ŚB 2.2.4 Simple Living & High Thinking (Part-1) | Rus-Split | 17.6.92 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 2, Text 4. Satyam kasito kem kasipo prayasen. Satyam kasito kem kasipo prayasen. Bahusvasiddhe upabarhane kem. Bahusvasiddhe upabarhane kem. Sadhāñjalo kīm purudhānapaṭrayaḥ. Devālka lādo sadi kīm du khuleḥ. Satyam kashiṭho kīm kashiṣpo prayāser bahau svā siddheḥ baharhane kīm. Sadhāñjalo kīm purudhānapaṭrayaḥ. Digval kalā-dhau sadi-kim du-khule. So this verse is being spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva Gosvāmī in this section of the Bhāgavatam is describing the importance of simple living and high thinking. In the previous verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī has stated that one who is enlightened He should only live with the minimum necessities of life. Why in the world of names? So in this verse and in the subsequent verses that we are going to read over the next few days, the same theme is being maintained. That is the theme of simple living and high thinking. Because unless one adopts simple living as a guiding principle, one cannot find time to execute spiritual activities. The materialistic philosophy is high living and simple thinking. They want to live as high as they can, like the demigods also. In your country, thanks to communism, people were forced into simple living. Therefore, everybody has one, two, three, komnata, quadira. But in these capitalistic countries, you see people with big, big houses, 20, 25 rooms. Dressed up, decorated like palaces, and 2 or 3 people living in 20 rooms. And so many other so-called extra decorative pieces are there just to make everyone believe, yes, I am the richest man in town. So this is called high living and simple thinking. Simple thinking means you think like the animals. Where is my food to eat, bed to sleep, and a partner to mate? And some security measures to defend myself. Eating, sleeping, defending, mating. So spiritual life is the opposite: simple living and high thinking. Simple life means you maintain yourself with a minimum bodily maintenance. One who is spiritually enlightened recognizes that there's no point in expanding one's basic necessities of life. And high thinking High thinking means you're thinking about the path of self-realization. So one is endeavoring to achieve the goal of life. And communistic philosophy was simple living and simple thinking. You live simply and you think simply. So there are three different schools. Capitalism is high living, simple thinking. Communism is simple living, simple thinking. And Krishnaism is High— simple living and high thinking. So Śrī Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī is explaining the approach that Kṛṣṇaītes should take. So in this verse specifically, he's pointing out the certain basic necessities of life are being provided by the laws of nature. So why should we artificially endeavor to work hard to provide these necessities? For example, he says, when there's the earth to lie on, why do you need cots and beds? The materialists are always inventing means by which material life can become more and more comfortable. They have so many different types of beds now in the capitalistic country, not just the ordinary beds that you are used to seeing. They even have what they call water beds now. So they think that sleeping in water beds is going to be very, very comfortable. And some of these beds cost thousands of dollars. So they work so hard because they want to buy the best bed in town. And then Sukadeva Gosvami says, if you have arms, then why do you need pillows? There's so many expensive pillows also. And then when you have your hands, then why do you need utensils? So we can start serving all of you prasad from now onwards in your hand only. So that will save on the prasadam bill. You can look, because in your palms you can look, it only take little bit, not much. And Śrīkṛṣṇa Deva Gosvāmī further says, when there's ample covering like skin, trees, then what is the necessity of clothing? Of course devotees do wear simple clothing, but not fashionable clothing. In the material, the materialist, they love to wear fashionable clothing. Therefore in all these capitalistic countries, every year they have new fashions.. And they have big, big fashion shows because every year they reveal all the latest line, latest fashion model, latest fashion designs. So they advertise it so much. So everyone says, yes, I must buy this latest fashion suit, latest fashion female dressing, and so on. So because they want to maintain their high standard of living, they have to work 24 hours a day. Like an ass, mura. You don't see donkeys at work in Moscow, but if you ever travel to Uzbekistan and Turkistan, you will see donkeys at work. And if you come to India, you'll see plenty of donkeys at work. The donkeys work very, very hard all day. They're carrying heavy burden for what? A little bit of grass that it needs to eat. The donkey doesn't eat big samosas and kachoris. He eats simple grass, that's all. And that grass is available by the laws of nature. So the scriptures explain that those materialists who are just endeavoring for sense enjoyment, they're just working hard like the asses. So Prabhupada in the purport says the human life is wasted in the false search for illusory happiness. So Prabhupada used to give the example how the dog, how the animal is searching for the mirage of water in the desert. And it keeps running after that water, and as it runs, it appears that the water is only a little bit away. Running, running, running after water in the desert, the poor animal dies of thirst in the desert. You understand this example? So similarly, in material life, everyone is endeavoring for sense enjoyment. They are thinking, now sense enjoyment is just little bit away, like the dog is thinking the water