The conditioned soul dreams of utilising or exploiting the natural resources for turning the face of the earth. That is an illusion. We know when India was more primitive (?) there were thousands of cows owned by the agriculturalists and they used to enjoy life by the agricultural products and sufficient quantity of clarified butter, milk and curd. Even some hundreds of years before during the reign of Nawab Sawesta Khan, rice was selling in India at the rate of nine mounds a rupee and today ever since the beginning of scientific knowledge in India, rice is selling now at the rate of nine chatak a rupee. In the former days, the Indian kings and rich men used to perform yajnas by burning tons and tons of pure clarified butter made out of cow's milk and at the present moment there is not a drop of pure clarified butter made out of cow's milk even for daily use. That is the law of material nature. Leaving aside the stories of Nawab Sawesta Khan's history we can say from our personal experience that my father say 40 years before at most used to stock at our house (in Calcutta) always a cart load of rice (15 mounds), seers of pure ghee, a bag of potato and a cart load of soft coke always ready for use. Our family was not a rich family and my father's income was within Rs. 250/- per month. And it was within his easy reach to stock house hold provisions in the above manner. But at the present moment at no house in the cities and towns generally, there is stock of more than 15 seers of rice. Formerly they used to enquire rates of commodities in the terms of mounds and now they ask for it in terms of seers or chattacks although we are able to keep more glittering cars than cows at the present moment.
People in general may know it from Bhagwat Geeta that this earth cannot be turned into the peaceful abode of happy life because even if we are able to do so by exhausting our valuable energy for that purpose -- in due course of time, either the life itself will end or the happy home so much decorated will be set in fire and destroyed. That is the law of nature. Instead of wasting our energy for saving the wastage of heat shed by the sun, we may better use our perplexed energy in self realisation so that we may go Back to Godhead and back to home for eternal happiness. That is the highest perfection of life. The question of how to utilise the heat of the sun is not so much important in human life, as the question of solving the problem of miserable conditions within the laws of Nature. Ever since the beginning of man's increased scientific knowledge he has never tried to solve the big questions of birth, death, diseases and old age. From statistics, it is learnt that every minute there is an increase of birth rate in the proportion of one. And so far death is concerned, the recent report in India only is that every minute a man is dying untimely by T.B. and what to speak of other diseases and other countries. And the sufferings of diseases and old age have no end besides the three-fold miseries of the modes of Nature. So these are the problems of life and no scientific knowledge of the materialistic 'Pandits' can change the face of the earth by any amount of research work. That is the law of Nature.
So we wish to remind every one again and again that suffering of the living beings are due to vices of life and the vices of life are made possible due to ignorance of spiritual life. How the sufferings of the living being begins in contact with the material nature is explained in the Bhagwat Geeta as follows:--
Purusha, Prakirtistha, Hi,
Bhungte, Prakrtijan Gunan.
Karanam, Guna, Sanga,
Ashya, Sad, Asad, Jannia Yoinshu.
The Kshara Purusha or the fallible living being who is susceptible to the influence of Prakriti by his ignorance of spiritual life of association with Godhead from time immemorial -- is forced to make association with the material nature for dreaming continuously how to lord it over the resources of Nature. In that exploitative motive he is caught in the trap of 'Prakriti' and thus instead of utilising the heat energy of the sun, he becomes subjected and utilised in the modes of material nature. And due to such association of material nature, the living entity is forced to take his birth in different species of life by the management of natural laws: one who associates with the quality of goodness is promoted to higher status of life or is given chance to take birth in the higher and better planets than the earth. Those who associate with the modes of passion, they are stayed in the middle class family within the limits of this earth or a little higher than this but those who associate with the quality of ignorance are sure to go down in the species of cats and dogs or that of the swines and goats leading an abyss miserable life.
Why does the human being dream of committing vices? Transgression of the laws of nature is to commit vice. The human life is meant only for realising one's spiritual identity and direct his actions in that way. This sort of living a human life may be directed in the process of Karamyoga, Jnanayoga or Bhaktiyoga. That is the teaching of Bhagwat Geeta. If you are strongly inclined to creative energy like dreaming the utilisation of the heat of the Sun -- do it; but do it for the service of the Lord and not for your sense-gratification. That is called Karamyoga. If you are too much philosophically disposed to the speculative process of knowing the Absolute Truth do it; but do it for knowing ultimately the Supreme Lord as He is. And if you are already inclined to love of Godhead please increase it by his transcendental loving services and enter into the Kingdom of Godhead just immediately after leaving this encagement of matrial body. In any case non-co-operate with the dictation of illusory energy which has encircled us by the coils of sense-gratification. Try to sacrifice the result of fruitive action for the service of the Lord and that will save you from the sinful reactions of vicious activities. If you are businessman, administrator, professioner or labourer try to spend as much as possible for the service of the Lord but do not spend your earnings for sense-gratification. Sense-gratification is the basis of all vices and service of the Lord is counteracting the reaction of fruitive work. Our speculative designations of good work has no value unless it is done for the service of the Lord. Don't be captivated by false sense of altruism and make a show of service to the "Daridra Narayan" (?) at the sacrifice of goat Narayan (?) or chicken Narayan (?). If you have really a conception of Narayan then you shall find all living entities as your brother equal in importance. That is the sign of a "Pandit"
according to the teachings of Bhagwat Geeta. A Pandit in the real sense does not discriminate in the evaluation of living being. He sees equally on every one. He does not maintain a slaughter house for the goats and cows and makes a plan for the happiness of his fellow brother. That will lead one to the path of vices or to the path of ignorance.
