Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.13.29
Moscow
2 February 2004

jalam tad-udbhavais channam
hitvajno jala-kamyaya
mrgatrisnam upadhavet
tathanyatrartha-drk svatah

Just as a deer, because of ignorance, cannot see the water within a well covered by grass, but runs after water elsewhere, the living entity covered by the material body does not see the happiness within himself, but runs after happiness in the material world.

PURPORT

This is an accurate example depicting how the living entity, because of lack of knowledge, runs after happiness outside his own self. When one understands his real identity as a spiritual being, he can understand the supreme spiritual being, Krishna, and the real happiness exchanged between Krishna and one’s self. It is very interesting to note how this verse points to the body’s growth from the spirit soul. The modern materialistic scientist thinks that life grows from matter, but actually the fact is that matter grows from life. The life, or the spiritual soul, is compared herein to water, from which clumps of matter grow in the form of grass. One who is ignorant of scientific knowledge of the spirit soul does not look inside the body to find happiness in the soul; instead, he goes outside to search for happiness, just as a deer without knowledge of the water beneath the grass goes out to the desert to find water. The Krishna consciousness movement is trying to remove the ignorance of misled human beings who are trying to find water outside the jurisdiction of life. Raso vai sah. Raso ’ham apsu kaunteya. The taste of water is Krishna. To quench one’s thirst, one must taste water by association with Krishna. This is the Vedic injunction.

LECTURE

The learned brahmana is continuing to instruct the sage Prahlada Maharaj. Yesterday we explained that Prahlada Maharaj was traveling thought the universe and while traveling he saw a very learned personality lying on the ground with his body covered by dust. Prahlada could see this person is not ordinary but a very advanced personality. Prahlada inquired from him about the process of self-realization. The nature of a devotee is that he is always inquiring about spiritual subject matters. There are a certain class of transcendentalists who observe what they call mauna-vrata. Have you heard about this mauna-vrata? You don’t speak. You seal your mouth. You don’t literally see it but they won’t speak.

Prabhupada was not impressed by this. He said if the Lord has given us the tongue we should use it. Why should we seal it? But we should use it towards self-realization. Similarly, over here we see that Prahlada Maharaj, though self-realized himself, though accepted as one of the twelve Mahajanas when he met another saintly personality he very submissively offered him obeisances and inquired about self-realization. A devotee should always be anxious to inquire about the process of self-realization. One should never think he knows enough. We see that in the Srimad Bhagavatam advanced devotees are also always inquiring.

In response to the questions by Prahlada Maharaja the sage is replying in these verses. The sage has already explained that real happiness is spiritual happiness. In other words, happiness derived from material activities does not constitute real happiness. Material happiness has a beginning and an end. Even the materialists won’t be able to deny that. We have seen in history, so many powerful, beautiful, successful people have come, but they have all gone with the passage of time.

The scriptures give example of a bird in the cage. You put a bird in a cage and you may decorate the cage as expensively as you want. But if you don’t feed the bird inside, will the bird survive? Some one gives you very opulent house to live in and nice clothing but forbids you from eating. Would you accept that? Not, at any cost. Similarly, the sage is explaining to Prahlada Maharaj that real happiness is spiritual happiness and without spirituality there cannot be any real happiness. He explains that one who identifies with the body forgets his real self-interest. Our real self-interest is freeing ourselves from the cycle of birth and death. Our real self-interest is regardless of the varna and asrama you belong to, to establish our relationship with the Lord. The real self-interest is served when somehow or the other we learn the art of taking shelter of the Lord. If you don’t learn the art of taking shelter of the Lord then you are defeating the real purpose of human life.

Of course, this theme that we are explaining has been described in the Bhagavatam right from the First Canto till the Twelve Canto. Whether you are reading the instructions of Sukadeva Goswami or the instructions of Suta Goswami or the instructions of Vidura to Dhritarastra or the instructions of Lord Rishabhadeva, the basic theme is the same. And the theme is our real self-interest is served when we somehow or the other endeavor to establish our relationship with the Lord.

