Lokanath Maharaj on sufferings of material world
Lecture By: H.H Lokanath Swami
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.03
virago yena puruso
bhagavan sarvato bhavet
acaksva jiva-lokasya
vividha mama samsritih
Synonyms:
viragah — detached; yena — by which; puruso — a person; bhagavan — my dear Lord; sarvatah? — completely; bhavet — may become; acaksva — please describe; jiva-lokasya — for the people in general; vividhah? — manifold; mama — for myself; samsritih— repetition of birth and death.
Translation:
Devahuti continued: My dear Lord, please also describe in detail, both for me and for people in general, the continual process of birth and death, for by hearing of such calamities we may become detached from the activities of this material world.
Purport:
In this verse, the word samsritih is very important. Sreya-sriti means the prosperous path of advancement towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and samsritih means the continued journey on the path of birth and death towards the darkest region of material existence.
People who have no knowledge of this material world, God and their actual intimate relationship with Him are actually going to the darkest region of material existence in the name of progress in the material advancement of civilization. To enter the darkest region of material existence means to enter into a species of life other than the human species. Ignorant men do not know that after this life they are completely under the grip of material nature and will be offered a life which may not be very congenial. How a living entity gets different kinds of bodies will be explained in the next chapter. This continual change of bodies in birth and death is called samsara. Devahuti requests her glorious son, Kapila Muni, to explain about this continued journey to impress upon the conditioned souls that they are undergoing a path of degradation by not understanding the path of bhakti-yoga, devotional service.
Shloka recited again….
Translation again….
“Devahuti continues, my dear lord, please also describe in detail both for me and for people in general, the continual process of birth and death, for by hearing such calamities we may become detached from the activities of this material world.” Nice verse, all the verses are nice. Everything nice only is part of Bhagvatam.
Devahuti is addressing her son, she doesn’t say, my dear son, Tatahar. She is addressing him as bhagwan, word bhagwan is addressed in this statement, which doesn’t come in the beginning of sentence, it could be anywhere, it is not bhagwaan, bhagwaan, bhagwaan is bhagwaan, but when you want to address bhagwan, you say bhagwan, there is a difference, bhavaan, bhavan, some verse like that, someone said bhagwaan, she thought it was not written correctly.
Its correct, bhagwan is oh! My dear Lord. She is interested, not selfish, you could see, she wants to know what is good, not just for herself but also good for everybody Mamah and jivalokashya, something that is good for myself and all the living entities. Sanshriti, everybody, is undergoing the repetition of birth and death, that is, mam-sanshriti or jiva-lokshya sanshriti, my suffering and suffering of all the living entities, the sanshriti, going round and round, and vividaha, varieties, manifold, related birth and death and then related, in between birth and death, there are varieties of kinds of sufferings, vividah, I would like to know how one could develop detachment, viragaah, virag from the sanshriti, distance from the sanshriti, detachment from the sanshriti, yen pursho, again repeated, for all the purashas, purush here not is the supreme personality of Godhead, but a human being, conditioned souls, purushah, tend to enjoy, purushah means enjoyer, so human beings are also addressed as purushah because the position they have taken in this world, purushah, enjoyer, they forget that they are prakartis, so they have taken the position of purushah, so they are purushah, yen purushah viraagah, so that all the conditioned soul have developed viraag, not raag, raag, viraag, raag means attachment, viraag is the opposite of raag, is viraag, sarvato bhavate and this detachment of everybody under all circumstances, sarvato, sarvatra and sarvato, everywhere and for everyone, so that is the enquiry by Devahuti, Srila Prabhupad is pointing out, sanshriti, so Prabhupad, shreyashriti, shreyam is something that is beneficial for the welfare of person then there is called, shreya, shreyashritih,
Nashreya Anupasyami Hatva svajanahame
Arjun says that in the first chapter of Bhagvad Gita, oh, I don’t see any good coming out of this hatva, I kill svajanam, my own people, Aahave, in this battle, I do not see any, shreyah, shreyah na anupaschami, I do not see any good coming out of this, so preyas coming out of this, shreyas and preyas, shreyas and preyas, when we talk of this, may be something shreyas or Lord, you may be talking, I will get the kingdom, I will get some immediate benefits, may be there, some shreyas may be there, no preyas may be there, but I don’t see any shreyas in this, everyone is into what, into preyas, just do it, just do it, latest mantra around the world, meaning don’t even think, just go for it, you feel good, OK, if you feel good, do it, just do it.
