So this human form of life, Kṛṣṇa is stressing on this point, that manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścid yatati siddhaye (BG 7.3). Out of many millions, at least at the present moment, nobody is interested to know what is the perfection of life. They think or one thinks that perfection of life means to enjoy the senses to the best capacity, and as soon as the body is finished, everything finished. Just like Professor Kotovsky told, with the body everything is finished. Therefore people are so much anxious to enjoy sensually because he knows as soon "As this body is finished, everything is finished. So let me enjoy." This is the misconception, or illusion, or māyā. Body's not finished. You are creating another body. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). And you'll get another body, karmaṇā, according to your karma. Therefore the intelligent person, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante... (BG 7.19). That intelligence comes after many, many births. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān. One who is actually wise. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. Kṛṣṇa says, "He surrenders unto Me." Why? How he...? Because he's wise. How he's wise? Because he knows, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ (BG 7.19). He understands that Kṛṣṇa is everything. Not that he's falsely surrendering. He knows that Kṛṣṇa is everything. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate (BG 10.8). Kṛṣṇa says also that "I am the root." Bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām (Bg 7.10). "I am the root, I am the seed, of everything." Therefore, when one becomes actually wise, full of knowledge, then he surrenders to Kṛṣṇa.
Perfection of life means
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
The saṁsiddhi means, perfection of life means, that this life we shall act in such a way that next life, after giving up this body... We have to give up this body, but we should not give up this body like cats and dogs. That is human civilization. The cats and dogs, they also give up their body. And if we also give up our body like cats and dog that is not success of life. That is failure of life. Prahlāda Mahārāja has said that durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam. Durlabham. This human form of life is durlabham. Durlabha... Duḥ means difficult, and labha means gained. After many, many millions of years of evolution process we get this human form of life. That is the nature's. Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ (BG 3.27). We are being carried by the laws of nature. So this human form of life is very durlabha, very rarely gotten.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
What is the perfection of life? The perfection of life means to get out of this material condition and to be situated in our original, spiritual life. Originally we are all spiritual spark, we all, sitting here, not only we, human beings, even other living entities, everyone—the trees, the plants, the aquatics, birds, beasts, insects, microbes, everyone. Wherever you'll find living symptoms, they are all part and parcel of God. But according to their karma, according to their pious and impious activities, they have been obliged to accept a certain type of body. That is in the hands of nature. Your science will not help. Your science will not help. It will be considered by the material nature.
General Lectures
You can stop your birth and death. And if you stop your birth and death, then you stop your disease and old age. That eternity—you are eternal. You get your eternal life. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). The eternal..., even if we get this material body, even though we change this material body, just like I was a baby, you were a baby, but that body is no longer existing. I am in different body, still I am existing. Therefore na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). Although the body has changed, I am not changed. This is my position. Therefore perfection of life means to keep oneself in his original, constitutional position, not to change body. But that is possible. How it is possible? Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). Everything is there.
Philosophy Discussions
This material attempt will not help. Never. There is another verse that adhane gopī chindan vidhena ataḥ pudedevo padamjadayan (?): "Dear Lord, a devotee who has got a little grace from your lotus feet, padamjadaya (?), he can understand You. Others, they may speculate for millions of years. Still it is not possible." Just like Kṛṣṇa says that manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu: (BG 7.3) "Out of many millions of people, one is interested to make his life successful, and out of millions of successful..." Successful means one who understands that I am not this body. You ask, you take census, in this Nairobi city, you will find that 99.9%, or more than that, people do not know what he is. Everyone knows that "I am this body." So perfection of life means one who understands that "I am not this body..." They become impersonalists, something like that, or voidists. Out of them—those who have understood perfection, that "I am not this body"—one can understand Kṛṣṇa. Out of many thousands of people who have attained actual perfect. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is actually not so easy, but these devotees are actually realizing Kṛṣṇa. Why? By the grace of Kṛṣṇa. Because the devotees are engaged in His service, He is revealing Himself. That is the process. Not by this, Kant's speculation. It is not possible.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Perfection of life means ultimately you become lazy; you haven't got to work. That is perfection, they say. Otherwise why they get a cottage in a secluded place and live? All these Americans, they go weekend. They leave aside all working, they become tired, hard working, and they go. That is the intention, that you should live peaceful life, not working very hard. That is human life. Huh? Otherwise why they go outside the city at the weekend? Why do they go? Hm?
Indian man (1): They want rest, I suppose. They want rest.
Prabhupāda: So that means lazy.
Indian man (1): No.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Rest means lazy; you don't work.
Indian man (1): If one works five days a week, you rest for two...
Prabhupāda: That is another thing. You have to work to become lazy. (laughter) That is another thing. But the goal is to become lazy. You work five days very hard just to become lazy for two days. That's all. So if you have got means to become seven days lazy, you'll prefer it.
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So Indian life means para-upakāra. They are in the darkness, others, in the darkness. They have no such culture, spiritual culture. India has got that culture, this Bhagavad-gītā. So one should make his life a practically Bhagavad-gītā life. That is Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. And preach it to the world. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. And this order was not only... Because Caitanya Mahāprabhu happened to be a Bengali... He appeared in Nadia district, a district in Bengal. But He does not say the Bengalis; He said the bhāratīs. Bharata-varṣa janma haila yāra. So it is India's mission to become exactly on the line of Bhagavad-gītā. That is also spoken by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that perfection of life means to understand Bhagavad-gītā. He said āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa: (CC Madhya 7.128) "You just become a guru and deliver this country." "This country" means wherever you are living—it doesn't matter whether in India or America or anywhere else—you just deliver them. So to become guru means to save a person from the conditional life of matter. So long you become a materialistic person, that means you are under condition of material nature. So you have to get your freedom from the laws of material nature. That is your perfect life. But people in the Western countries, they do not know much of this freedom. India knew it, or some of Indians, they know it. But at the present moment they, being conquered or influenced by the Western culture, they are also losing their identity. Therefore my Guru Mahārāja ordered me to do something about the spiritual life in the Western countries. On account of this I came here.
| Page Title: | Perfection of life means |
| Compiler: | Rishab |
| Created: | 11 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=5, Con=2, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 7 |