is just a little bit away. So they are endeavoring, endeavoring, but they never find happiness and they die. Just like now the people in the country are thinking communism did not give us happiness, and before that the czars didn't give us happiness, but now capitalism is going to give us happiness. So now they are very hopeful that in few months everything is going to be prosperous and people are going to be happy. But people are not happy anywhere in the material world. Wherever you may go, the principle of the kāle māśāśatam hits everyone. So happiness is there, but people do not know in which direction to proceed. Just like the thirsty animal in the desert who is looking for water. It is not that water does not exist. Definitely water exists, but not in the desert. In the seas, rivers, lakes, ponds. But the foolish animal is looking for water in the desert. If he wants water, he should go to the lakes, rivers, ponds. So similarly, if you want happiness, you have to go in the direction of spiritual activities, not material activities. If you search for happiness through material endeavors, then one will never succeed. There is no point in experimenting on the material path to establish whether material activity, materialistic activities will give satisfying results or not. Why? Because the materialists have already endeavored. And we have all endeavored in so many lifetimes. This is certainly not the first lifetime that one is endeavoring for sense enjoyment. Therefore, Rupa Gosvāmī has very nicely stated, kāmadīnam kathīnapalita-dhūrṇī-deṣa, I have been trying to satisfy my senses since time immemorial, but these senses remain totally unsatisfied. Therefore, all the great sages have also conclusively advised that one should not pursue sense enjoyment through the medium of the human form of life. Kaama sa nendriya piti labhau ji vitta yau da ji vaset tatva jagyasah. Do not waste this human life in pursuing the path of sense enjoyment. Rather, try to establish your relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So if you adopt the principle of simple living, then you will have time for self-realization. Then you will have time to chant your rounds, read the Bhagavatam, and even if you're a householder living outside, time to come to the temple. But if you're trying to maintain a high standard of living, then all your time will go away in just endeavoring to earn enough money to pay your bills. I know materialists who have to work 2 jobs a day, sometimes even 3, 3 jobs, and a new job on the weekend. Husband, wife, they're both working. Why? Because they want to maintain a big house, they want to have 2 or 3 cars, color television, and all the high fancy house. So people think, "Oh, this man is very rich." In the purport, Prabhupāda cites the example of Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, how even though they came from a very aristocratic background, still they lived, they led the life of renunciate mendicants in Vṛndāvana. Rūpa and Gosvāmī, as we know, were very prominent ministers in the richest kingdom that existed on the planet 500 years ago. So you can imagine the comforts that they were used to. But when they retired in Vrindavan, they slept underneath a different tree every night. Now we are not suggesting that all of you should give up your brahmachari quarters and your kwartiras and start living under different trees every night. You do have a lot of trees in your country, so finding a new tree every night will be no problem. But what we are suggesting is the principle of simple living should be cultivated so that one can find time for executing spiritual activities. The so-called comforts of life, as Prabhupada says in this purport, are not necessary to maintain your life. Rather, material comforts are detrimental for spiritual advancement. All these material assets that we see can be of two types: daivi-sampat and asuri-sampat. So big house, many cars, nicely decorated apartment or house, these are all— these all fall in the category of asuri-sampat. Sampat means assets, possessions. And daivi sampat means spiritual asset. And what are the spiritual assets? Attachment to Krishna, attachment to instructions of Guru, sadhu, shastra, attachment to the principles of following four, of four regulative principles, uh, abandoning sense enjoyment. These are known as daivi sampat or spiritual asset. So it is not that the devotee is poor. A devotee is very, very rich. He He has a very big bank balance, but in his bank he has all spiritual assets. The material assets like rupees, it goes down every day. Even everything, material assets always go down in value. So devotees after daivi sambad or spiritual assets. You know that story of Sanatana Gosvami and the touchstone? The great sage had a very valuable asset with him. He had a touchstone that could convert everything into gold, but he had kept that touchstone under a heap of garbage. Because he was not interested in converting everything to gold. He was interested in getting attached to chanting the Holy Name. So the rare human body should be utilized for cultivating spiritual consciousness, for elevating our consciousness from material to spiritual. Pralad Maharaj was— Pralad Maharaj had the fortune of receiving spiritual instructions when he was in the womb of his mother from Narada Muni. Sri Prahlāda Mahārāja said, "So ceta to mukta cetasah indriyārtha, māyā sukāya bharāmudvato vemuḍham." He said, "My dear Lord, when I look at the materialist who are trying to convert a position of distress to a position of comfort, my heart begins to lament." So that is all the materialists are trying to convert distress to comfort. They endeavor very hard. To try and eliminate misery. Just like the materialists have invented so many different types of makeup so that you can hide the appearance of old age. So why do