Just like so many rascals come, they challenge, "Can you show me God?" So... Yes. We can show you God, provided you have got the eyes. God can be seen by different type of eyes. Not these eyes. That is stated in the śāstra. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Indriya means these senses, these material senses. With these material senses, you cannot experience directly what is the form of the Lord, what is His quality, what does He do. So many things we want to know about the Supreme. But śāstra describes the qualities of the Lord, the form of the Lord, the activities of the Lord. You can learn. Śāstra-yonitvāt. Yoni means source, source. Śāstra-yonitvāt. Śāstra-cakṣus. Your eyes should be the śāstra. Not these blunt eyes. Everything we also experience by śāstra, by book.
Indriya means
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 3
Here the word asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt is significant. Asat means "impermanent," "temporary," and indriya means "senses." Thus asad-indriya-tarṣaṇāt means "from being agitated by the temporarily manifest senses of the material body." We are evolving through different statuses of material bodily existence—sometimes in a human body, sometimes in an animal body—and therefore the engagements of our material senses are also changing. Anything which changes is called temporary, or asat. We should know that beyond these temporary senses are our permanent senses, which are now covered by the material body. The permanent senses, being contaminated by matter, are not acting properly. Devotional service, therefore, involves freeing the senses from this contamination. When the contamination is completely removed and the senses act in the purity of unalloyed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we have reached sad-indriya, or eternal sensory activities. Eternal sensory activities are called devotional service, whereas temporary sensory activities are called sense gratification. Unless one becomes tired of material sense gratification, there is no opportunity to hear transcendental messages from a person like Kapila. Devahūti expressed that she was tired. Now that her husband had left home, she wanted to get relief by hearing the instructions of Lord Kapila.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So in our present experience we see this flesh or mental concoction. But spiritual understanding is different. That you have to do when you are spiritualized. Therefore it is said, ataḥ śri-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Indriya means senses. You cannot understand God by your present senses, or godly, kingdom of God. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ: "But if you engage your service beginning with the tongue, then God reveals." "God reveals" means He reveals His kingdom, He Himself. That... These boys are after God. It is not that I have shown him God, but they are realizing, understanding. Otherwise they are not so fool, they'll waste time. They are understanding. But it is not a subject matter to be seen like this. Neither you have got the eyes to see, neither God or His kingdom is visible in that way. It is to be realized, revelation. That is called revelation. But if you engage yourself in the service of the Lord, everything will be revealed to you. This is the process.
Now, here it is said that avyaktaḥ akṣaraḥ: "That nonmanifested, spiritual atmosphere is nonmanifested." But how it can be manifested? We have little feeling of it, but how it can be manifested? Yes. It can be manifested. And that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which we are preaching. In the Vedic literature it is said that ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Indriya means the senses. We perceive or we get knowledge through the instruments of different senses—eyes, ear, or smelling, tongue, touch. These are our five sense for gathering knowledge. And there are five senses for working. So we have got ten senses. And the ten senses are being conducted by the mind. So ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ.
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also it is said, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Indriya means these material senses. We gather knowledge by sense. But these material senses are very limited. So it is not possible to understand God, or Kṛṣṇa, by speculating our mind. Mind is the center of all senses. So senses help mind gathers knowledge. So it is not possible. Because our senses are all imperfect. By imperfect senses we cannot reach to the perfect or to the unlimited. Therefore we cannot know. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). It is not possible by manipulating your different senses and knowledge and mind you can understand God.