As soon as you begin thinking like Arjun is thinking, he wants to think, he is a member of civilized society, he wants to think in long terms, not what I get now, and that’s all that I care about, what I get out of this now, then what happens later on, no one wants to think about it, so these are the two paths, so sanshriti has been mentioned in here, and Srila Prabhupad is mentioning, preyas, preyas-shruti now, shreyas, now confusing, shreyas-shruti, preyas and shreyas. Krishna also, so many things like this. Yes he would like to know, by hearing such calamities, sanshriti, then we may become detached from the activities of this material world and then Kapil Dev is going to talk of the sanshriti, the suffering of birth and death, specially the suffering of the conditioned soul within the womb of mother, it is to follow, just go on hearing and one day, he will get there soon, one of these days, you get there soon, it is coming and it is really scary, really, read that chapter, just be by yourself and read through that explanation, what the living entity is going through in the womb of mother, to the rays, hair would stand on end and you will be really scared and you may be thinking, is there some way out, some way, I don’t want to be in there, so upon the request, Achaksavah, please explain, please describe, the sanshritih, and Kapil Dev, is really, the naked face of the material existence, no sugaring of the pill, the pill as it is, without sugar, the pill as it is presented in the next chapter, what living entity has to go through the suffering, in the womb of the mother.
Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam Punarapi Janani Jhathare shayanam, iha samsare khalu dustare kripaya pahi pare murare
Is the prayer of shankara-acarya, infact, considered very intelligent prayer, saying and he is approaching Murari for that, O Murari, O Lord, you are the killer of Mura daemon, he was such a powerful daemon, and you killed him, you are known as Murari, but what about killing, what, kill my birth, kill my death, kill my old age, kill my disease. Otherwise, you know what good is your name is Murari, you are known as Murari, so please kill Punarpi jananam…………….shyanam.
Janani, the mother, jhathare, in the womb, shyanam, sleeping, the germs and worms, do they allow you to sleep there, no, is there light there? No, there is no lamp, night lamp, its only darkness. You can’t even stretch your hands and legs, like a little rainbow and so many descriptions are there.
Janani Jhatatre shayanam, iha samsare khalu dustare
This sansar is very very difficult situation, oh Murari, kripya, kindly do something, help me out of this, very intelligent prayer, we don’t even know what to pray for, so these acaryas are teaching, how to pray, what to pray for, Devahuti is teaching us what to ask for, so Lord is right there, he could give her the whole universe, anything, anything you like, he is the proprietor but all that she is asking, get me out of here, don’t give me anything from this world, I just want to be out of this world, see the difference.
Shunya itam jagat sarvam govind virahename
Without Govind, there is nothing, shunyaitam, shunya, big zero, the universe also is round, right, universe is brahamand, egg like shape round, so it is like shunya, you make sign of zero and sign of the universe, they are both round, Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, this whole universe is like a big zero, shunyaitam, whole universe although filled with so many-many things, it is just shunya, just zero, just empty, there is nothing, where is Govinda, Shunya itam jagat sarvam govind virahename.
So that is the point of Devahuti, please explain the sanshriti, real this, get this into our head, we are sick headed, please get this in there, so that we understand once and for all, suffering that is there, so that will develop viraag, we will develop detachment and we will go for devotional service which she has asked for in previous two verses, verse no 1 and 2, she is interested in devotional service, so how does one get to the devotional service? First comes, the detachment, first things first and then you go for devotional service, of course, you can start the devotional service from day 1, you come to Hare Krishna, we are full of attachment, but we chant Hare Krishna, hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna hare hare, hare raam, hare raam, raam raam hare hare.
