Material world is full of duhkha
Venue: Los Angeles, USA
Dated: July 3rd 2004
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

Reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam canto 3, chapter 29, text number 3.

virago yena puruso
bhagavan sarvato bhavet
acaksva jiva-lokasya
vividha mama samsrtih

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 samsrtih  is very important. Sreyah-srti means the prosperous path of advancement towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and samsrti 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.

virago yena puruso
bhagavan sarvato bhavet
acaksva jiva-lokasya
vividha mama samsrtih

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.

Nice verse, all the verses are nice. Everything nice only is part of Bhagavatam. Devahuti is addressing her son, she doesn’t say my dear son tata or, she is addressing Him as Bhagavan, this word Bhagavan is addressed in this statement. Which doesn’t come in the beginning of this sentence could be anywhere. It is not Bhagavaan, Bhagavaan is Bhagavan, but when you want to address Bhagavaan you say Bhagavan that’s the difference. The bhavaan and bhavan some words like that. So someone said Bhagavaan, she thought it was not written correctly. But it is correct Bhagavan 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.

Mama and jiva-lokasya, something that is good for myself and all the living entities. Samsritih everyone is under going through a repetition of birth and death. So that is mama samsrtih or jiva-lokasya samsrtih, my suffering and suffering of all the living entities this samsrti going round and round and vividha, varieties many form its related birth and death and then related or in between birth and death there are varieties of kinds of sufferings vividha.

I would like to know have one could develop detachment – virag. Virag from this samsrti detach from this samsriti. yena purusa again r for all the purushas, purush here is not Supreme Personality of Godhead. We are human being condition souls, purushah trying to enjoy. Purusha means enjoyer. So human beings are also addressed here as purusha because that’s the position they take in this world purusha-enjoyer. They forget that they are prakrities and they take the position of purusha so they are yena purusha, viragah.

So that all the condition souls develop virag not rag, rag-virag. rag means attachment virag means just opposite of rag is virag. Sarvato bhavet, and this detachment of everybody under all circumstances. Sarvato Sarvatra and sarvato, everywhere and for everyone. So that is the enquiry by Devahuti. Srila Prabhupada is pointing out samsrti. So Srila Prabhupada, Sreyah-srti, Sreya means that is something beneficial for the welfare of the person that is called Sreya, sreyah-srti.

na ca sreyo ‘nupasyami hatva sva-janam ahave (BG 1.31)

Arjun says that in first chapter of Bhagavat-gita, ‘Oh! I don’t see any good coming out of this hatva I kill svajanam, my own people ahave in this battle. I don’t see any sreyah, sreyo na anupasyami, na anupasyami I do not see any good coming out of this. Some preyas may come out of this, sreyas and preyas we talk of this sreyas and preyas. Maybe something sreyas oh Lord maybe I am talking that I will get the kingdom I will get some immediate benefits maybe there some sreyas maybe there but I don’t see any sreyas in this.

Everybody is into what? Into preyas. Just do it, the latest mantra around the world. Meaning don’t even think just go for it. You feel good ok if you feel good then just do it. So as soon as you begin thinking like Arjun is thinking he wants to think. He is a member of a civilised society. She 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. And then what happens later on no one wants to think about it. So these are the two paths. So samsrti has been mentioned in here and Srila Prabhupada is mentioning Sreyah-srti, She would like to know by hearing such calamities that samsrti, we may become detached from this activities of this material world. And then Kapil dev is going to talk of the samsrti, the suffering of birth and death especially the suffering of the condition soul within the womb of the mother it is to follow. Just go on hearing and one day you will get there soon one of these days you will get there its coming. And it’s real scary if you really read that chapter you will just be by yourself and read through the explanation what the living entity is going through in the womb of the mother. The hairs would stand on end. Upon the request acaksva-please explain please describe the samsrti.

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 present 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 jatare sayanam
iha samsaare khalu dusthare krupayaa pare pahi murare

This is a prayer Shankaracharya considered it very intelligent prayer. And he is approaching Murari, o Murari oh Lord, you are killer of the Mura demon he was such a powerful demon and you killed him you are known as Murari. What about killing, kill my birth, kill my death, kill my disease otherwise no what good is your name Murari. You are known as Murari so please kill.

punarapi jananam punarapi maranam punarapi janani jatare sayanam

Janani the mother jatare in the womb sayanam sleeping. The germs and worms do they allow you to sleep in there? No. Is there light,? No night lamp there. So only darkness, you can’t even stretch your hands and legs like a little rainbow. And so many descriptions are there.

janani jatare sayanam iha samsaare khalu dusthare

This samsara is very very difficult, oh murari kripaya, kindly do something help me out of this. Very intelligent prayer. We don’t even know what to pray for, these acharays are teaching us how to pray and 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 you like He is proprietor. But all that she is asking is 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.

shunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me

Without Govind there is nothing. Shunyayitam shunya means zero. The universe is also round right? Universe is Brahmanda, egg like shape, round. So it is like a shunya. You make a sign of zero and sign of universe they are both round. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said this whole universe is like a big zero. Shunyayitam whole universe is filled with so many many things, it is just shunya. Just zero just empty there is nothing. Where is Govinda?