they use makeup? To hide the ugly aspects of the body with beauty and make it more attractive. So material efforts are all aimed in one direction, to eliminate misery. Now that they have seen that they cannot rectify all the diseases on this earthly planet with medicines produced on this earthly planet, Now these scientists are giving false assurances that they will soon start manufacturing medicine in outer space, and medicine produced in outer space will be able to cure all diseases. So hoping against hope, that happiness will be realized, is the philosophy of the materialist. In spite of all the endeavors having failed to give people happiness, they are still struggling for happiness. So we will not waste our time. This is the philosophy of the enlightened individual. I will not waste one minute, use every second in service to the Lord. And if one is absorbed in service to the Lord every second, then the mind and the senses are automatically tamed. The nature of the mind and the senses is to always agitate, always be demanding, just like a small child. The small child wants to obtain everything that he can lay his hands on or see. Small child even tells the mother, "Can I have that moon?" And the mother says, "Okay." So she puts the— shows the reflection of the moon on the mirror and says, "Okay, have the mirror, have the moon." So the material senses are always demanding more, more, more. So we realize that the only solution is engaging the senses and the mind and intelligence in a positive manner. Sarvopādī vinirmuktam tat parveṇa nirmalam reṣikena reṣikena sevana bhaktya ucyate. Nārada Mūñi has very nicely stated that if all the senses are used in the service of Rishi Keshava, the owner of the senses, then one will become free from the bodily designations of life. Just like the snake charmer, he, the snake charmer plays with the snakes, he has snakes, even cobras around his neck, but he can do that because the poisonous teeth of the snake have been pulled out. So even if the snake bites, there is no danger. So similarly, the poison of the senses can be taken out if the senses are used in service to Kṛṣṇa. And there's so many transcendental areas of service to do that when one is serious about spiritual life, he will not even find a dull moment. In the material world, no activity is really enjoyable. That is why people work 5 days a week and they get bored, and Saturday, Sunday they want holiday. In some places, people don't even work 5 days a week, but at least they make it appear that they're working. The student studies in college, school for a few months a year, then they want a vacation because they get tired of studying. But a devotee, he doesn't have the philosophy, I'll only do service 5 days a week. We don't have annual vacations because one is constantly enjoying the service he does. So there's no question of having a principle, I'll only come to Mangalati 5 days a week, or I'll only do service 5 days a week, because the devotee is experiencing spiritual bliss in He does not want to be away from this bliss even for one minute. He's anxious to remain engaged in service to Kṛṣṇa all the time. So this principle of simple living, which is being advocated, recommended by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in this chapter, can only be maintained if one is operating on a higher consciousness, that is spiritual consciousness. One can maintain this philosophy of simple living Only if one is enlightened about the goal of life. Otherwise, artificially maintaining simple living may succeed for few days, few weeks, few months, but then again you will want higher standard. So in order to lift our consciousness at a high level, Lord Caitanya and the great sages have given us some valuable advice. Chanakya Pandit, for example, has said one should look upon others' property as garbage. Just like you see a materialist with a big car or fancy house and modern amenities, you just look at it as garbage. Not that you think, "Oh, I should also have a house like that. I should also have a car like that. I should also have a nice stereo like that." So look at others' assets as garbage. Then treat others the way you want others to treat you. Normally, our philosophy is we treat others roughly, but we want everybody else to treat us very respectfully. But Chanakya Pandit says, treat others the way you want to be treated by others. And look upon every woman that you see except your— as your mother. Every woman except your wife as your mother. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu has summarized his various instructions to Sanatana Gosvāmī into 5 limbs of devotional service. The 5 limbs of devotional service are as follows. Always chant Hare Krishna. Many times I see the devotees, after they finish their 16 rounds, they think now they don't have to chant. They'll chant tomorrow, next day. The Hare Krishna mantra should be tied to your tongue. 16 rounds you may do attentively on your beads, but then even if you're driving a car or walking or doing some other service, you should keep chanting at the same time. Just like when Lord Caitanya and His associates were cleaning the Gundicha temple, They were cleaning the temple, but at the same time everybody was chanting Hare Krishna nonstop. And hear Krishna Katha, hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Bhāgavad-gītā. Just like the Ganges water is purifying, hearing about Krishna is also purifying. So hear about Krishna all the time. When you are not hearing His holy name, then hear His pastimes and His messages, His instructions. Then worship the Deity with faith and reverence. Recognize this deity is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Execute devotional service in humility, because humility is the key to spiritual advancement. Hale lama hale. Lama lama hale hale. Hare Krishna hare Krishna.