Not that you become completely free, detached, and then you touch the bead bag to chant Hare Krishna, devotional service is so powerful, it can, it’s a beginning and the whole, the means and the goal are at the same time. Sometimes, detachment is the means and bhakti is the goal, gyan is the means, and bhaklti is the goal, bhakti is a complete thing. So lesson number 1 is that everyone needs to learn in this material world, this is not the place for enjoyment, this is not the place for enjoyment, OK, you can enjoy, but be ready to suffer, you are welcome to the club, you can enjoy but just be ready to suffer and this is what no one wants to do. Everyone wants to only enjoy and not suffer, and that is not just possible in this world. You always get two things, two sides of a coin, you can’t have just one side of a coin, coin means two sides and this world means dvandava, dvandava means two, dvandavatito vimat sarah, that’s a goal, dvandaya atit, you go beyond these 2 things. Everything has a counterpart, men and women, black and….. there is a big list, infact there is a big list, you thought we are exhausted, nothing more can be said, and on that list is happiness and distress, you are locals, I am foreigner, there is a day time and soon there will be night time, sometimes, they are democrats, sometimes….. atheists, like that, goes on and on, there is so much duality here, two things, you cant have just one, just be ready for the other one also.
It was Budddha Dev, not Buddha, his father never let his children, his son, Siddhartha, his prior name, his earlier name was Siddhartha, he wouldn’t let young prince to go away from the palace, always within the compound of palace, he was growing, he was a young man already and his father would not let him go, father’s idea was if my son steps outside of the palace compound and take tour, go around, he will come across the sufferings, he will see the sufferings and he did not want him to know that sufferings exist but the son was very-very anxious, Siddhartha was anxious, and then father was like, take a chariot and take a look, have sansar-darshan, see you are on the tour of sansar-darshan, looking at the world and he comes across, someone is trying to cross the road, help help, help, and he had not only two legs, Siddhartha thought he had three legs, he had a stick, not stick, walking stick, cane, he had a cane, bigger one and he was not straight but bow down, like a rainbow, he was a rainbow in the womb, and he is again getting ready, being some rehearsal, before you go into the womb, where you had to, you can’t be even stand straight, or sleep straight, you have to be in that form, a bent one, so towards, the end of this life also, bending is done, so that it gets little easier in womb, some rehearsal, some practice from previous experience is there, so you are being bent, so why is this person was not standing straight was Siddhartha’s question, he is an old man, now, he has a third leg, and why he is struggling, so he can’t see, he is asking for help, person falls down, he is getting trying to cross the road, such a struggle just to go across a 15-feet road, he is struggling, he is an old man, charioteer is explaining, he is an old man, then Siddhartha has no experience of this before, what do you mean by old man? Does everyone becomes old? What about me? No problem. Does everyone becomes old, of course.
Surely, so journey continues, chuk-chuk-chuk…chariot goes and then he sees someone on the footpath, he has leprosy and flies all around, he is suffering like anything, whats wrong with this one, he is sick, he is diseased. Does everyone get sick and diseased? Sure, What about me? Sure, No problem and then journey continues, horses are going and then procession is there, everyone is walking but one person is having a nice time, he is just lying flat on a stretcher kind of situation and four persons are carrying him and they are also singing “Raam Naam satya hai”…”raam naam satya hai”..”raam naam satya hai”… Now they are remembering, the name of Lord is reality, name of Raam is thruth, person’s cremation, person is being taken to the cremation ground, why is that everyone else is walking, why is that person not walking? Enquiry made by Siddhartha, he can not walk, he is dead, so where are they taking him? To the cremation ground…what will they do? they will burn him, will he come back? No. Does this also happen to everybody? For sure. And to me. No problem. You are on the list, so that was it. So, Siddhartha said, I have seen the world enough, enough is enough, please take my chariot back to the palace. And that night, when everyone was fast asleep, he never slept that night, what he had experienced during this sansar-darshan tour, that was on his mind, one day I am going to be old, one day I will also be sick, not just once, but again and again, one day they will be carrying me like that and I will not come back in the palace like this, so I want some way out of this, I want to end all this, so in the middle of night, he took off, goes to Gaya, sits under a tree and he is meditating and the result was enlightenment, he becomes enlightened, means Buddha, Buddha, comes from Bodha, Buddhi, intelligence, so he becomes enlightened, because of this viragah, viragah mentioned here, he saw suffering all around, he wanted to find solution to this problem, no patch work, some permanent solution, and that he has been taught by at another incarnation of Lord as Buddha Dev at part, the viraag part, so Devahuti is interested in knowing, please explain, please explain, for my benefit and for everyone’s benefit, this sanshritih, so much suffering is here, and by hearing this, she is expecting this, hoping, expecting, that there will be
Yen pursho Viragaah.
