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September18,2010

The very fact that we are able to consume food and survive the onslaught of

material life is because of themercy of 33 crore demigods and above all the

benignmercyoftheSupremeLordSriKrishna.KrishnatellsArjunaOnewhotakes

pleasurein the selfdoesnot need toperformanyduty sincehedoesnothave

anything to do with the material conception of life.Krishna questions Arjuna

whether he was on that platform.If yes then Arjuna could easily abnegate his

positioninthebattlefieldandretiretotheforest.HoweverArjunawasaKshatriya

andhehadaninnatedesiretoenjoytheworldandhispositionandthereforehehadtoperformhisdutyasaKshatriyaandnotquitthebattefield.Theprincipleis

thatifyouwanttoenjoythenonehastodohisdutieswithoutfail.Forinstanceif

onegoestoarestauranthotel,enjoystastyfoodandthenleavestheplaceafter

profuselythankingthehotelauthoritiesfortheirhospitalityandkindnesswillthat

do?Willhebespared?Thehotelmanagermaysimplysmilebackandinavery

hospitablemanner see to it that this person isbehind bars. The HareKrishna

Movement isknownfordistributingfreeLunchandDinnerprasadam.Thisreally

startlespeopleasthereisanoldEnglishsayingThereisnofreeLunchinthis

world. The HareKrishnasseem todefy this principle completely , yet this is

true.Howeverrestaurantsareonlyforbusiness.Ifyouusesomethingyouhaveto

payaprice.

One should alwayspay forwhateverone tries toenjoy otherwise itwill lead to

degradationofhisconsciousnessandhewillincursins.Ifonefeelsthatheneeds

toenjoywithawoman,theruleisthatheshouldgetmarriedandtakeupfamily

responsibilities.That is the Vivaaha Sanskaar.People in this material world are

moreworriedaboutwhatcanbeenjoyedandnotaboutwhatcanbedonatedor

whatcanbegiven.TheGaneshotsavafestivalisa typicalexampleofexpression

ofpeoplesgreed.LordGaneshaisusedasanobjectofreceivingbenedictions

andmoneyandallwhateverhecanoffer.ThisisclearlynotBhakti.Nobodywould

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wanttodoanythinginreturnforLordGanesha.TheGodsandDemigodsareused

asobjectsofusurpandnotexactlyassymbolsofreverenceandworship.Thisis

thereasonwhywiththepassingof every festival season, there isasignificant

degradationofconsciousnessingeneral.OneoffersanincensestickforRe.1and

inreturnexpectsajobthatwillpayRs.25000.Peopletrytoeventrickelevated

demigods with their materially stained intelligence without realising the dire

consequencesofsuchprayers.

ApersonwhoisanAtmaratiorapersonwhodwellsinhisinnerselfisaperson

whodoesnotderiveanyenjoyment inthematerialworld.Sucha freedpersonis

trulyeligibletobefreefrommundaneactivity.ThedifferencebetweenanAtmaratiand a person in the material conception of life can be easily explainedwith a

