spiritual advancement of life." This is jnana. And then, naturally, he has no more any affection for material things.

So Yudhisthira Maharaja was thinking -- it is natural -- that on account of his position, to become the emperor of the world, suhrdam vadham, so many friends have been killed. Aha raja dharma-sutas cintayan suhrdam vadham. This is natural. But duty is duty. When Krsna says that, as He did to Arjuna, that "You must fight. You must kill them," that is duty. That is Krsna consciousness -- no consideration of my affection. That is duty, and Arjuna did it. This is the duty of the devotee. Anukulyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama. First-class devotion is to serve Krsna just to please Him. If He is pleased, if He says that "You kill your son," then we should be prepared to do that. That is called vairagya-vidya. Of course, never Krsna says like that, but actually, in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Arjuna was ordered, if not the son but the nephew. But his sons were also killed. So this is duty. So many people inquire, "Krsna was inducing people to fight." But this fight by the order of Krsna and the fight or war declared for the satisfaction of the politicians, they are not the same. We must always remember. They are not the same.

Just like Prahlada Maharaja. Prahlada Maharaja was standing, and his father was being killed. Is it a very good thing? Suppose if I am here and somebody kills me, and if you do not protest, is it a very good business? People will be surprised that "So many disciples are there, and this man is being killed, and nobody do anything?" So from material point of view, Prahlada Maharaja could have asked Nrsimhadeva, "My Lord, do not kill my father." He could have asked, and immediately his request would have been granted. But he did not do that. He was standing and seeing. But he knows that "This killing of the body of my father is not killing. I shall save him. I shall save him." That he did. When he was offered benediction, he did not take anything. He said, "My Lord, what shall I do, all this material benediction? I have seen in the case of my father. He was so strong that even the demigods were frightened for his presence. His position was so strong, and You finished it within a minute. So what is the benefit of taking? No, no. Please do not request me." But although he did not ask anything for his personal self, but he asked the Lord, prayed, that "One thing I request." "What is that?" "My father was a great demon, and he was against You. He has committed so many sinful life. So I know he'll have to suffer for these things. I request You to excuse him." This is Vaisnava son. "Oh, yes, immediately." Immediately.

So he knew that "What is this of asking for this material...? My father is not this body, but he has to suffer so many things for his sinful activities. I shall save him in due course of time." Therefore that is called putra. Putra means

pun-namno narakad yasmat
trayate pitaram sutah
tasmat putra iti proktah
svayam eva svayambhuva

This is represented by the alphabet pu, and trayate, tra. Combined together, putra. The putra's duty is to save the father from hellish condition of life. Therefore there is sraddha ceremony. So here is a putra. Real putra, Prahlada Maharaja, that he saved his father from the hellish condition of life. Similarly, a father should be the protector of his child not only simply by feeding him, making him very fat in this life, but from death. Na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum, pita na sa syat. One should not become father, one should not become mother, one should not become guru, one should not become relative, husband, and so many. The list is there. Why? If he cannot save his subordinate from imminent death. That is father; that is mother; that is guru. And how one can be saved from imminent death or repeated death? Simply by Krsna consciousness.

janma karma me divyam
yo janati tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti...
[Bg. 4.9]

You can save your son, your disciple, your relative or anyone whom you love, real affection. Then give him Krsna consciousness, and he'll be saved from death. That is the purport of this.

Thank you very much. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.47 -- Mayapura, October 27, 1974