A Life of Purity
A recorded lecture on Bhagavad-gītā 4.21
In Mumbai, India
On April 10, 1974
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Founder-Ācārya of the Worldwide Hare Kṛṣṇa Movement
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā
tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma
kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam
[Bhagavad-gītā 4.21]
TRANSLATION
Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.
BECOME A YOGI
This is required in human life. It is not forbidden to eat. That is not stated in the śāstra: Yāvad artha-vinirṇayam. To keep your health and body, and the body and the soul together, you must live very nicely so that you may not be diseased. Because this human form of life is meant for making progress so that all the problems of life may be solved. It is required. In another place (Bhagavad-gītā 6.17), yuktāhāra-vihārasya yogo bhavati siddhi-da. He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.
Our real purpose of life is to become yogi. To become a yogi means to reestablish our connection, our lost connection, with God. At the present moment, in our material condition, we have forgotten our relationship, our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God.
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 22.107]
The kṛṣṇa-bhakti, our love for Kṛṣṇa, is there eternally. But on account of our contamination with this material world, we have forgotten our relationship.
HAUNTED BY MĀYĀ
Just like a madman, he forgets his relationship with the family. He loiters in the street. He eats anywhere and everywhere and all rubbish things. Although he may have a very rich father, well-to-do family, but forgetting all that, he may loiter on the street. Madness means forgetfulness of his real life. So we are now forgetful of our real life. This has been also exemplified by a Vaiṣṇava poet,
piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya
māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya
[Prema-vivarta]
Piśācī. When a man is haunted by ghosts, he speaks all nonsense, he cannot recognize his father, mother or relative. Sometimes he even calls them by ill names on account of being ghostly haunted. Piśācī pāile.
Similarly, in the conditioned state, under the influence of māyā, we are also talking so many nonsense things, “I belong to this family, I belong to this nation, I belong to this community, my business is this,” simply forgetting Kṛṣṇa consciousness. All other business, he will remember, but when he is requested to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, to understand Kṛṣṇa, he doesn’t like it. Except Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will take all responsibility and work hard for that purpose. This is called māyā-grasta jīva.
AUSTERITY IS THE ANSWER
So nirāśīḥ, now, to go to our original position, that is called tapasya. Tapasya means to revive our original normal life of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is called tapasya. This tapasya is not possible by the cats and dogs or animals. Tapasya is meant for the human being. Therefore the human life is called durlabha-janma (a rare birth). Prahlāda Mahārāja said,
kaumāra ācaret prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
[Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1]
He advised his class friends, “My dear friends, from childhood we shall learn the science of Bhāgavata-dharma. Bhāgavata-dharma means to reestablish our lost relationship with Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And this can be solved in this human form.”
Therefore education of Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be given from the very childhood, kaumāra. Kaumāra means from the age of fifth year up to the tenth year. This is called kaumāra age. So we have opened our school in Texas. We are training all these children very nicely, and they are very learned. Children, as you teach them, they learn. They are innocent. Unfortunately, we do not give them training about Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
WHY SHORTAGE OF SUPPLY?
We give them education for sense gratification, how you can earn money, economic development. Economic development means to get more money and to satisfy senses more and more. This is the modern theory. But Kṛṣṇa says that to achieve the perfection of life, one should be nirāśīḥ. Nirāśīḥ means unnecessarily desiring for sense gratification, unnecessarily. Everyone has got right to live and live nicely. For that purpose there is sufficient arrangement by the Lord. Eko yo bahūnāṁ vidadhāti kāmān. There is sufficient arrangement. No living being will starve. There is such arrangement. But when we forget more and more Kṛṣṇa and God, nature will punish. There will be restriction of supply of foodstuffs. That is nature’s law.
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
[Bhagavad-gītā 7.14]
Everything is described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā does not say that “You live by breathing air.” No. Bhagavad-gītā says, annād bhavanti bhūtāni [Bhagavad-gītā 3.14]. Anna means food grains. There is necessity of food grain. Bhagavad-gītā never says that “you don’t require to eat. You simply breathe air and practice yoga.” No. But we must eat neither more, nor less. That is recommended. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya. We should not eat more, nor less. And nirāśīḥ. Nirāśīḥ means desireless of extravagance. Now we are desiring for sense gratification more and more. That is not wanted if you want perfection of life. This is called tapasya.