There is a story in Hitopaniṣad, Hitopadeśa, from which the Aesop's Fable is translated. There, there is a story: udarendriyānām. Udara. Udara means this belly, and indriya means the senses. There is story of udarendriyānām. The senses, all the senses met together in a meeting. They said that: "We are king, senses..." (aside:) Why it is open? "We are working." The leg said: "Yes, I am, whole day, I am walking." The hand says: "Yes, I am working whole day, wherever the body says: "You come here and pick up the food" bringing things cooking. I cooking also." Then the eyes, they said that: "I am seeing." So every limb, length of the body, they made a strike that, "No more we are going to work only for the stomach who is eating only. We are all working, and this man, or is stomach is eating only." Then the, the strike... Just like the capitalist and the worker. The worker under goes strike, no more working. So all these limbs, parts of the body, they observed striking, and after two, three days, when again they met, they talked amongst themselves that: "Why we are becoming weak? We cannot work now." You see.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
God cannot be seen at the present moment with our material eyes. God cannot be touched with our material hand. Therefore his name is Adhokṣaja. Adhaḥ kṛta akṣaja jñānaṁ yatra, with our material eyes, material hands, material senses, we cannot understand what is God. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). (aside:) Don't make sound. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi, God's name, God's form, God's quality, God's pastime, God's paraphernalia, and so many things, na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. Indriya means senses. Our present senses are blunt, imperfect. They are defective with so many faults. Everyone can understand that I am very much proud of my eyes, I want to see God, but I cannot see my eyelid. When I block my eyes, I cannot see what is this little fragment of the skin, and still I am proud, I want to see God. Just see. You have to qualify yourself, then you can see God. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when (He) entered the Jagannātha Temple, He immediately fainted, "Oh, here is My Lord." And other person says, "What is this nonsense. A wooden, not even very beautiful form, and He is..." So because he hasn't got eyes. One who has got eyes to see God, he does not see anything except God.
All the purpose of these instruments, different instruments, bhūta-sūkṣma indriya... indriya means senses. How they are working, how the enjoyment, object of enjoyment is supplied, that is all being arranged by Kṛṣṇa.
- asau guṇamayair bhāvair
- bhūta-sūkṣmendriyātmabhiḥ
- sva-nirmiteṣu nirviṣṭo
- bhuṅkte bhūteṣu tad-guṇān
Sva-nirmiteṣu, we wanted this kind of manufactured. So Kṛṣṇa has given me the chance, prakṛte, by..., through the agency of prakṛti. prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). That is also explained. Similarly, I wanted a body like this to enjoy a certain standard of sense enjoyment, so I enter into this body, I enter into that body. Also Kṛṣṇa enters as Supersoul. Sva-nirmiteṣu nirviṣṭaḥ. Then bhuṅkte bhūteṣu tad-guṇān. Then what I enjoy? I enjoy the action and reaction of the three modes of material nature, that's all.
There is a story in the Hitopadeśa: Udarendriyāṇām. Udara. Udara means this belly, abdomen, and indriya means senses. Udarendriyāṇām. What is that? All the different parts of the body, hands, legs, fingers and everyone, they held a meeting, that "We are working day and night, and this rascal abdomen is sitting down and eating only. (laughter) He is doing nothing. We are collecting everything, and putting into the stomach, and he is eating, very..., sitting nice. So strike: 'We shall not work.' So strike." Udara... Udara said, "All right, you strike. What can I do? I cannot work. You can strike." So they did not work. Did not work means there was no food, no food given to the stomach. They..., gradually they became weak. The indriyas, the different parts of the body, they became weak, because if there is..., if you cannot eat, naturally you shall be... Then again, next meeting they held that "What is this? Why we are becoming weak?" Then they decided that "The stomach must be given, sir. We have to work."
Whole world, whomever you meet, you speak of Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. That is gosvāmī. Not that gosvāmī profession means that I make a means of my livelihood, and I bring money from outside and engage in my son's marriage and daughter's marriage. That is not gosvāmī. One who is engaged in loka-hitam, spreading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam all over the world, that is gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means... Go means indriya. Svāmī means... Indriya means senses, and svāmī means the master. One has to control. If one is busy only family matters... What is this family? It is simply sense gratification, sexual intercourse. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). So if one is engaged in these family affairs only, sexual affairs, he's not a gosvāmī. Gosvāmī means who has, one who has... Wherefrom this gosvāmī comes? Rūpa Gosvāmī. Vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva... They, they were not family men. They were not in sense gratification. They were in the service of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa. That is gosvāmī. We must know what is gosvāmī. Loka-hitaṁ ratam. Everyone who is on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is engaged to preach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, throughout the whole world... Pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt. A gosvāmī means he must have disciples all over the world. That is gosvāmī. Not that within some area. These are the things.