In order to search for material happiness what do we do? This is explained in today’s verse. In order to search for material happiness we run everywhere. We endeavor into a variety of activities. Just like you see, in order to make money people travel to every corner of the globe. Even if they travel very far people don’t mind as long as they can make money. They experiment with a variety of activities.

The sage is telling Prahlada Maharaj that a materialist in order to find happiness is running everywhere but he does not understand there is no need to go any farther. Real happiness lies right within the heart. The process of real happiness is lying very close to him. The example cited here is that of an ignorant deer. The deer was very thirsty. He was standing right next to a well  but the well was covered by grass. It was looking for water everywhere but he did not realize that actually he is standing right next to a well. The only problem is the well is covered by grass so you cannot see it.

Of course in today’s environment you don’t see too many wells around. In think if you go to a village in Russia or Central Asia you do see wells. You go to India you see wells. Many times you see if the well is not being used it gets covered by grass. When you do the Vraja Mandala Parikrama or the Navadvipa Parikrama or the Govardhana Parikrama you see wells very often. If the well is not being regularly used usually grass grows over there.

The ignorant deer is looking for water, it is standing right next to the well but unfortunately it does not know that below the grass is water and running everywhere for water. The point is if you want to be really happy we have to turn to the Lord in the heart and endeavor to establish this relationship.

The soul and the Supersoul are both in the heart. If we understand the nature of the soul which is eternal and the presense of the Lord in the heart as Paramatma, if you endeavor to establish that relationship then you can find real happiness. The Bhagavad-gita opens with the instruction about the difference between the body and the soul. In the seventh verse of the second chapter Arjuna surrenders to the Supreme Lord and begs for guidance. Then Krishna begins to impart the philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita.

What’s the first point that Krishna makes? The first philosophical point that Krishna makes in the Bhagavad-gita is the education on the difference between the body and the soul. Krishna is explaining this through a series of verses, the nature of the soul which is that it never takes birth, never dies. It is eternal but just transmigrating from one body to another body.

If we understand the difference between the body and the self then we act in a different way. When you are in ignorance, you forget about the nature of the soul you identify with the body and just worry about immediate benefits for the body. In this verse the spirit soul which is the cause of consciousness or life is compared the water in the well. The body is compared to the grass that grows on the water. The body is matter and the spirit soul is eternal. The eternal spirit soul is covered by the body just like the body that we presently have is covered by the clothes we are wearing

This what is explained in this verse by the great sage. That the spirit soul is eternal, the spirit soul is being covered by the body and the body is made of matter. Matter is activated due to the presense of the soul. When the soul is not in the body matter has no value. Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita, just like we discard our old clothes and wear new clothes, similarly the soul discards one body and takes on another body. The soul discards one body, takes up another body and the type of body he is going to take on is going to be determined by our activities.

This point is confirmed in all the scriptures. Just like the Bible says, as you saw you shall reap. What does it mean, as you saw you shall reap. It is exactly supporting the preaching of the Bhagavad-gita. That is as you saw, as you act, the result will be accordingly. No scripture explains that regardless how you act the result will be the same.

In the Third Canto of the Bhagavatam there is a nice dialogue between the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kapiladeva and Devahuti, His mother. Devahuti knew that her son is an incarnation of Godhead. She wanted to take guidance from her son. In spiritual life you take guidance from wherever you can get. She first asks her son, she said, ‘My dear son, You are the ax that can cut the tree of entanglement. And she ultimately asked her son how is it decided what type of body one is going to get in the future. The Lord explained,

karmana deva netrena
jantur dehopapattaye
striyah pravista udaram
pumso retah-kanarsryah

– based on our actions which are all being witnessed by the demigods the living entity enters through the semen of the male into the womb of the female. This point that based on our acts our next life is decided is supported by all the scriptures. Once one has realized the eternal nature of the soul and the perishable nature of this body then one engages in the activities conducive in a long run. The scriptures talk about sreyas and preyas, activities that give you immediate pleasure and activities that give pleasure in a long run.