If we therefore want to diminish the forces of vices such as murdering, pilfering, kidnapping, stealing, cheating, adulteration and so many other minor things, then we must have to become a devotee of the Lord and thereby try to revive our divine forces dormant in every one of us for the purpose of going Back to Godhead. The Sreemad Bhagwat therefore advises us like this:--
Jasya, Asti, Bhakti, Bhagwati Akinchana,
Sarboi, Gunai, Tatra, Samasate, Sura,
Harou, Abhaktasya, Kuta Mahat, Guna,
Mana, Rathena, Asath, Dhabate Baio.
"One who has unflinching devotion in the service of Godhead, is certainly qualified with all the good qualities of Gods. But one who is faithless in that matter has no value of his mundane decorations -- because that would not save him from the path of mental plane where all conditioned souls hover on vicious acts."
In the Bhagwat Geeta it is said also like:
Api, Chet, Suderachana, Bhajate,
Mam, Ananyabiak,
Sadhu, Eba, Sa, Mantbhya,
Samyak, Vyabasita hi Sa.
"Even if a man who is primarily a vicious man, but is a staunchly devotee of Godhead constantly engaged in His service, he must be considered as Sadhu because he is well settled there."
A well settled devotee of Godhead cannot continue to be a vicious man because his cent per cent engagement in the service of the Lord will make him automatically a saintly person by the Grace of the Supreme. The Supreme Lord, who is living with every individual living being -- will act as his Chaitha Guru or the Spiritual Master from within and give him (the devotee) direction so that he may go Back to Godhead. There are thousands and thousands of instructive stories of the nature in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas which are all supplementary. To be cent per cent engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord is the real process of sense-control. Vices are seated on the senses. The different senses of a man are different strategic positions of the enemy Vice which takes us to the miseries of life. The Karmis or the fruitive workers who have been described as the Mudhas or the foolish ignorant, is cent per cent engaged in the matter of sense-gratification. Because the citadel of Vices, with its soldiers of the name desire, anger and avarice, is the sense-gratification means to follow the dictation of Mr. Vice. The Jnanis or the mental speculative philosophers are thousand times better than the Karmis because they can understand the real position of sense gratification and try to employ senses in a subtle form restraining the gross activities of the senses. By this action Mr. Vice becomes surrounded and he is stopped for the time being. The Yogins want to control the senses or make direct attack on Mr. Vice and therefore the Yogins are thousand times better than the Jnanis; the Muktas or the liberated souls are still thousand times better than the Jnanis and Yogins for the Muktas are completely free from the attack of Mr. Vice. And above the Muktas are situated pure Bhaktas who not only drive away Mr. Vice from the citadels of senses but also engage the seat for occupation of the Supreme Lord. The king of the senses is the master Mind. Senses are like the horses while the mind is the coachman who directs the senses. The Bhaktas therefore first of all depose Mr. Vice the Coachman from the seat of Mind and place the lotus feet of Shri Krishna on that coach. When Shri Krishna becomes the coachman of the chariot of Arjuna, there is no more fear of the attack of Mr. Vice called by the name Dhuryodhana. The Bhagwat Geeta is therefore concluded like this --
Jatra, Jogeswara, Krishna,
Jatra, Partha, Dhanurdhara,
Tatra, Sree Vijova, Bhuti,
Dhurban Niti, Mati, Mama.
Sree Sanjaya concluded relaying Bhagwat Geeta in the above words. He said "where there is the master of all energies Shri Krishna and where there is a Master Devotee like Partha (Sri Arjuna) -- undoubtedly there are blessings, victories, influences and morality and that is my conclusion."
So in order to be victorious over the dictates of Mr. Vice and to save ourselves from the sufferings of miseries and ignorance, we have to place the lotus feet of Shri Krishna constantly upon our mind. And doing so we shall be able to speak and write always the transcendental news of the kingdom of God. And in that way we shall be able to engage our hands, legs, eyes, nose, tongue, head etc. all cent per cent engaged in the service of the Lord. When these places will be occupied by the master, there will be no place vacant for accomodating Mr. Vice and that is the easiest process of conquering Vice and replace them with all blessings, victory, influence and morality.
Vice is compared with Mist and the living entity is compared with the Sun. Mist is in fact a creation of the Sun and Sun itself can drive away the Mist and in the similar way the living entity has to increase its spiritual heat in order to drive away the mist of Vice.
When the mist is cleared off the Sun is seen in its full fledged flowing beams and in the same way when the Vices are removed the living entity is seen in his full fledged purity.
