"Fight for Freedom"

Pradyumna: (leads chanting)

atma-jaya-sutagara-
pasu-dravina-bandhusu
rajye cavikale nityam
virudham mamatam jahau

But it is not dead. There is consciousness. So the more you develop your consciousness, the more you become a freedom lover. Just like in the human society, there is fight for freedom. But in the animal society, they do not know what is freedom. Ours also, the so-called freedom. But still, we have got some consciousness that we fight for freedom. And they fight for eating. That's all. So here, Pariksit Maharaja... This emancipation... Krsna consciousness means emancipation from this material attachment. So he became so much advanced... Because from his childhood, from his birth, from the womb of his mother, he was Krsna conscious. So as soon as he understood that "Krsna is my goal," immediately, virudham mamatam jahau, immediately gave up. Jahau means "gave up." What kind of things he is giving up? The empire. Formerly the emperor in Hastinapura, they were ruling over the earth, the whole world, Pariksit Maharaja, at least, 5,000 years ago when Pariksit Maharaja was the king.

He was emperor of the whole world. So he's giving up that. Not that a teeny village or something. No. And that empire also, without any disturbance. He was so powerful that nobody could go against him. Rajye ca avikale. Avikale. Vikala means "broken" or "disturbed." But his kingdom was never broken or disturbed. Now the whole world is broken and disturbed, at the present moment. They have got so many countries, independent countries. That means the world is broken into pieces. Formerly there was no such piecework. One world, one king. One God, Krsna. One scripture, Vedas. One civilization, varnasrama-dharma. Not very far away. They are giving history of... They are studying the earth layer, but while they were studying earth layer from millions years, and millions of years there was perfect civilization. Perfect civilization, God conscious. Happy civilization. Now they are broken, disturbed. It was not the case formerly.

So this virudham mamatam. Mamata means "It is mine." That is called mamata. Mamata. Mama means "mine." The consciousness of "mine" and "I," this is called mamata. "I am this body, and in relationship with this body, everything is mine. My wife, my children, my home, my bank balance, my society, my community, my nation, my country, my." This is called mamata. So how this mamata, or the consciousness of "my," grows? There is a machine, manipulated by maya, illusory energy. The beginning. What is that? Attraction. A man is attracted by woman, and the woman is attracted by man. This is the basic principle. Here, in this material world, there is no attraction for God, but there is attraction. That attraction is, on the whole, sex attraction. That's all. The whole world, not only human society, animal society, bird society, beast society, any society, any living being, the attraction is sex. Pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam. The attraction here, the center of attraction, is sex. So, boys and girls or any, in younger age there is that sex impulse increase and want mating.

A female wants male, a male wants female. This is the attraction. This is the basic principle of binding the conditioned soul in this miserable life of repeated birth and death. This attraction. Therefore Vedic civilization is based on how to get out of this attraction. The varnasrama-dharma... There is attraction, you cannot avoid it. To best, to make the best use of a bad bargain. Therefore, from the very beginning, a child is trained how to become brahmacari. Brahmacari. No sex life. Up to twenty-five years. Throughout the whole life, but at least for twenty-five years. That is called brahmacari-asrama. But if one is still persistent for sex life after being trained for twenty-five years, he is allowed to marry. That is called grhastha-asrama. And because he has been trained up to be detached from sex life, so, for some time he enjoys, then he gives it up. Just like Maharaja Pariksit. Jahau. Virudham mamatam jahau. There was training; therefore Pariksit Maharaja could give up.

It is not so easy to give up attraction for kingdom, wife, children, and motorcar, and pasu, and animals, and so many... He was king, emperor. How much possessions he had! So it is not very easy to give up the attraction for these possessions. Therefore it is called virudham, virudham mamatam. The attraction is so deep-rooted. The example is this, a tree standing. It does not want to give it up, capture. So the attraction begins from this sex attraction. Pumsah mithuni-bhavam, pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam tayor mitho hrdaya-granthim ahuh. In the beginning there is attraction. A man wants woman, woman wants man. But as soon as they're united, that attraction becomes deep-rooted. First of all desire. At that time, the attraction is not deep-rooted, but as soon as they are united, either legally or illegally, that attraction becomes deep-rooted, virudham. Pumsah mithuni-bhavam, pumsah striya mithuni-bhavam etam tayor mithah, as soon as they unite, hrdaya-granthim ahuh, is, they, now that attraction becomes a hard knot into the heart.