One who is ignorant about the eternal nature of the soul does not look for the happiness within. Just like a deer who is ignorant about the water covered by grass one who is ignorant about the eternal nature of the soul goes on searching for happiness by all materialistic activities. Prabhupada says that Krishna consciousness movement is trying to remove this ignorance by which people are going on looking for water elsewhere. By understanding the science of the soul, one understands the eternal nature of the living entity and does not think that everything ends with this body.

Bhagavatam is explaining that real happiness can be found by understanding the eternal nature of the soul. Prabhupada also makes the point in the purport that the spirit soul is a cause of matter and matter is not a cause of the spirit soul. The real beauty of the living entity is due to the presense of the spirit soul. What is death? Death is nothing but the change of dress. You change from one dress to another dress. When does death come? When the next life will be decided by higher authorities.

When the spirit soul leaves the body the body has no value. It may be attractive to see the beautiful, handsome form of a man or a woman but nobody wants to see a dead form of a man or a woman. One who is intelligent understands that the real beauty is due to the presense of the spirit soul and the spirit soul is eternal. I think you all know the story of the liquid beauty. In that story of liquid beauty the beautify princess taught the handsome prince a lesson. She made him understand what is real beauty. Just being attached to this body which is nothing but the cause of misery is not the real beauty.

The sage explained to Prahlada Maharaj that materialistic activities are always subject to three types of miseries, adhidaivika, adhibhautika, adhyatmika. These three are referred to as three-fold miseries of life. Such as miseries caused by material nature. Does material nature spare anyone? Is there any country that does not have earthquakes, floods, drought. I think two-three years ago you had floods in South Russia. Recently there was a major earthquake in a part of Japan and China. In many parts of America they have had severe drought. You have all the technology you need. Produce rain, defeat drought. Stop the earthquakes. Stop the floods. Can you do that with technology? Miseries caused by material nature, maybe you can get warnings but you cannot stop them.

Then miseries caused by other living entities. You have human beings, even animals and other living entities are always troubling us. Then you have miseries caused by the mind. Is mind a problem for you people in Moscow? It is a big problem, isn’t it? The mind is always troubling us. You see something attractive, the mind wants to get it. Something happens to you, your friend or relative, the mind bothers you. You don’t get the respect you think you deserve, the mind bothers you. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, every living entity is struggling with the mind and the senses.

The sage said that the materialistic activities means being affected by these three-fold miseries. Therefore even if you achieve great success what’s the value? Because ultimately in addition to these three there four other miseries that affect you: birth, death, disease, old age. The basic point is as Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, material life has two important characteristics, duhkhalayam, asasvatham – there is misery and everything is temporary. As long you are a victim of your senses, as long as you don’t have control over your mind and senses, does not matter how rich you may become you can never be satisfied.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam you read a story of Bali Maharaj and Lord Vamanadeva. Bhagavad-gita explains, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, how the Lord appears from time to time in different forms always to establish the principles of religion. Just like today we are celebrating Lord Varaha’s appearance day. We will discuss more about it in the evening. The Lord appeared as a boar, lifted the earth out of water with His tusks. Can you imagine the Lord appearing as a boar incarnation.

The Lord can appear as half-man, half-lion. The Lord honors benedictions given by His devotees. Hiranyakashipu has extracted many benedictions from lord Brahma. Honoring all the benedictions the Lord appeared as half-man, half-lion. Why? Because Brahma had given a benediction he would not be killed by a man or an animal. Lord Brahma also gave a benediction that he would not be killed in the day or the night. He was killed in the dusk. Brahma gave the benediction he would not be killed by any weapon. So he was killed by the nails. Brahma also gave the benediction he would not be killed in the sky or the earth or water. Where was he killed? On the lap.