All the conditioned souls would develop detachment, they will give up this idea of trying to enjoy, so Krishna in Bhagvad Gita also,
Yehi samsrparsha bhoga dukha yonaya eva te, adyanta vantaha kaunteya nateshu ramte buddha. The intelligent Buddha, intelligent person will not indulge in something that has beginning and the end, adi antavat, infact this verse is also defining the who is the intelligent person, or which country is the intelligent country or intelligent society, this is how you define, judge and define, come to conclusion, is this country, is this individual, is this society, intelligent one, so Krishna says,
Adi antavat nateshu ramte.
One who doesn’t go for this business, adi anta, beginning and end, teshu na ramte, Buddha, Buddha, the intelligent person does not go for something that has beginning and coming to an end, and there is always beginning and end to the Yehi Samsparja bhoga, that is all the western or material advancement or civilization is all about, Yehi Samsparja bhoga, our senses are brought in contact with the sense objects, Samsparja, sam means nice, there is always this word, Sam-kirtan, even, Sankhya, Sankhya, akhya means to speak, explain, Sankhya, sankhya philosophy means nicely explained, ethically explained, sankhya, so samsparja, contact, contact of our senses with sense objects, a nice contact, samsparja and Krishna says, samsparja, this contact, senses coming in contact with sense objects gives birth to , ja, ja means birth, janma, samsparja, this gives birth to what, that is bhoga, but Krishna of course, He is the most intelligent personality says “dukha yona evte” something that becomes a cause of your enjoyment ete, ete, this that, close connection, this is what we are not able to figure this out, in this age of Kali, we are into enjoyment, we are not able to make the simple connection that bhoga yena evte, dukha yon evta, something that gave you happiness, that exact thing will become the cause of your dukha, bhoga that’s enjoyment dukha that is suffering, yoni means source, yoni, yonaya, many causes, but something that gave you pleasure, will give you suffering, that Krsna’s point is, something that gave you bhoga that will turn into roga, disease, your suffering, Yehi samsrparsha bhoga dukha yonaya eva te, adyanta vantaha kaunteya nateshu ramte buddha
And then he concludes, adyanta vanta, this beginning & end, nateshu ramte budha. Intelligent person will not go for this, so this modern, so called modern civilization is a total failure in understanding this point, simple point, something that gives you happiness will give you suffering. Do you want suffering? No, then don’t go for bhoga. Don’t want suffering, don’t go for enjoyment. But if you want to enjoy, be prepared to suffer. So Krishna Consciousness, bhakti-yoga, that is what she is interested to know. What is this bhakti-yoga? Please explain this bhakti-yoga, so that one transcends. One goes beyond this happiness & distress, birth & death all that. So this is Krishna Consciousness. Those who have not understood this Krishna Consciousness principle, God conscious principle. They are in ignorance and they will suffer and Srila Prabhupada, he was fully aware of this sanshriti, here also seen the naked face of this material existence, have full realization, that full, so being in Vrindavan, he was also thinking, people are suffering, people are suffering all over, so he could not just sit back & relax and enjoy. Being on the bank of Jamuna, he leaves Vrindavan, goes straight to the capital of the age of Kali, New York and showers few bombs there of
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Mahamantra and hands out some invitation & conducting his twice a week discourses. He is inviting them, please come, take part and he is explaining, what Devahuti is interested in, for jiva-loka, for everyone’s benefit Srila Prabhupada explains this science of bhakti-yoga, and he wanted many more to join him in his endeavor.
In India, he was attempting to, increase, expand his numbers, those who had so many children, he would approach, give me one son, no one gave, all are attached, then he goes to the West, America, whenever he wanted to, we also probably wanted to join Srila Prabhupada, but our parents would not let us do so, biggest stumbling block in India to join are the parents. When I joined, my mother was ready to give up her body, to give up her life. I received a telegram, but he went over to the West, the children there, that wasn’t the culture, good luck, they don’t have to consult their parents, they are on their own and they had gone to some extent, come to this Vairagya, some detachment, they are drop outs, cause of the suffering is, people around this country, hell with this, hell with that, looking for some alternatives and of course, they found drug as their alternative. The drugs were bringing them higher & lower, higher & lower.