Shunyayitam jagat sarvam govind virahena me

So that is the point of Devahuti. Please explain the samsrtih, drill 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 we’ll develop virag. We will develop detachment and we will go for the devotional service which she has asked for in previous two verses.

Verse number 1 and 2 she is interested in devotional service. So how does one get to the devotional service? First comes the detachment. First thing first and then you go for devotional service. Of course you can start devotional service from day one you come to Hare Krishna, we are full of attachment but we chant

“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

Not that you become completely free and detached and then you touch the bead bag and chant Hare Krishna. This devotional service is so powerful that it is the beginning and the end, whole. The means and the goals same time. Sometimes the detachment is means and then Bhakti is the goal. And jnana is means and bhakti is a goal, bhakti is a complete thing. So this is lesson number one that everyone needs to learn in this material world. This is not a place for enjoyment. This is not a place for enjoyment; ok you could enjoy but be ready to suffer.

You are welcome to the club, you could 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 just not 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
dvandva, dvandva – two.

Dvandvatitovimatsarah, that’s the goal. Dvandva tito, you go beyond these two things, everything has a counterpart man, and woman, black and? And like this there is a big big list, is entrap has a big big list you think we are exhausted? Nothing more can be said? And on that list is a happiness and distress. You are locals, foreigner this is a day time and soon there will be night. Theist – atheist like that goes on and on on.

So there is so much duality here. Two things you can’t just get one. So juts be ready for the other one also. It was Buddha dev Lord Buddha, his father would never let his children or son Siddharth his prior earlier name was Siddharth, he wouldn’t let Siddharth the young prince to go away form the palace always within the compound of the palace. He was growing and he was young man already and father would not let him go.

Because father’s idea was if my son steps outside the palace compound or takes a little tour and goes around he will come across some of suffering he will see suffering and he did not want his son to know that suffering exist. But the son was very very anxious Siddharth was anxious and then father said ok here is the chariot and charioteer and take a look. Have samsara darshan. So he went on the tour of samsara darshan.

Seeing looking at the world and he comes across, someone is trying to cross the road oh! Help hep help help. And he had not only two legs but Siddharth thought he was having third leg, he had a stick, so what you call stick, walking stick, cane. He had a cane bigger one and he was not straight but little bend down, like a rainbow. He was rainbow in the womb and again he is getting ready. He under some rehearsal, before you go into the womb you had to you can’t even stand straight or sleep straight you have to be in that form right little bend one. So towards the end of this life again bending is done so that it becomes little easier in the womb yeah so some rehearsal or some practice for previous some experience is there you being bend.

So why is this person not standing straight was Siddharth’s question. Oh he can’t he is old man now so he has a third leg. Why is he struggling? oh he cannot see he is asking for help. Person falls down he is getting up trying to cross the road such a struggle just to go 15 feet across. He is struggling he is old man the charioteer is explaining that Siddharth had no experience of this before. Oh what do you mean old man? Does everyone become old? Of course. And what about me? No problem surely so journey continues chuk chuk chuk chuk chariot goes.

And then he sees someone on footpath and he has leprosy and the flies all around, he is suffering like anything. Oh what is wrong with this one? He is sick he is diseased. Does everyone gets sick and diseased? Sure and what about me? Sure no problem. And journey continues the horses are going. And then they see a procession there. Everyone is walking but one person is having nice time. He is lying flat on a stretcher kind of situation and four persons are carrying him. They are singing, rama nama sat hai, rama nama sat hai Now they are remembering the name of Lord is reality name of Rama is the truth. Person is at the cremation this person is being taken to the cremation ground. Oh! Why is everyone else walking and why is that person not walking? Enquiry made by Siddharth. He cannot walk he is dead. So where are they taking him? To the cremation ground. And 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 one the list.

So that was it the Siddharth 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 nigh. What he had experienced during this samsara darsana tour that was on his mind. Oh! one day I am going to be old, one day I will also be sick not just once but again and again and one day they will be carrying me like that and I will not come back to the palace. So I want some way out of this. I want to end all this. So in the middle of the night he took off. Goes to Gaya sits under a tree and he is meditating. Result was enlightenment he becomes enlightened he is Buddha. Buddha comes from buddhi the intelligence. So he becomes enlightened because of this virag, virag mentioned here and he saw the suffering all around and he wanted to find solution to this problem. No patch up work some permanent solution. And that has been taught by yet another incarnation of the Lord that’s Buddha dev. That part is the virag part.