Similarly there was another incarnation of the Lord, Lord Vamanadeva. In the form of Vamanadeva the Lord appeared as a very handsome beautiful beggar. Vamanadeva came to the sacrificial arena of a king called Bali Maharaj. Bali Maharaj was a very charitable king. Bali Maharaj asked the handsome brahmana beggar, ‘What can I do for you? Can I offer you something?’ Vamanadeva said, ‘Okay, if you want to give me something, give me enough land where I can keep three footsteps’.  Bali Maharaj said, ‘You don’t go to a rich man and ask him for such a small gift. Ask me for something more’ But Vamanadeva then spoke as follows. He said, ‘One who does not control his mind and senses will not be satisfied in any condition. Even if you give him the wealth of the whole world he will still be dissatisfied. But one who can control his mind and senses is satisfied in any conditions’.

Look at the examples of the Goswamis of Vrindavan. They came from very exalted backgrounds. They lived a life of great opulence when they were serving the king. In fact Rupa Goswami when he retired from Government service, he filled up a whole boat of gold coins. But when he came to Vrindavan he lived a life of a mendicant. They were fully satisfied because they were on the path of self-realization.

Similarly Raghunatha das Goswami, he came form a very opulent background but because he was attached to the holy name he was totally satisfied in any condition. The point we make that Vamanadeva said, ‘You are trying to tempt me by suggesting me to ask for more but if I don’t control my mind and senses, even if you give me the whole world I will not be satisfied. But one who can control the mind and senses is satisfied in any condition’.

Obviously one who can control his mind and senses understands the eternal nature of the soul. One who controls his mind and senses obviously understands that the senses can never be satisfied. Obviously one who can control his mind and senses understands the senses should be engaged positively rather then negatively. The sage is telling Prahlada Maharaj that one who is in ignorance he searches for happiness everywhere not realizing the real happiness can be found by understanding the eternal nature of the soul and how the soul is eternal but the body is temporary.

By devotee association we get trained to understand this higher philosophy of life. Material prosperity, material wealth, material assets are not the ultimate means of happiness. About two years ago there was a survey done in America where people were asked what is it that they want in lives that money cannot buy. Good question, isn’t it? Do you know what was the number one answer? Peace of mind. These answers were given not by the Hare Krishnas but by the materialists. The survey was not done by the Hare Krishnas, it was done by some magazine in America.

What is it that you want in life that the money cannot buy? This is exactly what the Bhagavatam is saying. Bhagavatam is saying that money cannot buy you happiness. The Bhagavatam says even if you have a lot of money, along with the money you make a lot of enimies also. Your first enemy is the Government. The Government says, ‘You made this money, come on! You have to give us taxes! You made this money because we blessed you’. In the Vedic days there was also taxation. The Kings would get 25% of the production as taxes. But the kings would not spend even a cent on themselves. All the taxes would be spent for the benefit of the citizens. As a result there was no such thing as avoiding taxes or manipulating the books to avoid taxes. People would willingly give the taxes. Also they saw the leaders very exemplary.

Then if you have a lot of money the thieves become your enimies. The thieves don’t target poor people, do they? They target only the rich people. The thieves say, ‘You shouldn’t be having so much money. You better share it with us. Okay?’ Either willingly or unwillingly. Then your relatives become your enemies. They say, ‘Come on! You are so rich. You should share with us because you became rich due to our blessings’.

The point is when you have unlimited wealth or unlimited facilities for sense enjoyment these are not the ultimate means of happiness. Prabhupada explains in this purport that one can find true happiness by associating with Krishna. How do we associate with Krishna? We associate with Krishna through various positive programs. For example in the purport Prabhupada says, Krishna in the Gita ‘I am the taste of water’. Raso ‘ham apsu kanuteya. ‘I am the taste of water’, Krishna says. You all drink water every day. You drink water even in Winter isn’t it? No one can live without water. In fact these days doctors tell you to drink more water which is good for the companies that make bottled water.