EATING MEAT — UNCIVILIZED LIFE
One has got the desire, but he should not desire unnecessarily. Everyone has got the right to eat, even the animals. Everyone has got the right. But because we are desiring to enjoy more, therefore we do not give the chance to the animals to live properly; rather, we are trying to eat the animals. This is not required. This is called nirāśīḥ. Why you should eat animals? That is uncivilized life. When there is no food, when they are aborigines, they may eat animals, because they do not know how to grow food. But when the human society becomes civilized, he can grow so many nice foods, he can keep the cows, instead of eating the cows. He can get sufficient milk. We can make so many preparations from milk and grains. So we should not desire unnecessarily to enjoy more.
THE ART OF WORK
Then it is said here, kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam. Kilbiṣam means resultant action of sinful life. So if we don’t desire more than what is necessary, then we are not implicated in sinful activity even though may be engaged in working. While you are working, knowingly or unknowingly, you have to commit something which is not pious, even sinful, but if you simply desire for living properly, then kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam. Our life should be without any sinful reaction. Otherwise we will have to suffer. But they do not believe, although they are seeing so many abominable lives. Wherefrom they are coming, 8,400,000 species of life? There are so many lives in very abominable conditions.
THE POWER OF ILLUSION
Of course, the animal or the living creature does not know, but we human being, we should know why this abominable life is there. It is māyā’s illusion. Just like a pig is living in a very filthy condition, eating stool, and still, he is thinking very happy, and therefore he is getting fat. When one feels happy, he becomes fatty. So you will find the pigs very much fatty, but what they eat? They eat stool and live in a filthy place. But they think that “We are very happy.” So that is māyā’s illusion. Anyone who is living in a very abominable condition of life, by māyā, by illusion, he is thinking that he is all right, that he is living very perfectly. But a person who is on the higher stage, he sees that he is living in a very abominable condition.
AUSTERITY AGAIN
So this illusion is there, but by knowledge, by good association, by taking instruction from the śāstra, from guru, from saintly persons, one should understand what is the value of life and live like that. So this is instructed by Kṛṣṇa, that nirāśīḥ, one should not be unnecessarily desireful, more than his necessities of life. This is called nirāśīḥ. Another meaning is that not to be very much fond of material enjoyment. And that is possible when he is in full knowledge that “I am not this body. I am spirit soul. My necessity is how to advance in spiritual knowledge.” Then he can become nirāśīḥ. These are the items for tapasya or austerity or penance.
People have forgotten now. They do not know what is austerity. But the human life is meant for that purpose. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvaṁ yena brahma-saukhyam anantam [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1]. These is the instruction of the śāstra. The human life is meant for tapasya.
TRAINING STARTS AT FIVE
Therefore in the Vedic way of life the beginning of life is tapasya, brahmacārī. A student is sent to gurukula for practicing brahmacarya. This is tapasya, not comfortable life. Lying down on the floor, going door-to-door for begging alms for guru. But they are not tired. Because they are children, if they are trained in these austerities, they will come to practice. They call all women, “Mother.” “Mother, give me some alms.” And they come back to guru’s place. Everything belongs to guru. This is brahmacārī life. This is tapasya. Tapo divyam [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1]. That is Vedic civilization, that children should be from the very beginning of life trained up in tapasya, brahmacarya. Celibacy. A brahmacārī cannot see any young woman. Even if the guru’s wife is young, he cannot go to the guru’s wife. These are the restrictions. Now where is that brahmacarya? No brahmacārī. This is Kali-yuga. No tapasya.
But according to Vedic civilization, the society is scientifically arranged according to varṇāśrama-dharma. Vedic civilization means four varṇas and four āśramas. Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. This is civilization. Unless one comes to this standard of civilization, varṇāśrama-dharma, it is animal civilization. The problem is that we prefer animal civilization. Therefore we are living like animal also, fighting like cats and dogs and suffering like cats and dogs also. This is the position. Nirāśīr yata-cittātmā. Control. I shall accept as much as I require, not more than that, not less than that. Controlling the citta, intelligence, and ātmā, mind or self, self-control.
HOW TO DESTROY DEVOTION?
Nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ. Parigrahaḥ means unnecessarily collecting something, atyāhāraḥ. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī has given definition how bhakti is killed:
atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca
prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ
jana-saṅgaś ca laulyaṁ ca
ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati
[Upadeśāmṛta 2]
If you want to advance in spiritual life, bhakti-yoga, then you should avoid these six things.