Just like if you have got a photograph of some of your friend, so you cannot derive the benefit of directly meeting him. But in Kṛṣṇa's form, if you have a Kṛṣṇa's photograph, it is as good as Kṛṣṇa. That is the difference. You can get the same benefit from the photograph picture of Kṛṣṇa as you get benefit by directly meeting Him. Therefore, meeting this photograph Deity of Kṛṣṇa is as good as Kṛṣṇa. Advaya-jñāna, nonduality. Here in this material world there is duality, but in the spiritual world, there is no such duality. Brahma-varcasa-kāmas tu yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim, indram, indram indriya-kāmaḥ. Indriya means senses. Those who are too much lusty satisfy simply... The most important indriya is the genital, sex. So for them, it is recommended that "You worship Indra." Indra, the demigod, he is number one sexually inclined demigod. He has got eyes, eyes over all his body. Śata-cakṣuṁṣi. These eyes were originally vagina. He was cursed by Gautama Muni that "You are so fond of vagina that I curse you that you get all over your body vagina only." Then, when he surrendered, he began to cry that "It will be very much, I mean to say, abominable for me."
There are many examples. Just like in a nice cage, in a golden cage, there is a bird. If you don't give any food to the bird and simply wash the cage very nicely, oh, there will be always, (imitates bird:) "Chi chi chi chi chi chi." Why? The real bird is neglected. Simply outward covering. So similarly, I am spirit soul. That I forgot. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: "I am Brahman." I am not this body, not this mind. So people are trying to burnish the body and the mind. First of all they try to burnish the body. This is material civilization. Very nice clothing, very nice food, very nice apartment, very nice car, or very nice sense enjoyment—everything is very nice. But that is to this body. And when one is frustrated to this very nice arrangement, then he goes to the mind: poetry, mental speculation, LSD, marijuana, drinking, and so many things. These are all mental. Actually, happiness is not there in the body, nor in the mind. Read happiness is in the spirit. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam (BG 6.21). The real, the ultimate happiness is that which is beyond this material senses. Ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya. Atīndriya means—indriya means the senses—transcendental to the senses. That means that spiritual. There are many instructions and practical also.
Last night we discussed about, that a dog is running from this side to that side. So he's feeling some pleasure. Similarly, we also, so-called civilized man, we are also running on a car, this side and this side. So the same thing—the dog's race. But we are thinking, because we are running on a car, we are civilized. But the business is that dog's race. So Prahlāda Mahārāja's point is that we should try to understand the value of life. We should not waste our time by dog's race, either on four legs or on four wheels. That is the point. Therefore he says, sukham: the happiness is due to the senses. Sukham aindriyakam. Aindriyakam means, indriya, indriya means senses. Daityā. He's addressing his friends. They're all born of daitya family. Daitya family means they're simply after sense gratification. That is called daitya family. And human family, or devata family... There are two classes: daitya and devatā. Daitya means they do not know anything, just like animals, simply after sense gratification. They are called daityas. And devatā means they are fully aware of the existence of God, their relationship with God, duty with reference to God, they are called devatās. That is the difference between daityas... So Prahlāda Mahārāja, circumstantially, because he was to deliver the daityas, so he took his birth, by the will of the Supreme Lord, he took birth in a daitya family.
So this is Prahlāda Mahārāja's instruction. Everyone should be anxious how Kṛṣṇa will call him back to home, back to Godhead. And that is done, that is possible, when you are engaged in service. Otherwise it is not po... Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ (Brs. 1.2.234). You cannot ask God to come and He will see you. No. When you are sevonmukha, fully in service, sevonmukhe hi jihvādau... That service begins from jihvā, from the tongue. Tā'ra madhye jihvā ati, lobhamoy sudurmati, tā'ke jetā koṭhina saṁsāre. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, "It is very, very difficult to control the tongue." Therefore the tongue should be engaged in service of the Lord, beginning from the tongue. If you can control the tongue, then you can control your belly, then you can control your genital, and then you become jitendriya. So we have to become jitendriya. Indriya means the senses. They are given to us for material enjoyment, just like the hog is also given the tongue to taste stool. Not your tongue. Your tongue is meant for tasting prasādam, not stool. Your tongue is meant for chanting, not eating stool. So you have to control this. Then there will be possibility of getting the shelter of apavarga-śaraṇaṁ. The repetition of birth and death Everyone should be afraid of the saṁsāra-cakra-kadanāt.
