Simple Living
Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.10
Vrndavana, November 1, 1976
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Take a testVrndavana, November 1, 1976
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Pradyumna: "O My sons, you should
accept a highly elevated paramahamsa, a spiritually advanced spiritual master.
In this way, you should place your faith and love in Me, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead. You should detest sense gratification and tolerate the duality of
pleasure and pain, which are like the seasonal changes of summer and winter. Try
to realize the miserable condition of living entities, who are miserable even in
the higher planetary systems. Philosophically inquire about the truth. Then
undergo all kinds of austerities and penances for the sake of devotional
service. Give up the endeavor for sense enjoyment and engage in the service of
the Lord. Listen to discussions about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and
always associate with devotees. Chant about and glorify the Supreme Lord, and
look upon everyone equally on the spiritual platform. Give up enmity and subdue
anger and lamentation. Abandon identifying the self with the body and the home,
and practice reading the revealed scriptures. Live in a secluded place and
practice the process by which you can completely control your life air, mind and
senses. Have full faith in the revealed scriptures, the Vedic literatures, and
always observe celibacy. Perform your prescribed duties and avoid unnecessary
talks. Always thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, acquire knowledge
from the right source. Thus practicing bhakti-yoga, you will patiently and
enthusiastically be elevated in knowledge and will be able to give up the false
ego."
Prabhupada:
hamse gurau mayi bhaktyanuvrtya
vitrsnaya dvandva-titiksaya ca
sarvatra jantor vyasanavagatya
jijnasaya tapaseha-nivrttya
[SB 5.5.10]
So this is called regulative principle. In the previous verse, it was recommended that karmanubaddho drdha aslatheta. This attachment, karmanubaddha, for this material world, everyone is busy -- we have discussed many times -- from morning till late at night, and night also, they are busy. Big, big factories, they are working day and night, one shift, other shift. That has become the criterion of civilization. Formerly it was less, because this ugra-karma... These factories means ugra-karma, unnecessarily severe, hard work. Unnecessarily. We have seen in Detroit, they are manufacturing one Ford, manufacturing Ford, simply wheels of the motorcar. Huge stock wheels. And somebody is manufacturing tire, huge stock of tire, and they are giving estimate: "Up till now, so many millions of tire we have manufactured." Well, you know all this. It is in your country. And then there are so many motor parts, there are three thousand small parts. So big, big factories, they are working to manufacture the parts of the motorcar, different parts of the motorcar, day and night working. And ultimately, they are preparing one car, and people are using huge quantity of cars. This is called karmanubaddha, unnecessary, ugra-karma.
Transportation is required, but we see from Krsna books that the inhabitants of Gokula... There was a meeting headed by Nanda Maharaja's young brother, Upananda, and all the villagers, they assembled together. They discussed that "Our Krsna is being repeatedly attacked by the asuras, and it has become very troublesome. So let us leave this place." They are villagers. They thought it wise that "Because we are in this village, some of the demons, they are coming and disturbing." So they are villagers... Immediately Nanda Maharaja agreed, "All right, let us leave this place." So immediately, they transferred the whole village with their possessions, cloth or something, everything, within one hour. And they transported by the bullock cart to Nandagrama. That means, the idea is the whole village was transferred from one village to another within very short time. So the transport is required, the transport by bullock carts. The bulls are there. They can be used for transport. Or the asses, they can be used for transport. But... And the camels can be used for transport. There are so many animals. So advancement, and big, big kings, royal families, they have got their transport service by keeping elephants and horses. They can get on the back of the horses and get yourself there. So nature's arrangement, God's arrangement is there. Transport is required in the human society, but you can utilize so many animals for your purpose. But at the present moment, ugra-karma. The transport is there, but they have manufactured big, big buses for transport, big, big cars, and the animals, they are now killed and eat. That's all. This is civilization. This is civilization. Not to reduce the labor, but increase the labor. Therefore they are called ugra-karma, jagatah hita, and that will create disastrous condition of the human society. This is discussed in Bhagavad-gita.
So our this simple living... We are introducing the simple living, that go to the village, have sufficient food grains and milk, and the experiment is successful in the Western countries, in New Vrindaban, in Philadelphia, in New Orleans. So now the leaders of European and American countries, they are threatened: "This kind of civilization, if it is advanced, then where he'll stand?" This simple living... In Australia, one psychiatrist, he remarked that "If this kind of simple living is introduced, then where you stand?" So they want ugra-karma. They want to work day and night in the factories, and to pacify themselves, they immediately require drinking, illicit sex. Thence, by working on motorcars, they have no enough food, they want to eat meat, kill animals; and to digest the meat, he must drink. One after another. One after another.
So this ugra-karma, they have introduced, but they are not happy. Because they are fools, they do not know their happiness is different. It cannot be had from the ugra-karma. Therefore here it is said, sarvatra vyasana? What is that? Jantor vyasanavagatya, sarvatra jantor vyasanavagatya. Your material civilization, wherever you advance materially, there is trouble. Not only on this planet, but in other planets also, I mean higher planets, where they live for many millions of years and their standard of happiness... Of course, these rascals, they are finding only stones and rocks in other planets. They have got everything only in this planet. And you have to believe them. Wherever they are going, in the moon planet or in the Mars planet, what do they see? Simply rocks and sands. But that is not the fact. Each and every planet is full of living entities, janata(?). That is the statement in the... Everywhere, every planet, there are different kinds of living entities. Just like we see in this planet also, the Europeans are of different features, the Americans have different features, India different features, Africa different features. So there are varieties of living continent, varieties of living entities, but no planet is vacant. That is not the fact. This is rascaldom. They are declaring the planets are vacant; only their father's property here, that is full of living entities. This is nonsense. This is nonsense.