So Devahuti is interested in knowing please explain for my benefit and for everyone’s benefit this samsrtih, so much suffering is here. And by hearing this she is expecting that there will be, yena purusho virago, all the conditioned souls would become t detachment. They will give up this idea of trying to enjoy. So Krishna in Bhagvat- gita also,

“ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga duhkha-yonaya eva te
ady-antavantah kaunteya na tesu ramate budhah” (BG 5.22)

An intelligent person will not indulge in something which has beginning and end. Ady-antavat infact this verse is also defining who is intelligent person? Which country is intelligent country? Or intelligent society. This is how you define, judge and come to conclusion, is this country ? is this individual? is this society intelligent one?

So Krishna says ady-antavantah na tesu ramate

One who doesn’t go for this business, adi-anta, beginning and end. Tesuna ramate budhah, budha the intelligent person does not go for something which has beginning and coming to an end. And there is always beginning and end to the ‘ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga’. Materials advancement and civilisation is all about ‘ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga’ our senses are brought in contact with sense objects. So samsparsa-ja contact of our senses with sense objects and nice contact samsparsa and Krishna says samsparsa-ja – this contact senses coming in the contact of sense object gives birth to ja means birth janma, samsparsa- ja it gives birth to what? Bhoga, the enjoyment.

When the sense is coming in contact with sense object that is bhoga. But Krishna of course is the most intelligent personality He says, duhkha-yonaya eva te Something that becomes the cause of your enjoyment, that gained you happiness that exact thing will become cause of your duhkha. Bhoga that is enjoyment duhkha that is suffering. Yoni means source yoni, yonaya many causes. But corresponding though something that gave you suffering, this is what Krishna’s point is, something that gave you bhoga that will turn into roga, disease or suffering.

‘ye hi samsparsa-ja bhoga duhkha-yonaya eva te’

Then He concludes ady-antavantah this beginning and end, na tesu ramate budhah, the intelligent person will not go for this. So this so called modern civilisation is total failure in understanding this simple point. That something which 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 bhakti yoga please explain bhakti yoga? So one transcends goes beyond this happiness and distress, birth and death and all that. So this is the Krishna Consciousness those who have not understood this Krishna Conscious principle, God conscious principle they are in ignorance and they will suffer.

And Srila Prabhupada was fully aware of this samsrtih, he had also seen the naked face of this material existence he had full realisation. So being in Vrndavan he was only thinking, people are suffering people are suffering all over so he couldn’t just sit back and relax and enjoy being on the bank of Jamuna. He leaves Vrndavan goes straight to the capital of this age of Kali the New York. And showers few bombs there of

‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare’

And hands out some invitations and he is conducting his twice a week discourses and he is inviting them please come take part. And he is explaining what Devahuti is interested in and for jiva loka for everyone’s benefit. So Srila Prabhupada explained this science of bhakti yoga. And he wanted many more to join him in this endeavour, 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 were attached. Then he comes to the West to America. We also wanted to probably join Prabhupada but our parents wouldn’t let us do so, biggest stumbling block in India to join were the parents. When I joined my mother was going to give up her life. I received a telegram.

But as he came over to the West the children here that was culture good luck they didn’t had to consult their parents. They were on their own but they had gone, they had come to some extent this virag some detachment. Cause of suffering is people around in this country, hell with this hell with that looking for some alternatives of course they found drug as the alternative. The drugs were bringing them higher and lower and higher and lower. Then Prabhupada said ok I have a drug that only keeps you higher you stay high forever you like that? Again, dvandva is
there duality, they wish to stay high but be prepared to go low. You go high you go low you go higher you go lower you go highest and you go lowest and no more going up then you stay there stay low.

Prabhupada said I have a drug you can stay high forever. There are so many joined and then everything started and that was all going on in New York only. Then there were invitations from the West-coast. First flight Prabhupada took was from New York to San Francisco that was first flight of his life flying in an aeroplane he had not flown before. And that’s when he was seeing out of his window and all the building looked like match boxes one on top of the other. When he got down he saw matchbox. Then gradually things expanded so Montreal was the third New York San Francisco Montreal, Montreal was the third. Where does Los Angeles fit in? It was fourth in the row.

Prabhupada makes this as his western headquarters. Los Angeles as his Western headquarter for his international society for Krishna consciousness. Spends months years setting standards training his followers aspiring them to go all over US and starting more centres. And then three grihasthas were chosen to go to Europe, to London.

Grihastha Prabhupada says what the gaudiya sanyasis couldn’t do my grihastha disciples will do now. He was proud of his grihastha disciples so they did it.

So London, Europe was opened up and then gradually other places and via Japan he had come to Kolkata in late 70’s. He had gone one time in middle he was not well and but as soon as he was better he returned but

everyone was thinking this is it Prabhupada won’t return. That was his
67 th year, so he went in 67 then he went in 70 end of 70’s.