Always thinking of "Oh, he's my lover," "She is my lover," like that. That attraction. So then, after they're united... Just like one married couple. As soon as they're married or united, atah grha. Grha. Grha means apartment, home. They must live very nicely. Then ksetra. Ksetra means field. Formerly there was no industry. The earning, means of livelihood, was agriculture. Everyone must have some land to produce grains, fruits. That's all. Milk. First of all, apartment; then, to maintain the expenditure, now we have invented industry or trade and so many things. Pickpocketing, killing. So many things. Formerly the means of livelihood was very simple. Take some land and work little, produce your grains, and the cows are there. You take milk. So milk, vegetables, grains, your economic question is solved. So first of all, grha, home, then ksetra. Ksetra means "field." I must produce my food. Ato grha-ksetra, then child. Because married life without any issue, that is not very happy.

Canakya Pandita has said, putra-hinam grham sunyam: "Family life without a child is zero." It is zero. There are... He has calculated some zeros. First zero is: avidyam jivanam sunyam: "One who is not educated, his life is zero." Avidyam jivanam sunyam disah sunya abandhavah. You are going to some touring, visiting, but if where you are going, if there is no temple or friend, then your touring will be zero. Therefore Indian system is when they are tourist, they go to different pilgrimages, or some friends' house. Avidyam jivanam sunyam disah sunya abandhavah putra-hinam grham sunyam. And you have married, but if there is no issue, then it is zero. Putra-hinam grham sunyam. Sarva-sunya daridrata. And if you have no money, then everything is zero. Even in spite of having a home or child or education... There are so many educated. If they have no employment, their life is zero. So, ato grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittaih. As soon as we are united, male and female, then these things are required: nice home or apartment, some field for producing food, then some friends, suta, then children. Children, friends... Then money also. Without money... because without money, everything will be zero. In this way, just like a tree gradually expands his root, so our attraction, that male-female attraction, becomes deeply rooted by these things. Grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittair janasya moho 'yam. This is illusion. This is illusion. Janasya moho 'yam aham mameti [SB 5.5.8]. This mamata. "This is ‘I,' this is mine." And one day, the Mr. Death will come, he'll break everything, smash everything. We forget that. But we want to remain here with this sense of "I" and "mine," but Bhagavad-gita says, Krsna says, that "These rascals who are not God conscious and creating aham mameti [SB 5.5.8], very, very big scheme to become happy, the whole happiness is dismantled by Me as death." Krsna ultimately comes as death. Just like Hiranyakasipu. He was planning so many things, but Nrsimhadeva appeared as death and smashed everything, everything.

Therefore, when Prahlada Maharaja was offered material benediction, so he said, "My dear Lord, what You are offering me? I have already seen all these things. My father was so powerful that even demigods would be threatened by his red eyes, and he expanded his influence all over the universe. But You have finished it within a second. So why shall I ask for such benedictions? If You want to give me some benediction, please engage me in some service of Your servant. That is real benediction." Caitanya Mahaprabhu also recommended: gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. To become a servant of servant of servant of servant of Krsna. This is parampara system. In that way one can give up the deep attachment for all these, our creation, our developing attachments, grha-ksetra-sutapta-vittaih. At any moment, all these production of attachments can be dismantled, and it is being done so. But they have no knowledge. They have no knowledge. They are thinking that they will be able to enjoy this expansion of attachment, aham mameti [SB 5.5.8]. No. You cannot enjoy. Even if you enjoy, it is for a few years only.

But your existence is not for few years. You are eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]. You'll not die after your destruction of this body. Death means sleeping for 7 months. That's all. Then again you get another body. As soon as I give up this body, I enter in the womb of another mother to get another body. The mother creates the body, and as soon as the body's fit, it comes out. So the period when I give up this body, enter into the womb of mother and manufacture another body and come out, it takes about seven months. So during that seven months, we do not know what is happening. That is death. Death means that. Otherwise, there is no death. The spirit soul is eternal. So we do not know what is our eternal need. We do not know. There is no such education, neither these rascals know that they're eternal. They think that "By chance, we have got this body, some way or other, and as soon as the body's finished, everything's finished. So long this body is there, the senses are there, let us enjoy sense enjoyment."

This is the civilization. Because there will be no more sense. They give importance to the senses, that this is an opportunity of sense gratification. But they do not inquire wherefrom this sense came, and it is so important, and we are taking, giving so many importance to the sense enjoyment program. That they do not know. Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum [SB 7.5.31]. Neither do they know what is living entity, what are the senses, what is the goal of life. Durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah. They are simply making plans for driving car and flyways and so on. Plan is going on, one after another, one after another. But the problems are increasing. Therefore, Pariksit Maharaja's example is very nice. As soon as he understood from his spiritual master that "Krsna is the goal of life" and he became Krsna conscious, he immediately, oh, the mamatam jahau, virudham mamatam jahau. This is required. Read the purport.