Then, Prabhupada said, Ok! I have a drug that only keeps you higher. Stay high forever! You like that again, drug is there, dvandya is there, duality is there. They wish to stay high, but be prepared to go low. Go high, you go low, you go higher, you go lower, you go highest, you go lowest. No more going up, then you stay there, stay low. Then Prabhupada said, I have a drug that would stay high forever, then so many joined and then everything started and that was going on in New York only. Then there were invitations from the West Coast, then San Francisco, invitation from Mukunda, Prabhupada took, first flight Prabhupada took was from New York to San Francisco, that was first flight of his life, flying in aeroplane. Not flown before, that is why when I saw out of the window, all the buildings were looking like match boxes, when I am at the top of other, then gradually things expanded, Montreal was the third, New York, San Francisco, Montreal was the third, where does Los Angeles fit in? Fourth, so that was fourth in the row. Prabhupada made this as his western head quarter.
Los Angeles was the western head quarter for his International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Spent months, years, setting standards, training his followers, inspiring them to go all over US and starting more centre’s and then 3 Grahsta’s were chosen to go to Europe, to London, grahastas and Srila Prabhuada says what Gaudiya Sannyasi’s could not do, my grahsthas disciples will do now. He was proud of his grahstha disciples, even all disciples, grahsthas also, so they did it. So London, Europe was opened and then gradually other places. Then via Japan, he had come to Calcutta in late 70s. He had gone one time in the mid of, he was not well and soon as he was better he returned. But everyone was thinking, that is it, Prabhupada was not going to return. That was his 67, so he went in 67, then he went in 70, end of 70’s. Then he started travelling, doing big-big pandal programs in all over India. So he already conquered America, Europe, some other parts and he was making a big impact, big impressions upon the Indians.
With his western follower with him, to his right side, left side, behind everywhere and then Krishna Consciousness, then he went to Russia in June of 71. I was there in 71, March, pandal program and Prabhupada’s visit of Russia was already scheduled and made a point, make announcement, I don’t remember, I read only letter on, make announcement that I will be going to Russia, thousands, 20 to 30 thousand people in audience and one of his disciple to inform that Bhaktivedanta Swami, next he is going to Moscow. Big names India, someone going to Russia, America, two big big name in the world and also in India. He had already been to America and now he was ready for Russia. He made announcement that in June he will be leaving for Moscow. So he had gone to Moscow in June of 71 and Africa he had gone.
Africa was somewhere, so Prabhupada has made this Krishna Consciousness available all over the planet and there is no other solution, no one knows what the world is going through, you know when you are in difficulty. The present day leaders, the Presidents, the Prime Ministers, they have no clue, how to get out of this, totally confused. They will make big big statements, but they will make only more mess and so far, you will make only plans to exploit & enjoy. You should know only more suffering is awaiting you, that’s all, that’s your vision to enjoy. Enjoy kingdom of God, without God. According to this verse of Prabhupada, you are wanting to enjoy kingdom of God, without God, suffering would be there, you wouldn’t succeed, you will not succeed. Also, we haven’t mentioned here as Purusha, the enjoyer. We cannot compete; there is only one enjoyer that is Krishna. He will prove it and he is proving, no, you cannot enjoy, Ok, try it, see the results, it will work out for few moments, few days, few years, then you will see the outcome.
So there is only one purusha, only one enjoyer and everyone else is meant for his enjoyment. This is the conclusion, this cannot be changed, not reversed, not compromised, nothing, this is it or leave it. Have it or leave it, what is it, love or leave it. So, Devahuti would like some explanation, please explain, vicakshra, so that we understand the sanshriti and we turn to the Lord, go for devotional service, go for alternative, and only, so Prabhupada last pandal program that we did, in 71 was in Bombay was the first one. I happened to the fortunate one, Radhanath Maharaj was also, Yadubara, 3 of us was in an audience, in 71 pandal. We never met each other in that pandal, we found out later on, all 3 of us were there. And last pandal was there in 77, Prabhupada did not go to Vrindavan, leg of the festival, it was there in the Mayapur and from there he went to on the invitation of Giriraj, a brahmachari, still a brahmachari and Prabhupada was not well, but he did the pandal program and he roared, the topic was “Material civilization is total failure, only alternative is Krsna Consciousness”.
