Prabhupada 0107 - Don't Accept Again any Material Body
Lecture on BG 4.17 -- Bombay, April 6, 1974
It doesn't matter whether it is rich body or poor body. Everyone has to undergo the threefold miserable condition of life. When typhoid is there, it does not discriminate that "Here is a rich body. I shall give him less pain." No. When the typhoid is there, either your body is rich body or poor body, you have to suffer the same pain. When you are within the womb of your mother, you have to suffer the same pain, either you become in the queen's womb or in the cobbler's wife's womb. That packed up situation... But they do not know. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā. There are so many sufferings. In the process of birth. There are so many sufferings in the process of birth and death and old age. A rich man or poor man, when we are old, we have to suffer so many invalidity.
Similarly, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). Jarā, jarā and vyādhi and mṛtyu. So we are not conscious about the suffering position of this material body. The śāstra says, "Don't accept again any material body." Na sādhu manye: "This is not good, that you are repeatedly getting this material body." Na sādhu manye yata ātmanaḥ. Ātmanaḥ, the soul is encaged in this material body. Yata ātmano 'yam asann api. Although temporary, I have got this body. Kleśada āsa dehaḥ.
So if we want to stop this miserable condition of getting another material body, then we must know what is karma, what is vikarma. That is Kṛṣṇa's proposal. Karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ. Akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyam. Akarmaṇa means there is no reaction. Reaction. Karma, if you do nice work, it has got reaction. It has nice body, nice education, nice family, nice riches. This is also nice. We take it as nice. We want to go to the heavenly planet. But they do not know that even in the heavenly planet there is the janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa does not recommend that you go to the heavenly body. He says, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino 'rjuna (BG 8.16). Even if you go to the Brahmaloka, still, the repetition of birth and... Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). Yad gatvā na nivartante. But we do not know that there is a dhāma. If we somehow or other, if we can promote our self to that dhāma, then na nivartante, yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. In another place says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti (BG 4.9).
So people have no information that Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Lord, He has got His place and anyone can go. How one can go?
- yānti deva-vratā devān
- pitṟn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
- bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā
- yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām
- (BG 9.25)
"If one becomes devoted to My worship, My business, bhakti-yoga, he comes to Me." In another place He says, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi (BG 18.55).
So therefore our only business is to understand Kṛṣṇa. Yajñārthe karma. This is akarma. Here it is said, akarmaṇa, akarmaṇaḥ api boddhavyam, akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyam. Akarma means without reaction. Here, if we act for our sense gratification, the reaction is.... Just like a soldier is killing. He is getting gold medal. The same soldier, when comes home, if he kills one man, he is hanged. Why? He can say in the court, "Sir, when I was fighting in the battlefield, I killed so many. I got gold medal. And why you are hanging me just now?" "Because you are have done for your own sense gratification. And that you did for government sanction."
Therefore any karma, if you do it for Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction, that is akarma it has no reaction. But if you do anything for your own sense gratification, you will have to suffer the resultant action, good or bad. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says,
- karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ
- boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
- akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ
- gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
- (BG 4.17)
It is very difficult to understand what kind of action you should do. Therefore we have to take direction from Kṛṣṇa, from the śāstra, from guru. Then our life will be successful. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (end)