When you are drinking water what should you think? The taste of this water is Krishna. You see the sun and the moon. These are the two eyes of the Lord. You see some beautiful flower, beautiful nature, beautiful anything. Krishna says, ‘I am the intelligence of a man. I am the ability in a man’. Even in the gross materialists, the intelligence, the ability that they have is coming from the Supreme Lord. There are various ways how we are always associating with Krishna. The principle way of associating with Krishna is by chanting His holy name.

The holy name is not different from the Lord. What does it say? Kali-kale nama rupa – krishna avatara. In Kali-yuga the Lord incarnates in His holy name. You can chant the holy name twenty-two hours a day and not get tired. For us it may seem inconceivable. But we have the devotees who have done that. Not only Haridas Thakur. Raghunatha das Goswami would chant the holy name twenty-two hours a day. He would offer one thousands of dandavats to Krishna every day. Two thousands dandavats to people who would come to see him. His fame as a devotee of this caliber was wide-spread. From great distance people would come to see him. He used to chant the holy name twenty-one – twenty-two hours a day.

In two days you are going to celebrate Lord Nityananda’s appearance day. By Lord Nityananda’s mercy the most sinful Madhai became a devotee, and he used to chant the holy name two hundred thousand times a day after he became rectified. The point is because the Lord invested all His energies in the holy name you can chant as long as you want. In a devotee’s life twenty-four hours is not enough. Twenty-four hours is too little. In a devotee’s life he wants to use every minute in service to the Lord.

Therefore Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, the perfect yogi does not eat too little, does not eat too much, does not sleep too little, does not sleep too much. Sometimes people think the more you sleep the healthier you will be. But that’s not a fact. There was a material study done by some scientist in England. It was not done by Hare Krishnas. There was a group of doctors who were analyzing peoples’ sleeping habits and their influence on death. You will be amazed by what they have found. They found that those who slept six to seven hours live longer and healthier then those who slept eight hours and more. I don’t know if this is universally true. At least this was true in the one particular study that they was done in England. But this study supports our Vedic advice: don’t sleep too much, don’t sleep too little. Six to seven hours are enough for a healthy man.

As Canakya Pandit said, ayusah ksanna eko ‘pi na labyah svarna-kotibhih, a minute lost cannot be made up with the wealth of the entire world. The devotee’s concern is, not a minute should be wasted. Just like in the war. In a war do you waste even one minute? You are always running, you want to always be alert, isn’t it? We are on a war with maya. We have to use every second protectively in service to the Lord. Someone may say, ‘Okay, I am doing a job or business outside. Can I also think every minute of my life can be used in service to the Lord?’ Sure you can. Your job can become a sankirtana offering to the Lord if the purpose of your activities is to please the Lord.

The important point is that we should be in the association of the Lord and the principle medium for associating with the lord is the medium of chanting the holy names of the Lord. The devotee’s concern is to be always associating with Krishna. That is his principle goal. The Vedic injunction is take to the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Chanting helps you to develop the right vision. Just like when there is enough sunlight you can see everything clearly. Chanting removes the ignorance and helps you to see things in the right prospective. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, ceto darpana marjanam, it clenases the heart of material misgivings. The chanting brings us ultimate happiness which is spiritual happiness.

The ultimate happiness is spiritual happiness as it is clearly established in this section of the Bhagavatam. In order to look for happiness we don’t have to run all over the world but we should look within ourselves. If you look within you will understand the eternal nature of the spirit soul and how the soul is covered by the body. The body made of matter is subject to six developments. Takes birth, grows, maintains itself, produces by-products, dwindles in the form of old age and finally vanishes.

Everyone’s body goes through these six stages of development but the spirit soul stays on. The spirit soul is a constant and the changing body is a variable. One who understands the eternal nature of the soul, one who understands the body is perishable, one who understands the mind and senses can never be satisfied he acts in a spiritual manner. The cause of distress is the deep attachment to the body, matter and material activities. The cause of real happiness is entanglement in spiritual activities. Associating with devotees we constantly get inspired to take to the path of devotional service. That should be our goal to always engage in devotional activities. Hare Krishna.