Therefore it is said, sarvatra jantor vyasanavagatya. Sarvatra, everywhere, there are living entities and there are sufferings. Not only living entities. As there are sufferings here, three kinds of miserable conditions, even that will continue. A-brahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna [Bg. 8.16]. That is statement of Krsna. Even you go to the Brahmaloka. Not that Brahmaloka is better. Why there are so many, ananta-koti, planets? Yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti: [Bs. 5.40] not only one universe but many millions and trillions of universes. Yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti-kotisv asesa-vasudhadi-vibhuti-
But you should know from the Vedic literature the position. You should know that each and every planet is full of different types of living entities, and in the higher planetary system, the standard of living may be very... Not maybe. It is mentioned, thousands and thousands of times better than this planet. They... This is called Bhurloka, then Bhuvarloka, then Svargaloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Satyaloka, Brahmaloka -- these are different higher planetary system -- and each loka, the standard of happiness is thousand times better than the earth. This is the position. And Krsna says, a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah. And similarly down, there are different lokas -- Tala, Atala, Talatala, Vitala, Sutala, like that. This is the constitution. But here Rsabhadeva says that anywhere you go, the threefold miseries of material existence, that will continue. You cannot get free. Even Brahmaloka, the Brahma, he is subjected to die. He is also undergo the principles of death, and what to speak of others. Nobody will exist here. A-brahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna [Bg. 8.16].
So we should know that, that we are trying to improve our material condition -- it doesn't matter you are now a poor man, and by doing something you get, I mean to say, great amount of wealth. That does not mean that you are free from dangerous condition of life. That is not. Sarvatra. Either in this planet, or in other planet, or this condition, that condition, the threefold miseries, adhyatmika, adhidaivika, and adhibhautika, and these miseries, and janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi... Krsna says, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-
Duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15]. Here, everywhere you'll find duhkhalayam asasvatam. Just like I was reading last night that Brhaspati's wife is kidnapped by Candra. The Brhaspati is the spiritual master of the demigods, and his wife was kidnapped by Candra. He is also one of the demigods. Just see: the sex and lusty desires are so strong, even in the higher planetary system. And that is the cause. That is the cause. Here it is said, lingam vyapohet kusalo 'ham-akhyam. This false ego is the cause of our miserable condition in this material world. Material world is miserable, duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15], this material world. One ant is living, say for one day, and I am living for hundred years, and Brahma is living for millions of years. That does not mean any one of us is free is from the miserable condition of this material world. Nobody. Therefore this material world is called duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15].
mam upetya punar janma
duhkhalayam asasvatam
napnuvanti mahatmanah
samsiddhim paramam gatah
[Bg. 8.15]
That is samsiddhi, that if you become able how to become free from this encagement of material body, lingam vyapohet. Therefore the endeavor should be how to give up this material body and be situated in our spiritual status, and that will give us...
So for that there are so many practices, regulative principles, mentioned here. The first thing is hamse gurau mayi bhaktyanuvrtya. This is religion. Adau gurvasrayam. If you do not get a qualified guru, then everything is bogus. If you, by good fortune, if you get the association of a guru, qualified hamsa, paramahamsa... Paramahamsa guru means sannyasi's last stage is paramahamsa. Kuticaka, bahudaka, parivrajakacarya, and paramahamsa, these are the different stages. When one takes sannyasa, he lives outside the village in a kuti, in a cottage, and the family members goes and delivers him the food, because he is not practiced. So in the beginning, he keeps up this association of neighborhood or family, but he is not practiced. He therefore lives outside the village, and if somebody gives some food, he eats. Then when he becomes experienced, then he does not accept food from one, either his own home or one home. He takes foodstuff from many homes: "Give me a little piece of capati." So somebody gives half, because they are also not overburdened. If they have to deliver, so many sannyasis come, and sumptuous food, then how the grhastha will provide? Therefore though... They do not overburden. There may be other sannyasis, therefore little only. Madhupuri. The Gosvamis practiced this madhupuri in Vrndavana. They lived, but they would take little only from the house. This is called bahudaka. Then when he has practiced more, he travels all over the world, parivrajakacarya. And when he is fully experienced, then, in spiritual life and everything, then he is paramahamsa. So one must find out a guru who is paramahamsa. Neither kuticaka, nor bahudaka, nor parivrajakacarya. Paramahamsa. So in the Caitanya-caritamrta also, Lord Caitanya says, guru-krsna-krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. This bhakti-lata-bija can be obtained through the mercy of guru and Krsna. Here Rsabhadeva, who is incarnation of Krsna, therefore He says mayi, hamse gurau mayi. You cannot jump over Krsna. "Well, I know Krsna. I shall go to Krsna directly, without guru." There are many rascals, they say like that. No, that is not possible. First of all guru, then Krsna. Hamse gurau mayi, bhaktyanuvrtya.
So these are description, this is the beginning. If we actually practice the description of the prescription given in the sastra, then it will be possible that, as it is said, karmanubaddho drdha aslatheta. Then our strong desire to enjoy this material world in different way, that will be slackened. That is wanted.
Thank you very much.
Devotees: Jaya! (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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