Śreyas means benefit. There are two kinds of benefit: one is called preyas and one is called śreyas. Preyas means immediately very pleasing. Immediately. The senses, sense satisfaction, very pleasing immediately. But śreyas means ultimate goal. Ultimately. Just like a child, for him preyas means he wants to play, he doesn't want to go to school, and . . . but his śreyas is that he must go to school, must be educated, so that his future life may be secure. That is called śreyas.
So our life, this human form of life, should be used for śreyas. It is said, puṁsām ekāntataḥ śreyas. We should not be attracted by the preyas. Preyas. But modern education is so nasty that they encourage preyas. Especially in the . . . not in this country, everywhere, that boys and girls are not checked, rather encouraged, encouraged in the matter of immature sex life. Preyas. They want it, "All right, do it. Take tablets and enjoy." This is dangerous. For this reason, the generation are becoming degraded, because they are not aiming at the śreyas. They are simply aiming at the preyas—immediate pleasing thing. They do not know that immature sex life spoils the brain, spoils strength. Everything is spoiled. In student life, brahmacārī system is very nice. If he keeps brahmacārī, without any sex life, then his brain becomes very potent. He can remember. Memory becomes very sharp, bodily strength becomes very solid. In this way his life becomes very solid for future śreyas. But that is not being taught at the present moment.
But here the ṛṣis, the great sages, they are asking, puṁsām ekāntataḥ śreyas, tan naḥ śaṁsitum arhasi, "Kindly describe what we should accept." This is called inquiry. Everyone should be inquisitive for the ultimate benefit of life. What is that ultimate benefit of life? The ultimate benefit of life is to stop this repetition of birth and death, old age and disease. That is ultimate benefit of life. But they do not know. Then?
Pradyumna: (reading purport) "In the Bhagavad-gītā, worship of the ācārya is recommended. The ācāryas and the gosvāmīs are always well-wishers for the general public."
Prabhupāda: Yes. The ācārya or gosvāmī, their business is . . . just like our ācāryas, sad-gosvāmī, they left their service, big service, ministership, and by the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu they went to Vṛndāvana. But what for? Going to Vṛndāvana and sleeping and eating? No, no, not for that purpose. They, rather, at home they had time to sleep more, but when they went to Vṛndāvana they were sleeping only one half-hour to two hours only. At the present moment, when a man becomes old, he requires more rest. But according to Vedic civilization, no. More no rest; more work, more work.
These gosvāmīs, they were deputed by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu . . . at that time this Vṛndāvana, which you have seen, now it is nice city, but during the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu it was a big field only, that's all, nothing more than that. Everything, all Kṛṣṇa's līlā were vanished. Not vanished; it was not visible. Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw one small hole, little water, and He indicated, "This is Rādhā-kuṇḍa." Then Rādhā-kuṇḍa was discovered. So these Gosvāmīs, they were working very hard.
And special business was there, nana-śāstra-vicaraṇaika-nipunau. They were very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the Vedic literatures. Nana-śāstra. Śāstra, not ordinary knowledge. They were also reading. Nana-śāstra-vicaraṇaika-nipunau. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī has quoted so many verses, so many incidents from different śāstras, how the biography is stated there in compiling Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, which we have translated, Nectar of Devotion. So this Nectar of Devotion . . . because formerly whatever is given under Vedic evidence, people will accept all it is correct. Therefore nana-śāstra-vicaraṇaika. They used to collect all the Vedic references and put into the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu to establish that bhagavad-bhakti, devotional service to the Lord, is the ultimate goal of life. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau. Sad-dharma. Not asad-dharma.
Asad-dharma means referring to the body, karma-kāṇḍīya. Karmīs, they are engaged in asad-dharma, not sad-dharma. Because the body is asat. Antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (BG 2.18). Ime deha. This body is antavat, it is to be perishable, therefore asat. Asato mā sad gama, the Vedic injunction is. Don't be addicted to this asat, this bodily comforts of life. Sad-gama: try to revive your eternal life. These are the Vedic injunction. Therefore Bhāgavata says, yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tridhātuke . . . sa eva go-kharaḥ (SB 10.84.13). Anyone who is accepting this body as self, he is no better than animal. Go-kharaḥ. Go means cow, and kharaḥ means ass.
So the whole Vedic literature is like that—how to get the spirit soul who is now entangled, or encaged, in this material body. That is sad-dharma; that is sanātana-dharma. Sad means sanātana, which exists. Sanātana means eternal. What is sat, that is eternal. What is asat, that is temporary. So these Gosvāmīs, they engaged themself in studying all the different Vedic literatures. Nana-śāstra-vicaraṇaika-nipunau. They are very expert scrutinizingly studying, and it was put in, in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, so many other books also. Why? Sad-dharma-samsthapakau. Sad-dharma. Sad-dharma means spiritual life, not this material.