What is that? Atyāhāraḥ, eating more than you require. Actually, we should not eat unless we are very hungry. That is good eating. When you are hungry, you can eat any ordinary thing. Still, you feel very satisfactory. Routine eating must be there. We should not eat more than that. But the best principle is that if we do not feel hungry, we should not eat. But if there is no hunger and at the same time no appetite and we eat, that brings indigestion and dysentery. So why should we accept that? Therefore it is forbidden, atyāhāraḥ. Āhāra means eating. Eating more than required or āhāra means collecting also. Collecting more than necessity.
Prayāsaḥ means things which are done with great endeavor. No. We shall accept things which are very easily done. Not to waste our energy unnecessarily.
Prajalpaḥ, talking all nonsense, sitting together and on the newspaper, “Oh, such politician said like this, such social worker…” All nonsense. Practically you try to avoid all this newspaper reading or talking of nonsense subject matter. That is called prajalpa.
The next item is niyamāgrahaḥ. Niyamāgrahaḥ means niyama, scheduled rules and regulation, not to accept. Niyama āgraha or niyama agraha. Āgraha means unnecessarily following rules and regulations, but without any result. That is called niyamāgrahaḥ. You must follow the rules regulation so that you are benefited. But if you are not benefited simply by following the rules and regulation, that is āgraha, only for the sake of following rules and regulation, not for the result. We must see that there is result. Niyamāgrahaḥ.
Jana-saṅgaś ca, to associate with unwanted people. You must associate with devotees, not others. They are called jana-saṅgaś ca.
And laulyam, greediness, ṣaḍbhir bhaktir vinaśyati. If you are a student of devotional service, you must avoid all these things.
HOW TO INCREASE DEVOTION?
And just the opposite number,
utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt
tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ
ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati
[Upadeśāmṛta 3]
Prasidhyati means you increase. What is that? Utsāha, endeavor. “In this life I must fulfill my mission of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” That is called utsāha. Dhairya. Don’t be agitated because it is not giving result immediately. Just patiently go on working.
Next comes niścayāt means to have full faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati [Bhagavad-gītā 9.31]. This is called full faith, that “Kṛṣṇa has said that if I am in devotional service, I will never be lost. Kṛṣṇa will give me protection. Kṛṣṇa says.” Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi [Bhagavad-gītā 18.66] “I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction.” To have faith in this statement is called surrender. Not that, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa says, but may not be able to protect me.” No. Kṛṣṇa is able. He is all-powerful, omnipotent. He can give you protection. When He says that ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, that is a fact. This is called niścayāt. “Certainly Kṛṣṇa will give me protection.” Not that “Because I do not see Kṛṣṇa, I do not know whether Kṛṣṇa will give me protection.” No. That word is sufficient. This is called niścayāt. Utsāhād dhairyān niścayād.
Then tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt. You must follow the rules and regulations as it is enjoined in the śāstra. Not that “Kṛṣṇa will give me protection and I may do whatever I like. I can eat anything I like, I can do anything I like.” Just like some rascal advises that “There is no such thing, restriction, in the self realization process. You can eat anything, you can do anything.” People like that program. And as soon as there is restriction, they do not like. Because we put so many restrictions, I am criticised in the western world, “Swamiji, you are very conservative.” We have to become conservative, follow the rules. Not that we give liberty, that “Whatever you like, you do, and at the same time you make progress, spiritual life.” That is not possible.
PURE LIFE
Because spiritual life means tapasya. Formerly great, great saintly persons underwent very, very severe tapasya for thousands of years or hundreds of years. Only then they attained success. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible to undergo such severe tapasya. So there is concession. The concession is that you live a pure life and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This will make sufficient. A pure life: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling. This is pure life. These boys and girls who have joined this movement, they have given up. They are not dying. Nobody will die if he lives a pure life. Anyone will make progress. These are the injunctions of the śāstra. If you want to be happy, this is the formula. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena śuddhyet sattvam [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1] “Perform austerity to purify your existence.”
Sattva means my existence. At the present moment my existence is not śuddha, purified. Just like if your health is contaminated, then you get some disease. So for the soul, the living entity, this janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam [Bhagavad-gītā 13.9] “repeated cycle of birth and death” is a kind of disease.
ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT UTOPIAN
This is a fact because the soul is eternal. Nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bhagavad-gītā 2.20]. The soul is eternal. It does not die. It is not annihilated after the destruction of the body, but there is change of body, mṛtyu. Janma-mṛtyu means change of body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bhagavad-gītā 2.13]. So people should be intelligent to know, “Why shall I undergo this tribulation of repetition of birth and death?” But they do not know it. There is life without birth and death. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti [Bg. 4.9]. After giving up this body, no more taking birth again with this material body. There is a life like that. We get this information. Why should we not fulfill this mission of life in this human form of life? Why unnecessarily desire so much sense gratification? This is called tapasya. Sense gratification, āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca — eating, sleeping, sex life and protection from fearfulness — this has been done in so many lives. Why not in this life follow a perfect process so that I undergo no more death, no more birth, no more disease, no more old age?
