Occupational Duty Of The Soul
Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20.106
New York, July 12, 1976 download flash player 
Pradyumna: (chants verse, etc.) "Translation: Those who are anxious to awaken their spiritual consciousness, who have unflinching intelligence and who are not deviated, certainly attain the desired goal."
Prabhupada: acirad eva sarvarthah sidhyaty esam abhipsitah sad-dharmasyavabodhaya yesam nirbandhini matih [Cc. Madhya 20.106] So here the most important word is sad-dharma. Dharma... In the English dictionary dharma is described as a kind of faith, but here it is said, sad-dharma. Sad-dharma. Sat means which exists, which never diminishes. In the Vedic knowledge we get information, asato ma sad gama: "Don't remain in the nonexistentional platform." Sad-gama: "Go to the platform of eternal life." That we can understand, what is sat and what is asat. Sat, cit, ananda. Sac-cid-ananda. We describe Krsna, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. So that is sat. Sat means eternal. And so according to reference with sat and asat, there are two kinds of dharma. I... Several places in my books I have described, dharma means occupational duty, occupational duty. So if we are on the platform of asad-dharma, just like on the conception of this body... This is asad-dharma. Everyone knows the body will not exist; therefore it is asat. So any dharma or any occupational duty with reference to this nonpermanent body, that is asad-dharma. Asad-dharma. Whatever our occupational duties are now going on in this big city of New York... What is their occupational duty? The duty... Everyone is going to the office early in the morning. They have got... Everyone has got duty, but that duty -- asad-dharma. Body will not exist; therefore anything done on account of the body, that is asad-dharma. That is not real dharma. Real dharma is when you come to the platform of sat. That sat we have to understand, what is sat and what is asat. Asat, nonpermanent. Everyone we know that this body is not permanent. And sat? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. You have to learn it. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. The body is asat, it will be destroyed, but the soul, which will never be destroyed... Nityah sasvato 'yam na hanyate... Na hanyate hanyamane sari... [Bg. 2.20]. Na jayate mriyate va kadacit. That soul is never born, never dies, kadacit, at any time. Not that sometimes it dies and sometimes... No. Any time, kadacit. So this sad-dharma means the occupational duty of the soul. That is sad-dharma. And except that duty, whatever we are doing, that is asad-dharma; it will not stay. Now I have got this body, Indian body or Christian body or American body. But this, everything, this conception of Christianity or Indian nationality or American nationality -- everything will be finished with this body. Everything will be finished. Therefore all our engagements in this connection, they are all asad-dharma. It is very difficult. We are all engaged in occupational duties, all asad-dharma. But the Vedic injunction is asato ma sad gama: "Don't remain in this asat platform. Come to the sat platform." And the same thing is described here, sad-dharmasyavabodhaya. So the human life begins when we can distinguish between sat and asat. If we remain in darkness without understanding what is sat and asat, then we are no better than dogs and cats. So the modern civilization, not only... Nowadays very big problem. People are very much attached to asad-dharma. They are not... Because they are so dull-headed, they cannot understand what is sat and what is asat. They cannot understand, dull-headed. Therefore brain requires to be clarified. The two words are used in the sastra, alpa-medhasah and sumedhasah. Medha means brain substance. So those who have got brain substance, they are called sumedhasah, and those who have no brain substance, filled up with cow dung, they are called alpa-medhasah. So this distinction I made in Chicago. It made a very great agitation because I discriminated that men are found to have more brain substance than the woman. So there was a great agitation. But this is fact psychologically, that brain substance in man is greater than the brain substance in woman. In the Bhagavad-gita also, striyo vaisyas tatha sudrah [Bg. 9.32]. But in spiritual understanding there is no such distinction because sad-dharma, spiritual understanding, has nothing to do with this body. The brain substance, more or less, is in connection with this body, but the sat, the spirit soul, it has nothing to do with the body. So long it has to do something with the body, that is called maya. He's sat, but he is absorbed in the thought of asat. That is called maya, what he is not. He is absorbed in thoughts of the bodily comforts of life. That is asad-dharma. The karmis, jnanis, yogis, they are all asad-dharmi because there is reference to the body. Karmi, in gross ignorance he knows that "Everything is this body, so let me enjoy bodily comforts, sense enjoyment, as far as possible." Not only in this life, next life... Even if he believes in the next life, but still, he's after these bodily comforts. "I shall be promoted in the higher planetary system. I shall go to moon planet, I shall go to the Mars planet," and so on, so on. These are karmis' plan. Anything within this material world, that is all asat. So the karmis are too much attached with the asad-dharma, total, cent percent. And the jnanis, they are little