View source for Even if he lives for more years, the bodily, mental and external sufferings will be there. What is the use of living such prolonged life

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{{terms|"even if he lives for more years, the bodily, mental and external sufferings will be there. What is the use of living such prolonged life"}}
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{{compiler|SharmisthaK}}
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{{first|2023-04-10T11:11:00Z}}
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[[Category:Even If]]
[[Category:Live For]]
[[Category:More]]
[[Category:Years]]
[[Category:Bodily]]
[[Category:Mental]]
[[Category:External]]
[[Category:Suffering]]
[[Category:Will Be]]
[[Category:What Is the Use]]
[[Category:Living]]
[[Category:Prolonging Life]]
[[Category:Pages Needing Audio - SHARMISTHA]]
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<h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
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<h3>1975 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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What is the use of such prolonged life, stand up in a place without any power to move an inch, and suffer all climatic disturbances? Is that very good life? Everyone is . . . even if he lives for more years, the bodily, mental and external sufferings will be there. What is the use of living such prolonged life? Hmm? Prolonged life, does it guarantee that these three kinds of miseries—bodily, mental and external, natural; there are so many disturbances—he will be free from all these disturbances? Simply dog's obstinacy, that's all.
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[[Vanisource:751015 - Conversation - Johannesburg|751015 - Conversation - Johannesburg]]
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Prabhupāda: Syphilis. In Āyurvedic it is called phairanga, means this disease is imported from Western countries. Every dog has syphilis, and they contaminate the woman, and that is distributed to man. According to Vedic civilization, dog is untouchable. Now in India also, to keep a dog is aristocracy. Yes. Especially the tail cut. Now half-cut tail, that is aristocratic dog. Now they are making dog show in New Delhi. (break)

(out of car)

Adjust. Kleśada āsa dehaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 5.5.4|SB 5.5.4]]). Material body means different ways of giving trouble. I have got one trouble. He has got one trouble. He has got another trouble. He has got another. But nobody is coming to the senses that it is troublesome. And troublesome, at the same time you'll not be allowed to continue. It has to be ended. Then another change of body, and what kind of body you are going to get, that you do not know.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: In the Western countries, people are taught that if there is some difficulty they should not try to accept it. They should try to change the situation.

Prabhupāda: But you cannot change. What is the answer for that? Nobody has been able to change the situation. Who has been able to change the situation? Apart from birth and death, where is the change of situation that there is no more disease? So advanced in science. So why the change of situation is not there? Why people are suffering? You are creating hospital. That's all right. But where is this process that no more disease? Where is the change of situation? That is called punaḥ punaś carvita carvaṇānam ([[Vanisource:SB 7.5.30|SB 7.5.30]]), chewing the chewed. They cannot change the situation, and trying again and again, hope against hope. This is their foolishness. Nobody is able to change the situation. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā dura . . . ([[Vanisource:BG 7.14 (1972)|BG 7.14]]). That is not possible, but they will not take it. "Yes, we are trying. Yes, we are trying." Dog's obstinacy. What you are trying? In the history there is no such instance that you have been able to change. It is not possible.

Harikeśa: Well, now medical science is so advanced that even if you have heart disease they can give you another heart.

Prabhupāda: So does it mean that the situation is changed—no more heart disease, or heart is never failure? It will continue. Where is the change? You may be proud with your puffed-up, false knowledge, but where is the change of situation? Futile attempt.

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: But they will say that the duration of life years ago was much shorter than it is now, that now the duration of life is sixty-five or seventy years average.

Prabhupāda: That may be in few cases. Generally the duration of life is reduced. Nobody lives nowadays like his forefather. So where is extension? It is reduced. And what is the extension? In old age the body becomes subjected to so many ailments. What is the use of living with ailments, with toothache (chuckles) and many other things? What is the use of such life? Better die young, in good health, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. What is the use of prolonged life? The prolonged life . . . the trees are also prolonged life. Does it mean it is happy? They live for five hundred years . . . five thousand years. Hundred, two hundred years' living for tree is not at all difficult. But they live for thousands of years. So is it very pleasing to live like a tree for many thousands of years? Hmm?

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: No.

Prabhupāda: Then why do they propose, "Prolong life"? What is the use of such prolonged life, stand up in a place without any power to move an inch, and suffer all climatic disturbances? Is that very good life? Everyone is . . . even if he lives for more years, the bodily, mental and external sufferings will be there. What is the use of living such prolonged life? Hmm? Prolonged life, does it guarantee that these three kinds of miseries—bodily, mental and external, natural; there are so many disturbances—he will be free from all these disturbances? Simply dog's obstinacy, that's all.

Harikeśa: There's a Greek fable about that. There's a Greek fable that this one lady got some benediction that she would live forever, except she forgot to ask for eternal youth.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Harikeśa: She forgot to ask to always be young. So she was very, very old and decrepit, and finally they just put her in a jar, and some young boys were playing with the jar, and they asked, "What do you want?" And she said: "I want to die."

Prabhupāda: Yes. When one suffers too much he commits suicide. Life becomes very troublesome. When the suffering is too much acute, they commit suicide. So that is not a solution, "We have prolonged life." First of all, there is no prolonged. Even accepting it is prolonged, what is the benefit?

Harikeśa: Actually, even if they didn't do anything, they would live the same amount.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Everyone is destined to live for a certain period. You cannot prolong it, neither reduce it.

Harikeśa: What about all these sufferings of the body? Let's say one has a toothache or something like that. If . . .

Prabhupāda: No. That I have already said, that as soon as you accept this material body, you must suffer. That is the way.

Harikeśa: So if you fix one thing, another thing will just go bad?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You cannot fix anything. You can simply think that, "I am now fixed up." That is not possible. Even if you fix up one type of suffering, another type of suffering will come. So suffering must be there. The body means suffering. One should understand this, that asann api kleṣada asa dehaḥ. Na sādhu manye yato ātmano 'yam asannapi kleṣada asa dehaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 5.5.4|SB 5.5.4]]). You are trying to adjust things, threefold miserable condition, but you should understand that as soon as you get this material body, it will be suffering only. Therefore whole Vedic civilization is a culture how to stop this material body. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are also trying. The Buddhists, they are also trying. But they are thinking that, "There is no soul. Finish this body." This is Buddhist theory. But they know that this is suffering. Similarly, the Māyāvādī, they also know this body is suffering, so they want to come out of the body and merge into the existence of God. The senses are already there, either Buddhist or Māyāvāda. And Vaiṣṇava philosophy is, "Not only come out of this miserable condition of life, but enter into Kṛṣṇa's family and live peacefully." But so far the body is bad, it is accepted by all philosophies. Any kind of Indian philosophy, they will accept that body is bad.

Harikeśa: The Mormons think they go to heaven in the same body.

Prabhupāda: Rascals. