Guest guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 As always with those who are engaged in materialistic endeavours (those in which Krsna is not in the forground) this is a nice quote to keep us on the path. Thank you Taraka. ys, Rohita dasa - Taraka (das) ACBSP (Gita Nagari, PA - USA) <Taraka.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net> Cow (Protection and related issues) <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net>; cowz <cowz (AT) jc-net (DOT) com>; Taraka dasa <tarakadas (AT) aol (DOT) com> Friday, June 08, 2001 12:36 AM Le Cow Quote Du Jour # 94 > The main problem confronting the conditioned souls is the repetition of > birth, old age, disease and death. In the material world one has to work for > the maintenance of the body and soul, but how can one perform such work in a > way that is favorable for the execution of Krsna consciousness? > > Everyone requires possessions such as food grains, clothing, money and other > things necessary for the maintenance of the body, but one should not collect > more than necessary for his actual basic needs. If this natural principle is > followed, there will be no difficulty in maintaining the body. > > According to nature's arrangement, living entities lower on the evolutionary > scale do not eat or collect more than necessary. Consequently in the animal > kingdom there is generally no economic problem or scarcity of necessities. > If a bag of rice is placed in a public place, birds will come to eat a few > grains and go away. A human being, however, will take away the whole bag. He > will eat all his stomach can hold and then try to keep the rest in storage. > According to scriptures, this collecting of more than necessary (atyahara) > is prohibited. Now the entire world is suffering because of it. > > Collecting and eating more than necessary also causes prayasa, or > unnecessary endeavor. By God's arrangement, anyone in any part of the world > can live very peacefully if he has some land and a milk cow. There is no > need for man to move from one place to another to earn a livelihood, for one > can produce food grains locally and get milk from cows. That can solve all > economic problems. Fortunately, man has been given higher intelligence for > the cultivation of Krsna consciousness, or the understanding of God, one's > relationship with Him, and the ultimate goal of life, love of God. > Unfortunately, so-called civilized man, not caring for God realization, > utilizes his intelligence to get more than necessary and simply eat to > satisfy the tongue. By God's arrangement there is sufficient scope for the > production of milk and grains for human beings all over the world, but > instead of using his higher intelligence to cultivate God consciousness, > so-called intelligent men misuse their intelligence to produce many > unnecessary and unwanted things. Thus factories, slaughterhouses, brothels > and liquor shops are opened. If people are advised not to collect too many > goods, eat too much or work unnecessarily to possess artificial amenities, > they think they are being advised to return to a primitive way of life. > Generally people do not like to accept plain living and high thinking. That > is their unfortunate position. > > Human life is meant for God realization, and the human being is given higher > intelligence for this purpose. Those who believe that this higher > intelligence is meant to attain a higher state should follow the > instructions of the Vedic literatures. By taking such instructions from > higher authorities, one can actually become situated in perfect knowledge > and give real meaning to life. > > In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.9) Sri Suta Gosvami describes the proper human > dharma in this way: > dharmasya hy apavargyasya > nartho 'rthayopakalpate > narthasya dharmaikantasya > kamo labhaya hi smrtah > "All occupational engagements [dharma] are certainly meant for ultimate > liberation. They should never be performed for material gain. Furthermore, > one who is engaged in the ultimate occupational service [dharma] should > never use material gain to cultivate sense gratification." > > The first step in human civilization consists of occupational engagements > performed according to the scriptural injunctions. The higher intelligence > of a human being should be trained to understand basic dharma. In human > society there are various religious conceptions characterized as Hindu, > Christian, Hebrew, Mohammedan, Buddhist and so on, for without religion, > human society is no better than animal society. > > As stated above (dharmasya hy apavargyasya nartho 'rthayopakalpate [sB > 1.2.9]), religion is meant for attaining emancipation, not for getting > bread. Sometimes human society manufactures a system of so-called religion > aimed at material advancement, but that is far from the purpose of true > dharma. Religion entails understanding the laws of God because the proper > execution of these laws ultimately leads one out of material entanglement. > That is the true purpose of religion. Unfortunately people accept religion > for material prosperity because of atyahara, or an excessive desire for such > prosperity. True religion, however, instructs people to be satisfied with > the bare necessities of life while cultivating Krsna consciousness. Even > though we require economic development, true religion allows it only for > supplying the bare necessities of material existence. Jivasya tattva > jijnasa: the real purpose of life is to inquire about the Absolute Truth. If > our endeavor (prayasa) is not to inquire about the Absolute Truth, we will > simply increase our endeavor to satisfy our artificial needs. A spiritual > aspirant should avoid mundane endeavor. > > >>> Ref. VedaBase => NoI 2 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 10, 2001 Report Share Posted June 10, 2001 > As always with those who are engaged in materialistic endeavours (those in > which Krsna is not in the forground) this is a nice quote to keep us on > the path. Thank you Taraka. > ys, Rohita dasa It was a great quote wasn't it! I really apreciated the way Prabhupada lead us through the logical course of events. It was a very clear and unambiguous argument for real varnasrama development. It begs the question: just how serious are we about engaging in spiritual life, or would we rather pretend? Keep pushing the envelope Taraka Prabhu! Your servant Samba das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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