This was the theme of his very last public program that he conducted. So, 30 years ago, he declared publicly that this material civilization is doomed, failure, only way out is Krishna Consciousness. So it is our duty to further, further this, get convinced and please share this realization, this knowledge, so this is where the “Jare dekho tare kaho Krishna updesha” comes into the picture. “Jare dekho tare kaho Krishna updesha”, so what is Krishna’s updesha, bhagvad gita is his updesh, his instructions, so distribute Gita.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also behind this book distribution, distribute the knowledge, share the knowledge. “Jare dekho tare kaho” so distribute Srila Prabhupada books, there is knowledge, so when we talk, we could give the books, take out every opportunity, every forum possible, go on television, do the karma is good, is good, very good, yes or no and go with your boot as the language, scientist understand the language of boot. Prabhupada said, I think, he was saying in Atlanta. It was, kick them and then he corrected and added my boot, kick them. So karma is that front is very successful. So the myth has to be, what is it, myth has to be exposed or smashed. So there is a myth here, there is bubble of illusion here. This is the task of International Society of Krishna Consciousness, most important institution in the world, on the planet. Prabhupada made this claim, here he said, please understand this institution, you will support, push on this institution. So we have a big responsibility. This is all we have Krishna, we have Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, so these are foundational days for Krishna Conscious movement, this is the future of the world, this is the future of this world. So Hare Krishna devotees are not confused or bewildered, that don’t know what is the way out. They could guide the entire human race. Prabhupada wants Brahmins, otherwise, otherwise he describes this society as the headless society. So what is the head, the Brahmin. One with knowledge is the head for society, so let us provides yogeshwara vani, where is lacking the society, we have to provide it, that is our role, brahmanical role, role of being exemplary and guiding, holding festivals, Rathyatra ki Jaya, big forum. Thousands of people come, thousands, so we have to understand, they want to hear philosophy, others we enter their heart, Krishna enter their heart through stomach, for those, enter stomach, heart is closer. He makes his way, heart can be conquered by prasadam, your tounge. So , a brahmachari, still a brahmachari and there is Krishna Con/strongstrongsciousness, such a beautiful, wonderful, sweet offering.
So, that there is no suffering,way out of suffering. Jai Advayta Maharaj gives shorter classes and leaves time for questions –answers you noticed. I do long classes and then no one wants to ask questions. Ok…..Thank you for… This is Srila Prabhupada’s 108th birth anniversary year also and I am starting from Janmashtmi Vyas puja, his 108th birth anniversary year, we are resolved to celebrate that, you remember 8 years ago was 100th Anniversary year, we did a good job, big job, centennial, we wish to do as many things, may be not everything, but as many things as possible to glorify Prabhupada and purify us. I said this is in San Diego and Badri Narayan Prabhu said it’s a nice mantra, nice sutra, Glorify Prabhupada, purify yourselves, satisfy supreme personality of Godhead, the glorification, purification, satisfaction, you glorify Prabhupada, become purified and Krishna is satisfied, nice sutra, this is how it works also, so let us take this opportunity to glorify Prabhupada, purify ourselves, many things different devotees can do, starting with big abhishek of Srila Prabhupada, Rukmani-Dwarkadheesh also, that’s the first item and then many more things to follow, big Mayapur festival, with lots of Prabhupada disciples and grand disciples, they are planning also, please remember, keep this in mind, spread the world around, Prabhupad family reunion in Mayapur, another big item, big marathon also, this year marathon, Is Vijay here? He was here, during centennial that was the biggest marathon of ISKCON’s history and he did it with some planning so, you are on the job. Ok, you are busy devotees and I like to talk…so..
Thank you for your time.
Jai Granthraj Srimad Bhagvatam ki Jai, Srila Prabhupada ki Jai, Rukamani Dwarkadheesh ki jai.
From audience: Lokanath Maharaj ki Jai.