Soul-Killing Civilization
Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.6.11
Bombay, December 29, 1976
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Take a testBombay, December 29, 1976
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Pradyumna:
te ca hy aravaktanaya nija-loka-yatrayandha paramparayasvastas tamasy andhe svayam eva prapatisyanti
[SB 5.6.11]
"Low-class people, due to their gross ignorance, introduce a system of religion that deviates from the Vedic principles. Following their own mental concoctions they automatically fall down into the darkest regions of existence."
Prabhupada: "Low-class people, due to their gross ignorance, introduce a system of religion that deviates from the Vedic principles." The other day I was speaking that system of religion can be given by God Himself. But they do not know who is God, where is God, what is His principle, why does He want to give us religion. They are so ignorant, especially in this age, they do not believe in these things at all. Very awkward position. So they deride at Vedic principles, nastik. According to them, bhasmi bhutasya dehasya kutah punar agamano bhavet. The body, which is burned down into ashes, what is the meaning of talking about this body, that again it comes and takes birth in a different form of life? Nobody believes these things. And now everything, very precarious condition of this age. Mandah sumanda-matayo manda-bhagya hy upadrutah [SB 1.1.10].
So therefore the process of reviving their Krsna consciousness is Krsna's. No other process will help. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He was Krsna Himself. He advised, harer nama harer nama harer nama eva kevalam [Cc. Adi 17.21]. The only hope is if you go through the sastras, Vedic literature, that is the way to understand. But at the present moment people are so engrossed with material affairs that they are not interested even to hear or to talk about Krsna consciousness. That is not a very good sign. It is the feverish condition of durbhiksa. That is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, that people in general, when they come to the point of suffering from natural law, then they will revive their nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti. So therefore, as I was speaking in this morning, we have to elevate the human civilization from a platform which is on equal level with hog civilization. We should very carefully study and try to know whether the advancement of civilization which we have accepted is genuine. No. It is not genuine. It is misleading. Our aim of life is not to get a comfortable life for few years. Actually, there is no comfortable life. Still, we consider and forget our real business, self-realization. Apasyatam atma-tattvam grhesu grha-medhinam [SB 2.1.2].
So these persons, maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan [SB 7.9.43]. They have been described by Prahlada Maharaja as the most hated, foolish persons, vimudhan. Bhagavad-gita, Krsna has mentioned this class of men as mudha. And Prahlada Maharaja has described these classes of men, not only mudha but vimudha. Vimudha means particularly mudha. Pramattah. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma [SB 5.5.4]. Same thing, vimudhan. It is very dangerous civilization. They are spoiling their human form of life. This human form of life is meant for different purpose, tapasya. But they have been engaged in the lives of hogs and dogs, work very hard, get some money, and enjoy for sense gratification. This is not human civilization. So following their own mental concoction they automatically fall down into the dark region of existence. Adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram [SB 7.5.30]. Here yesterday I went to Malad(?) to some friend's house. How they are living, middle-class men. In Bombay especially we see they are living very awkward position, not very comfortable life. Still, they stick to the city life, and if we call them, "Come to Hyderabad. We shall give you nice place, nice food, nice milk, nice cloth. That is your problem. We shall give you. Please come and live with us," "No." Therefore it is called hog civilization. Hog, they are living in a filthy place, eating stool. If you request the hog, "Please come with me. I shall give you nice place to live in. I shall give you halava," they'll not come. So this is the position.
Therefore they fall down. Fall down means from our spiritual identification we fall down to material identification, upadhi. Material identification, upadhi, designation. I am now speaking, "I am Indian," but "Indian," that is (not) my designation. I am neither Indian nor European. You are not Indian, European. We are giving more stress on the designation. That is the mistake of modern civlization. And in the sastra such persons who designate himself with this body, they have been described as go-kharah, sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]. So we shall be very careful. Take to Krsna consciousness.
So next... (reading) "In this age of Kali people are overwhelmed by the modes of passion and ignorance. Lord Rsabhadeva incarnated Himself to deliver them from the clutches of maya." God has no business to come here. He is Vaikuntha-pati. Vaikuntha means vigata-kuntha-yasmad. Kuntha means anxiety. In the spiritual world there is no anxiety,. and the material world, it is full of anxiety. Sada samudvigna-dhiyam asad-grhat. On account of accepting this false, temporary material world, we are always full of anxiety, and Vaikuntha world, kingdom of God, is just opposite: no anxiety. Why there should be anxiety? Here we have got the fear of birth, death, old age and disease, and in the spiritual world there is no such thing, birth, death, old age and disease. And everything is complete there. There is no fight between one person to one person. In this way, the description is there. The summary is that there is no jurisdiction for the three modes of material nature. It is above the jurisdiction. That is Vaikuntha world.
So long we are in the jurisdiction of three modes of material nature, up to that time we shall disagree with one another and there will be trouble. Therefore the Vaisnava religion is meant for the peaceful person. No trouble. Samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54]. Those who have come to the stage of seeing everyone on the equal terms... Equal terms means spiritually. That we invite everyone. There is no discrimination. We don't care for the designations. We invite everyone to leave aside the designation and come in your original form and be Krsna conscious and be happy, for which we are prepared to take all kinds of incon... There is no inconvenience, but suppose in the old age I am traveling all over the world. People think that I have taken some hardship. But for Krsna's sake, even it is hardship... Actually, there is no hardship. But even it is hardship, we should take it. Para-upakara. People are in ignorance, they are suffering, and it is especially India's business to release them from this material suffering and give them information about the Vaikuntha world, the world of no anxiety. And try to train them in different ways. That is the real welfare activity in the human society.
Thank you very much. (end)
© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.
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