intelligent, that... Jnani means "I have tried so much to be happy with the bodily comforts, but it has not become possible." Then he tries to understand "Whether I am this body or something else?" That is Vedic injunction, aham brahmasmi. When he is actually liberated he understands that "I am not this body." So he tries to get rid of this bodily conception of life, but because he has no information of the ultimate goal of life, he thinks that "If I merge with the Supreme, then my life is successful." But that is also asad-dharma, because this impersonal understanding will not help him because he is person. Every one of us, we are person. We cannot stay on the impersonal platform. That is not possible. Artificially if we try to stay on the impersonal platform, it will not stay. Then we shall fall down again. Just like this moon excursion or the Mars. They do not get actually shelter there; therefore they fall down again, come here. With some stone and sand, they are satisfied. Because they did not get any shelter, they fall down. So sastra therefore forbids or gives warning, aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adhah [SB 10.2.32]. The same example. With great endeavor, with much expenditure you may go eighty thousand miles per hour, but unless you get shelter, you have to again come back to this, either in America or Russia. They tried, but they could not get shelter. Similarly, the one may understand that he is spirit soul and he may try his best to merge into the spiritual effulgence, Brahman -- aham brahmasmi, "I shall remain in Brahman" -- but because he is person, the impersonalism condition will not be helpful to him, and because he has no personal view of the supreme spirit -- he cannot surrender to Krsna -- naturally he again comes back to this material world and surrenders to the material subject matter. Sometimes he is engaged in philanthropic work or altruistic work. He thought, "This is the best service. instead of serving myself, let me serve the whole humanity, whole community, whole nation," so on, so on, so on. But they are all asad-dharma. They are not sad-dharma. So when one is actually in sad-dharma or he is hankering after sad-dharma, then Krsna helps him. Krsna helps him. That we get information from Srimad-Bhagavatam. Because Krsna is situated in everyone's heart, so Krsna gives him opportunity. Buddhi-yogam dadami. tesam evanukampartham aham ajnana-jam tamah nasayamy atma-bhava-stho jnana-dipena bhasvata [Bg. 10.11] Krsna gives him real knowledge. Therefore guru-krsna krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. So he becomes more and more inquisitive to understand what is sad-dharma. So sad-dharmasyavabodhaya. If one is actually serious, nirbandhini matih... Nirbandhini matih means with firm conviction that "In this life I shall be fully Krsna conscious, I shall understand fully Krsna." In this way if we have got firm determination, then Krsna will help. That is, Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, sidhyaty esam abhipsitah. If one is actually eager to understand his position and his goal of life, then Krsna will help. We require determination. That is wanted. Laulyam ekam mulyam. Laulyam, to advance in spiritual consciousness or Krsna consciousness, the value is only strong eagerness, laulyam, that "I must finish this business in this life, to understand Krsna." There are many sastric references. Buddhi-yogam dadami tam yena mam upayanti te. Simply we should be very seriously eager. Then very soon, acirad eva sidhyaty abhipsitah, immediately... If not immediately... We should patiently. Simply we should be very, very eager. Tatra laulyam ekam mulyam. Laulyam means very greediness or... We can say, "How I shall approach Krsna?" This greediness required, not greediness for sense gratification. Then we shall be implicated more and more. The greediness... Greediness is very good. Kamam krsna-karmarpane. Strong desire, that is called lust. So, but this strong desire... Just like gopis. The gopis, they were village girls. They had no understanding of what is God, what is Krsna. But they became very much lusty for Krsna, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended that ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhubir ya kalpita: "There is no better type of worship than what was conceived by the gopis." Their strong desire, "How we shall get Krsna?" that was their day and night thought. That's all. Somebody is thinking in some way... The central point was Krsna. I have already explained that, that Krsna was going to the pasturing ground, and the gopis at home, they were thinking that "Krsna's foot is so soft and so delicate," and that "We dare not to take His feet on our breast, but He is now walking in the fields, pasturing ground, naked without any... And the stones pricking. How much He is feeling pain." Thinking this, they became fainted. This is Krsna consciousness. So therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended ramya kacid upasana. These gopis, they were not supposed to be educated. Village girls -- who is giving them education? They are not Ph.D.'s. But still, strong desire for Krsna. And that is called yesam nirbandhini matih. Nirbandhini, strong desire. It doesn't require any other price to become advanced in..., simply to become very strongly eager, laulyam. Then life is successful. Thank you very much. (end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.106 -- New York, July 12, 1976
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