They think it is all utopian. But we don’t think. We believe in the words of Kṛṣṇa, words of the śāstra. And we are trying to accept it, practice it and preach it. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, tapo divyaṁ yena śuddhyet sattvam [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.5.1]. Then why we should be interested to purify our existence? Yena brahma-saukhyam anantam. You are after happiness. So this happiness, the temporary happiness, sense gratification, this is not happiness. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam [Bhagavad-gītā 6.21]. Real happiness is beyond this material sense gratification. That is real happiness. So we should search after that happiness.
ramante yogino ‘nante
satyānande cid-ātmani
iti rāma-padenāsau
paraṁ brahmābhidhīyate
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 9.29]
Real happiness is to enjoy with Rāma, enjoy with Kṛṣṇa. What is that enjoyment? Kṛṣṇa is the master. He orders, and you perform the order. That is enjoyment. Master and servant relationship. Not to enjoy as master but as servant. That is our enjoyment. Just like a faithful servant and a rich master, the reciprocation is service. The master is also satisfied by the service of the servant, and the servant is also satisfied, giving service to the master. This is our relation. Jīvera svarūpa haya—nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa [Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.108-109]. “Our constitutional position is to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.”
DISCARD DESIGNATIONS
Unfortunately we are trying to become master. We are eternal servant. We cannot be master. If we do not become servant of Kṛṣṇa, then we have to become the servant of our senses. That’s all. Servant we must be. As you become servant of Kṛṣṇa, then automatically you become master of your senses, because senses cannot allure you for satisfaction of the senses, because senses are engaged.
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
[Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 19.170]
Kṛṣṇa’s another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. Hṛṣīka means senses. When we engage our senses in the service of the master of the senses, that is called bhakti. We have got so many upādhis (designations). “I am this,” “I am that,” “I am human being,” “I am cat,” “I am dog,” “I am brāhmaṇa,” “I am śūdra,” “I am American,” “I am Indian.” These are all upādhis. When one becomes free from all these upādhis, he understands that “I am spirit soul,” ahaṁ brahmāsmi; “Therefore my business is to have a reciprocatory transaction with the Supreme Brahman, Parabrahman.”
Māyāvādī philosophers, they do not know that there is relationship in which the Parabrahman and Brahman can be engaged in loving transaction. That they do not understand. They think that Brahman, when merges into the existence of Parabrahman, all business is finished. No. Business is not finished. Because we are individuals. It is not possible to remain without any activity. It is in theory only that without any activity we can remain. That is not possible practically. And if we have no information of the spiritual activity, then we have to come back again to this material activity. That is practical example. There are many sannyāsīs. They so-called merge into Brahman, but they come back to material activities like politics, sociology and so on. So therefore these instructions are very valuable.
Nirāśīr yata-cittātmā tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma. Śārīra, just to maintain your body. Be satisfied. Whatever is supplied by Kṛṣṇa, be satisfied. Don’t aspire more and more. Save time for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that you can, with great enthusiasm, make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Not for sense gratification.
STAY HEALTHY, SERVE KṚṢṆA
You have to eat. These things are eatable: food grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar. That’s all. Why should we eat nonsense things? This will keep your health very nice. Sāttvikāhāra. And you can prepare so many nice preparations within this jurisdiction. Why should you go and kill animals for the satisfaction of the tongue? That is not allowed. Otherwise you will be again entangled. To keep your body in nice condition, you eat all these things which is meant for the human being. Then you will keep fit and save time for advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
And if you become always engaged for sense gratification, go on working, working, working, then go to the restaurant, eat, drink and make your body agitated, then find out liquor and woman, what is this life? This is not life. This is animal life.
Real life is that you keep your health nicely, save time, take ordinary very nutritious food within the jurisdiction of kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Kṛṣṇa says, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bhagavad-gītā 9.26]. So Kṛṣṇa eats all these things — vegetables, liquid things, water, milk, and so many other things like grains. So you offer to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is here. Kṛṣṇa, although He is very virāṭ, big gigantic universal form, but Kṛṣṇa has accepted arcā-vigraha, the form of the Deity, so that you can serve, you can see, you can touch, and make your life successful. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. (end)