practicalexample.Themundanepersonifheisaskedtostandinabigqueueto

bookhisrailwayticketisinfectedwithalltypesoffrustrations.Heundergoesstress

and turmoil during this simple act ofwaiting for his turn.However an Atmarati

simply engages in chanting the Holy name as he waits for his turn to buy

tickets.Heisateaseandenjoyshiswait.Adevoteeisthereforenotboredwithlife

at any point in life.He simply engages in sadhana at any point of time. Some

people look for their spectacle glasses all over the place when actually , the

glasses are actually placed on their foreheads.After much searching , he is

remindedofhisfollyandisamusedathisstupiditywhenhediscoversthatthe

glasseswerethereallthetimeonhisforehead.Similarlymansearchesforpeace

andhappinessin templesandchurchor inmodesofentertainmentall thetime

andsimplymeetsdisappointment.Hefailstorealizethattruejoyandcontentment

isalreadypresentinthedepthsofhisownheartandthathecoulddiscoverthis

joybychantingtheholynameHareKrishnaHareKrishnaKrishnaKrishnaHare

Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. The Holy name is

comparedtoatreasuretrovebyLordKrishna.ArjunanevertoldKrishnathatsince

HewasGodHeshouldchangethesituationofwarintopeaceandavoidwar.On

the other hand it was Lord Sri Krishna who taught Arjuna to transform his

consciounessandmaintainpeaceatalltimesandderivethehighestpleasureby

performinghisprescribedduties.ThestoryoftheHigherViewoftheeagleisvery

pertinenthere.TherewasaSadhuMaharajwhowaswatchingagroupofchickens

nearhishut.Aneaglehadlaidaneggamongstthesechickens.Theeagleegg

washatchedandthebabyeaglestartedmovingaroundwithchickensandstarted

growingupwithchickens.Theeaglehadmisidentifieditselftobeachickenand

wasbehavinglikechickens.ThissaddenedtheSadhuMaharaj.Hecaughtholdof

theeaglethathadnowgrownupandthrewitupintheairthinkingthattheeagle

would fly away.The eagle came down with a thud since the eagle had the

consciousnessofhensanddidnottrustthatitcouldsoarintothesky.TheSadhu

Maharajthencarriedtheeagleto thetopofamountaincliffandthrewtheeagle

downfromthere.Astheeaglecamecrashingdownfromthetopofthehill,he

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observed that thereweremanyeaglesthatwere soaringhighnear thecliffand

happilyglidinginthevicinity.Theeaglerealizedhistrueposition.Nosoonerthis

understandingsunkintohim,hespreadhis4feetwingsandtookofftotheskies

never to return back to the bunch of chickens and hens. Similarly man has

identified himself with bodily activities like eating , sleeping , mating and

defending.Hehasforgottenthedharmaofhissoulwhichishisactualpositionand

thatisofLoveandService.Apersonwhohasrealizedhistruespiritualidentified

issituatedontheplatformofLovingdevotionalserviceandunderthisconditionhe

hassoughtthehighesttreasureandhastrulyachievedmokshaorhasescaped

fromtheperennialcycleofbirthanddeath.Suchapersonneedstoperformany

otherdutyinthisworld.Suchapersondoesnotfeeltheneedtoenjoythroughhisbodyorthroughhissenses.

Therewasamanwithalongthichmustacheandonacertainocassionhehad

eatensomesandwichandhadsomecheeseontheupperpartofhismustache.

Themanstartedsniffinghardashemovedplacesandsoonconcludedthatthe

worldhadstarted smelling verybad.Theodour followedhimwhereverhewent

andhewastiredofthesamefoulsmelleveninsupposedlyfragrantplaces.There

was another man who pointed out to the speck of cheese that covered his

mustachenearhisnostrilarea.Thusthemanrealizedthatthereasonforthebad

odour was actually due to the particles of cheese that were smeared on his

mustache.Theuglinessoftheworld,SrilaPrabhupadasaid,isonlytothedegree

to which we have forgotten the Supreme Lord Krishna . As soon as we start

rememberingtheLordandstartsinginghisglories,onewouldrealizethatthereis

onlyfreedomandbeautyinthisworld.Tobetrulyindependentandcreativeisto

betrulydependentonKrishna.Ifwedecidetowalkthewholeworldanddecideto

remainunhurtbythethorns,stonesandpebbles,wehavetwooptions.Eitherwe

coverthewholeworldwithhighqualitycarpetsothatwemaybesavedfromthe

pricksofthehardgroundorwestartwearingsoftshoes.Optiononewouldrequire

anexorbitant investmentandmaintaining the carpet wouldbeanunimaginably

expensiveaffair.Theotheroptionwouldbe towearshoeswhichis anextremely

cheapandviableoptionandtheinvestmentrequiredincomparsionwiththefirst

choice is almost negligible.Ifwe take happiness on the body then it becomes

obligatory on our part to accept miseries too.Its like two sides of the same

coin.Acceptoneandtheothercomesasacomplimentaryandcompulsorygiftwith

it.Body,oneshouldunderstandisactuallyavehicleofperpetualsuffering

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