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Bad work means

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Bad work means sense gratification. That's all. Anything you do for the satisfaction of your sense, that is bad work. And anything you do for satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is good work.
Lecture on BG 4.16 -- Bombay, April 5, 1974:

I know, amongst the Mohammedans, it is a system that small children, they are taught Purāṇa. That is very good system, but we have forgotten. Although India is the land of spiritual culture, our small children, they go to school, colleges, but he has no connection with Bhagavad-gītā. He has no connection with Bhagavad-gītā. They are simply trained up for sense gratification. In Western countries also—for sense gratification. Which is to be suppressed, sense gratification, that education is given. They do not know what is karma and what is vikarma. Now, when the students become disobedient and they create riots and set fire in the buses, then they lament. But why you have educated the students like that? Who is responsible for this? The rascals, they do not know. Here is Kṛṣṇa prescribing. Kiṁ karma kim akarmeti kavayo 'py atra mohitāḥ. Even learned men, they become bewildered. Tat te karma pravakṣyāmi.

So in this bewildered condition, baffled condition of the society, we should consult Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is ready to give you advice, as He was ready five thousand years ago to give advice to Arjuna. That instruction is still current. It is not that it is finished with the Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa, no. You can take also the same advice from Kṛṣṇa and mold your life. That is wanted.

So kurute vikarma, we are trained up simply to act, opposite direction. Instead of doing good work, we are educated to do bad work, just the opposite. And that is not good. That is the advice of Ṛṣabhadeva. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ. What is that bad work? Bad work means sense gratification. That's all. Anything you do for the satisfaction of your sense, that is bad work. And anything you do for satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is good work. This is the division of bad work and good work. The same thing, if you do for your personal satisfaction, it is bad work. And the same thing, if you do for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, that is good work. We must first of all learn this.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Bad work means māyā and good work means God. There are two things, God and māyā. If we do not act in godly situation then we must be acting in māyā's clutches.
Lecture on SB 6.1.44 -- Los Angeles, July 25, 1975:

So if we are not instructed or trained up to act in good work, then we must be doing bad work. Bad work means māyā and good work means God. There are two things, God and māyā. If we do not act in godly situation then we must be acting in māyā's clutches. That is explained in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta in a very simple verse, nāna māyāra dāsa, kari nāna abhilāṣa: "As soon as I become servant of māyā, then I shall create so many rascaldom in the name of philosophy and science." This is going on. So-called philosophy and science means all rascaldom, bad work. It is very challenging word, but this is the fact. If we do not... Take for example... There are so many scientists, so many philosophers and so many hippies also, LSD men. Why this has happened? Because there is no good engagement. Some are passing in the name of so-called scientist and so-called philosopher, and some of them are hippies, but all of them are engaged in bad, asat. Asat and sat. Sat means permanent, and asat means temporary.

So we must know what is our constitutional position. That we do not know. We are sat, eternal; therefore we shall act in such a way that will benefit my eternal life. That is sat. Therefore the Vedas instruct, asato mā sad gamaḥ: "Don't be engaged in temporary activities, bodily..." Bodily necessities means temporary. If I am child, my body is of a child's body, then my necessities are different from my father's necessities. So everyone is engaged in bodily necessities. Therefore it is said, dehavān na hy akarma-kṛt. And kāriṇāṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sti. Infection. We have got this practical understanding. If your body infects some disease, then you have to suffer. And if your body remains uninfected, unaffected by any poisonous..., then you remain healthy. Therefore it is said, sambhavanti hi bhadrāṇi viparītāni cānaghaḥ. Viparītāni. Viparī means just opposite. Sambhavanti bhadrāṇi. One is acting in auspicity, and one is acting viparītāni, just the opposite, inauspicity. In this way we are becoming entangled, life after life. Karinam guṇa-sango 'sti. In other place it is said, karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa: (SB 3.31.1) "As we are acting auspicious or inauspicious, by higher supervision, higher consideration, judgment, we are getting different body." Otherwise why there are so many varieties of body? This is the cause. One is getting auspicious body, one is getting inauspicious body, but there is one opportunity that... If you want to change materially your auspicious or inauspicious position, that cannot be done. It is fixed up. It cannot be done otherwise. Suppose a man has got a nice body; a dog has got inferior body. You cannot change the... Bodily, you cannot make a man dog or a dog man. That is not possible. But spiritually, you can make. Spiritually, a bad man or bad dog even can be elevated to the highest perfection.

Page Title:Bad work means
Compiler:Rishab
Created:29 of Feb, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=2, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:2