Initiation Lectures
Just like a man steals. He knows that stealing is not good, but he wants to satisfy some sense; therefore he is committing stealing also. Therefore he is mad. He knows that "If I am arrested for this stealing or committing this offense, I'll be punished. I may be hanged or..." There are so many things. But still, because he is mad after some sense gratification, he commits such sinful activities. This is practical. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Vikarma means the actions which we should not have done. Why? Yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti. Indriya, indriya means sense. Prītaya means satisfaction. Simply for the satisfaction of the senses. If one is philosopher, he can understand, "Why we should be so much busy for sense gratification?" Now we can give one example. Everyone is trying, working hard for his sense gratification. Nobody is trying... Suppose if I say that "I want to satisfy my senses in this way. Will you kindly work for it?" Nobody will... "Oh, why I shall work for you? You can work for your own satisfaction." Nobody will.
General Lectures
So there are so many rules and regulations. Those who are interested in yoga, you will find in the authorized books, yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ: "The aim of yogic power, yogic success, is to control the senses." Our senses in this material world have been described as venomous serpents. Indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Kāla-sarpa, cobra, black cobra. So these indriyas are like that. Indriya means senses. As soon as touches, immediately it makes him poisonous. And that is the cause of our material conditional life. The more we are indulging unrestrictedly in sense gratification, we are becoming more and more entangled. Therefore those who are very much addicted to the bodily necessities of life, for them this haṭha-yoga system... Haṭha-yoga system means yama, niyama, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. It is called aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra, samādhi. These things are in the aṣṭāṅga-yoga. The first thing is yama-niyama. One must have regulated life. That is called yama-niyama. Then practice āsana. There is mechanical process of sitting which will help you; concentration of the mind, āsana. Then praṇāyāma, concentration of the mind. Then meditation. So meditation is not so easy thing. Unless you practice the preliminary necessities of meditation, you cannot concentrate.
It is said in the Vedic literature that ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi. Kṛṣṇa is a name of God. So it is said that Kṛṣṇa's name, Kṛṣṇa's form, Kṛṣṇa's attributes, Kṛṣṇa's activities... Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi begins from the name. So ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ (CC Madhya 17.136). Indriya means senses. We cannot understand what is Kṛṣṇa, or God—His name, His form, His attributes, His pastimes... We cannot understand by these blunt material senses. Then how it is to be understood? After all, this human life is meant for understanding God. That is the only business of human life. The nature, material nature, gives us this opportunity to have this human form of life. The facility of this life, of this form of life, is given to us just to understand God. Other forms of life, cats and dogs, trees and so many other things... There are 8,400,000 forms of life. So in other forms of life it is not possible to understand what is God. If we call all the dogs of your country, "Come here. We shall talk about God," no, there is no possibility of understanding. But in the human form of life there is possibility. It doesn't matter whether it is in India or America or Australia. Any human being, if he tries and if he reads the scriptures—never mind, Bible, Bhagavad-gītā, Bhāgavata—then he will understand God. Therefore this life, human form of life, is only meant for understanding God.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Yogeśvara: He says, "But God reveals Himself to us."
Prabhupāda: Yes, that is fact. If you are actually devotee, then God will reveal. That is... That is stated in the Vedic language, ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ: (Brs. 1.2.234) "You cannot understand the form, name, attributes, pastimes of God by these blunt senses." These senses, present (the ten) senses, cannot realize. Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ. Indriya means sense. Then how to realize? Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau. When you begin service with your tongue, then gradually God reveals. So tongue means you can do two business with the tongue. One is talking, and one is eating. So if you engage your tongue in glorifying God, and if you eat God's prasādam, then you realize God. Therefore these young boys and girls from Europe and America, they have been, they are being taught, "Use the tongue for Kṛṣṇa. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and eat Kṛṣṇa prasādam." And as practical result, although they are very young, still, they have realized God, Kṛṣṇa, far advanced than anyone else. They have forgotten all material things: illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication, gambling. They are simply devoted in the service of Kṛṣṇa. So because they have engaged their tongue in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, they have forgotten all kinds of intoxication, meat-eating. The American Government spent millions of dollars to stop their LSD habit. They could not stop even one man. But as soon as they come to Kṛṣṇa conscious, immediately give up.
| Page Title: | Indriya means |
| Compiler: | Rishab, Serene |
| Created: | 24 of Nov, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=16, Con=1, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |