How to Degrade Yourself

How to Degrade Yourself

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.66
Vrndavana, September 2, 1975

download  flash player

 

Take a test

---

Prabhupada:

yatas tatas copaninye
nyayato 'nyayato dhanam
babharasyah kutumbinyah
kutumbam manda-dhir ayam
 [SB 6.1.66]

So this is the beginning of samsara. So there is attraction between man and woman, and as soon as the attraction becomes little intimate, they unite. Then they have children. Then they require money, apartment, so many things. This man became sinful. He gave up his real wife, married wife, coming from very good family, but he became attracted with that sudrani, fourth class. Sudra means fourth class, worker class. Brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. So sudra women, they are not chaste. Some of them are practically professional prostitute. But that is not in higher caste family -- brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya. But at the present moment it is very difficult to distinguish who is brahmana and who is sudra. But formerly this is the system of Vedic civilization -- ideal character, ideal behavior of the brahmana; less, little less, ksatriya; little less, vaisya; and less than the vaisya, the sudra; and less than the sudras are called candalas. First class, second class, third class, fourth class, and then fifth class.

So this man, being attracted with the sudrani, naturally there was children. So he began to maintain them. This is natural affection. Even cats and dogs, they maintain their children. The birds also, they maintain their kiddies. So although children were born of sudrani, natural, there was affection. So he required money. But he became sinful; he could not earn money honestly. A sinful man cannot earn money honestly. Just like a thief: because he has adopted the means of earning money by sinful activities, he cannot take to honest work. He can work, but he is accustomed to steal. He knows that "This work is not good." If he is arrested, he will be punished. He has seen that one thief arrested and punished, and he has heard also that if one steals, he will be punished. And he has heard also from the sastra, either law book or Vedic literature, that "Stealing is not good. It is punishable." But still, he does it. That means a sinful man cannot restrain himself from sinful activity. He has to do it. Karanam guna-sango asya sad-asad-janma-yonisu [Bg. 13.22]. Unless you give up the particular situation with the modes of nature, it is not possible for him to restrain himself from committing sinful activities.

So he became sinful because he left his married wife and he became attracted with a sudrani immediately. That has been described in the previous verse. Visasarjacirat papah. Papah means sinful man. He became sinful immediately. Therefore we stress on marriage. They cannot understand why this association stresses so much for marriage, not to live... They live as friend. That is sudra. There is no legal marrige. Sudra and sudrani. Just like he was living with the sudrani -- he was not married -- as friend. So even sudra's marriage there is. For the sudra there is one asrama -- that is grhastha asrama. And for the brahmanas, four asramas: brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha, sannyasa. This is for the brahmanas. For the ksatriya: brahmacari, grhastha, and vanaprastha. For the vaisyas: brahmacari and grhastha. And for the sudras: no brahmacari, only family life, and that also sometimes without marriage. This is the low-grade, first-grade, second-grade. So now to live as friend, a sudra, that is now current all over the world. Now marriage is being forgotten. That is also written the sastra, that "There will be no more marriage. One man and woman should live together by agreement." That is going on now in Kali-yuga. Svikaram eva hy udvahe, it is stated. Simply agree: "Yes, you become my bedfellow; I become your bedfellow." That's all. Finished. Svikaram eva hy udvahe. That is marriage. No more that ceremonial marriage. That is being forgotten. This is Kali-yuga now. Dampatyam eva hi... Ratim eva hi dampatye: "And their so-called unity, man and woman, means sex." There is no other meaning. Dampatye, union of man and woman, means sex. There is no other religious system, that husband, wife, live together; they should cooperate for advancing in Krsna consciousness. These things are being forgotten.

So Kali-yuga, these things are very common, but in the previous yuga, Satya-yuga, they were not very common, but rare. This combination of the brahmana and the sudrani, this is accidental. It is not common. So anyway, accidental or organized, it doesn't matter. One who violates the rules and regulation, immediately he comes to the category of such classification. So he became a sudra. Although he was born in a brahmana family, he was being trained up, but on account of the association of a sudrani, prostitute, he fell down and he became a papah, most sinful man. So as a papah, he did not know how to earn money honestly. He is neither brahmana, nor ksatriya, nor vaisya. He is now not even sudra, less than that. Therefore it is said, yatas tatas ca upaninye: "Somehow or other..." According to classification, a brahmana has got specific function for earning his livelihood, a ksatriya has got a specific action for livelihood, a vaisya has got specific action for livelihood, and a sudra has got a specific action for livelihood. But he became less than sudra. Therefore yatas tatas ca -- "Somehow or other, bring money, bring money." This is called yatas tatas ca, no fixed up.

A brahmana... Everyone has to earn livelihood. That is a fact. Without working, you cannot live. So there are specific... Just like brahmana-yajan yajan pathan pathan danah pratigrahah. He must be very good worshiper of the Lord, and he must induce his yajamana, his dependent. Brahmana is the head, and the ksatriya, vaisya, they are yajamana. So they should induce, just like we are inducing all over the world, "Open temple. Worship Krsna." This is brahmana's business.

sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana
srngara-tan-mandira-marjanadau
yuktasya bhaktams ca niyunjato 'pi
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam

