Le Cow Quote Du Jour # 98 part 1

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TRANSLATION

For this reason the enlightened person should endeavor only for the minimum

necessities of life while in the world of names. He should be intelligently

fixed and never endeavor for unwanted things, being competent to perceive

practically that all such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing.

 

PURPORT

The bhagavata-dharma, or the cult of Srimad-Bhagavatam, is perfectly

distinct from the way of fruitive activities, which are considered by the

devotees to be merely a waste of time. The whole universe, or for that

matter all material existence, is moving on as jagat, simply for planning

business to make one's position very comfortable or secure, although

everyone sees that this existence is neither comfortable nor secure and can

never become comfortable or secure at any stage of development. Those who

are captivated by the illusory advancement of material civilization

(following the way of phantasmagoria) are certainly madmen. The whole

material creation is a jugglery of names only; in fact, it is nothing but a

bewildering creation of matter like earth, water and fire. The buildings,

furniture, cars, bungalows, mills, factories, industries, peace, war or even

the highest perfection of material science, namely atomic energy and

electronics, are all simply bewildering names of material elements with

their concomitant reactions of the three modes. Since the devotee of the

Lord knows them perfectly well, he is not interested in creating unwanted

things for a situation which is not at all reality, but simply names of no

more significance than the babble of sea waves. The great kings, leaders and

soldiers fight with one another in order to perpetuate their names in

history. They are forgotten in due course of time, and they make a place for

another era in history. But the devotee realizes how much history and

historical persons are useless products of flickering time. The fruitive

worker aspires after a big fortune in the matter of wealth, woman and

worldly adoration, but those who are fixed in perfect reality are not at all

interested in such false things. For them it is all a waste of time. Since

every second of human life is important, an enlightened man should be very

careful to utilize time very cautiously. One second of human life wasted in

the vain research of planning for happiness in the material world can never

be replaced, even if one spends millions of coins of gold. Therefore, the

transcendentalist desiring freedom from the clutches of maya, or the

illusory activities of life, is warned herewith not to be captivated by the

external features of fruitive actors. Human life is never meant for sense

gratification, but for self-realization. Srimad-Bhagavatam instructs us

solely on this subject from the very beginning to the end. Human life is

simply meant for self-realization. The civilization which aims at this

utmost perfection never indulges in creating unwanted things, and such a

perfect civilization prepares men only to accept the bare necessities of

life or to follow the principle of the best use of a bad bargain. Our

material bodies and our lives in that connection are bad bargains because

the living entity is actually spirit, and spiritual advancement of the

living entity is absolutely necessary. Human life is intended for the

realization of this important factor, and one should act accordingly,

accepting only the bare necessities of life and depending more on God's gift

without diversion of human energy for any other purpose, such as being mad

for material enjoyment. The materialistic advancement of civilization is

called "the civilization of the demons," which ultimately ends in wars and

scarcity. The transcendentalist is specifically warned herewith to be fixed

in mind, so that even if there is difficulty in plain living and high

thinking he will not budge even an inch from his stark determination. For a

transcendentalist, it is a suicidal policy to be intimately in touch with

the sense gratifiers of the world, because such a policy will frustrate the

ultimate gain of life. Sukadeva Gosvami met Maharaja Pariksit when the

latter felt a necessity for such a meeting. It is the duty of a

transcendentalist to help persons who desire real salvation and to support

the cause of salvation. One might note that Sukadeva Gosvami never met

Maharaja Pariksit while he was ruling as a great king. For a

transcendentalist, the mode of activities is explained in the next sloka.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 2.2.3