Pradyumna: "To become liberated means to become free from dehatma-buddhi, the illusory attachment for personal bodily coverings and everything connected with the body, namely wife, children, and all other entanglements. One selects a wife for bodily comforts, and the result is children. For wife and children one requires a dwelling place, and as such a residential house is also necessary. Animals like horses, elephants, cows, and dogs are all household animals, and a householder has to keep them as household paraphernalia. In modern civilization the horses and elephants have been replaced by cars and conveyances with considerable horsepower. To maintain all the household affairs, one has to increase the bank balance and be careful about the treasury house, and in order to display the opulence of material assets, one has to keep good relations with friends and relatives, as well as become very careful about maintaining the status quo. This is called material civilization of material attachment.

Devotion for Lord Krsna means negation of all material attachments as detailed above. By the grace of Lord Krsna, Maharaja Pariksit was awarded all material amenities and an undisputed kingdom in which to enjoy the undisturbed position of king, but by the grace of the Lord he was able to give up all connections with material attachment. That is the position of a pure devotee. Maharaja Pariksit, due to his natural affection for Lord Krsna as a devotee of the Lord, was always executing his royal duties on behalf of the Lord, and as a responsible king of the world he was always careful to see that the influence of Kali would not enter his kingdom. A devotee of the Lord never thinks of his household paraphernalia as his own, but surrenders everything for the service of the Lord. Thereby living entities under a devotee's care get the opportunity for God realization by the management of a devotee-master. Attachment for household paraphernalia and for Lord Krsna go poorly together.

One attachment is the path of darkness, and the other attachment is the path of light. Where there is light, there is no darkness, and where there is darkness, there is no light. But an expert devotee can turn everything to the path of light by an attitude of service to the Lord, and the best example here is the Pandavas. Maharaja Yudhisthira and householders like him can turn everything to light by dovetailing so-called material assets in the service of the Lord, but one who is not trained or is unable to turn everything to the service of the Lord (nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe) must give up all material connections before he can be fit to hear and chant the glories of the Lord. Or in other words, one who has seriously heard Srimad-Bhagavatam for even one day, like Maharaja Pariksit, from a fit personality like Sukadeva Gosvami, may be able to lose all affinity for material things. There is no utility simply in imitating Maharaja Pariksit and hearing Bhagavatam from professional men, even for seven hundred years.

To take Srimad-Bhagavatam as a means of maintaining family expenditure is the grossest type of namaparadha offense at the feet of the Lord (sarva-subha-kriya-samyam api pramadah)."

Srila Prabhupada: So Pariksit Maharaja could give up the attachment within a few days. Not abruptly, but he was prepared. His training was there. Nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe. That is our philosophy, Rupa Gosvami's definition.

anasaktasya visayan
yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe
yuktam vairagyam ucyate

Maya has given us this car for satisfying our desires. Sometimes it is called field. Ksetra. We want to work on this, just like agriculturist work on his field and produce some results. Similarly, we are working on this field, we are moving by this car, but I am not this field, I am not this car. If one has understood this philosophy that "I am not this body..." But "I am not this body," that does not mean I shall neglect it. I must maintain it because ... The same example: if I want to move nicely, my car must be maintained very nicely. So our business should be not to be attached by the car or the body, but to maintain it for our work, and our real business is to develop Krsna consciousness. That is our... Just like we move by the car to go some business. So car is not my business. I have got a different business.

Similarly, our real business is this human form of life, how to develop Krsna consciousness. That is our real business. And to execute that real business, we take help of this car. That's all. Maintain it nicely. Cleanse it, give gasoline and Mobil oil, and tire tube. That is required because you have to move. So don't, we don't say that "It is mithya, it is false." That is Mayavadi's ver... Brahma satyam jagan mithya. "This material world is false." We don't say false. We don't say false, because we have to take work from it. Why shall I say false? When I take some work from the typewriter or some other machine, why shall I say it is false? It is real. So our philosophy is, we don't neglect this material world as false. That is pseudo, pseudo renunciation. You cannot give up. Why should you call it false? Sometimes ... Just like some materialists, they criticize that "You are using material things. Why do you say false?" So that criticism is applicable to the Mayavadi philosophy, who says jagan mithya, "This whole material world is false." Brahma satyam jagan mithya. We don't say false. We say, "It is temporary. It is temporary, and I have to take some benefit out of it."

Because I am in this material world. How can I say it is false? I must eat. How can I say eating false? That is not our business. But we must eat something which will help me in my real philosophy. But we must eat something which will help me in my real business. My real business is Krsna consciousness. Therefore I must eat krsna-prasadam. That will maintain my body and help my business. This is our philosophy. Thank you very much. (end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.2 -- Los Angeles, June 26, 1972