This is the duty of the guru. He worships himself. Unless he knows how to worship, how he will teach them? So he acts himself as brahmana, and he teaches the disciple how to work as a brahmana. Sri-vigraha. This is called yajana yajana. Pathana pathana. He must be a learned brahmana, and he must teach others how to become learned brahmana, pandita. Pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigraha. He can accept charity from others, and he will distribute it by temple worship, distribute. All that you have collected, worship the Deity and distribute prasadam. Distribute this. Distribute. Danah pratigrahah. This is brahmana's business. Pathana pathana yajana yajana. And ksatriya, they will be governor of certain villages or little extended, and they will give protection. Ksatriya means giving protection. If somebody is coming outside to attack you, the ksatriya kings will immediately come out and with sword they will give you protection. And because the ksatriya gives you protection, therefore you give him some tax. Unless the governor or the government does not give you protection, they have no place to tax. That is not. That is illegal. Therefore ksatriya can levy tax because he gives protection. And a brahmana, he elevates the society to spiritual standard. Then simply protection and advancing in spiritual life will not do. We must have food also. So that is vaisya's business. Krsi-goraksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhava-jam [Bg 18.44]. The vaisyas should produce food. Annad bhavanti bhutani [Bg. 3.14]. Unless people eat, how they will live? Simply becoming king for levying tax and simply becoming brahmana to teach how to worship, but if you have no food, then what you will do? There must be arrangement for food. That is entrusted to the vaisyas. In this way this is classification. Not by birth one becomes brahmana, and working less than a sudra, and he is still brahmana. This is nonsense. One must be Guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. The society is divided. According to the quality, he is working accordingly.

So this is the Vedic society. Now it is all lost. But if you revive it, people will be happy, if you can revive it. There is no difficulty. But unfortunately, in this age everyone has become sudra, so it is little difficult to raise them again. But if everyone is engaged in chanting Hare Krsna mantra, then everything is possible. Without chanting Hare Krsna mantra they are all fallen. Artificially you cannot raise them to the standard of living. That is not possible. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. They must be cleansed of the dirty things within the heart, and then it will. That is the instruction we are going... This man is falling down, and how he will be elevated by chanting the holy name of Narayana. That is the narration we are going to have. Now, how he is fallen down, now, that is now being described. And how he'll be raised, that will be also described.

So now it is falling down. His business... He has got family, wife, children, and he requires money because the economic development, economic impetus, begins from this family affection. It is fact. Nobody would earn money. Therefore, if one is not married, he does not like to earn money. This is natural. And if he has got family, wife and children, then he will try to earn money. So this man is a rogue, he is sinful, but because still he has got children and wife, therefore he has to earn money. But because he is sinful, he cannot earn money honestly. Yatas tatas ca upaninye. Yena tena prakarena: "Bring money. Somehow or other, bring money." Yatas tatas ca upaninye nyayatah anyayatah. Nyayatah means legally, lawfully. Nyaya means law. Anyayatah, "without legal..." Just like we can earn money by stealing, but that is anyayatah. You cannot touch others' property. Tena tyaktena bhunjithah ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam [Iso mantra 1]. This is Vedic instruction. Whatever you are allotted you can "A brahmana, you can earn like this. A ksatriya, you can earn like this. A vaisya, you can earn like this." But don't encroach upon others' property. But he became sinful, yena tena prakarena. Nyayatah anyayatah. Nyayatah is finished because he was a brahmana. No more he is brahmana. So anyayatah, simply unlawfully. Anyaya. Why? Babhara, maintaining, asyah kutumbinyah, the family members, wife and children. Kutumbam manda-dhir ayam. Manda-dhih. Manda means very bad, very bad intelligence. In this way he began to earn his money and gradually he degraded and that will be described, how he became degraded.

So beginning, his degradation, is the association. He was a brahmana, but by chance he became associated with a prostitute. So this association is very, very important. By association... Sangat sanjayate kamah. If you associate with good association, then you become good. And if you associate with bad association, then you become bad. Therefore we are establishing Krsna conscious society. A Krsna conscious man cannot be bad. Therefore, if people are given chance to associate with this society, automatically he'll become good. Otherwise there is no need of opening so many centers all over the world. But the idea is that to give the chance of good association. Therefore, those who are members of this society, they should be ideal. Simply by their association people will become good, very good responsibility. And if they become bad themselves, there is no possibility because we are giving instruction. We are behaving like that. Still, one becomes bad -- oh, that is very great misfortune. Therefore all our members, the members of the Krsna consciousness society, should be ideal. At least people may see that "Here is a class of men -- ideal character, ideal behavior, spiritual advanced, and very frugal and very nice." That is... Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah [SB 5.18.12]. That is natural. If one becomes a devotee... That is the certificate, that how one has achieved good qualities. That is the test of becoming a devotee. Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah. A devotee means he has, what is called, awakened all the good qualities. The good qualities are there. Because we are part and parcel of God, there is no bad quality in our constitutional position. We are godly. We may be small, but the same quality. So there cannot be originally. Asango 'yam purusah. This is Vedic instruction. A living entity means spiritually part and parcel of God. There cannot be any bad quality. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan [Bg. 10.12]. Arjuna said to Krsna that pavitram paramam bhavan: "You are the most pure." So how His part and parcel can be impure? Gold may be a small particle, gold, but it is gold. It cannot be otherwise. Similarly, we, being Mamaivamsah. Krsna says that "They are My living beings. They are My part and parcel." So there cannot be any bad thing. The bad thing is because we have accepted this material body.

So in order to come back to our original position -- completely good, no bad thing -- we must come to Krsna consciousness. Otherwise we are gone; we are condemned. This is the purpose of Krsna consciousness movement, to bring him again to the platform of complete goodness.

Thank you very much. (end)

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.66 -- Vrndavana, September 2, 1975

HOME

© 2001 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.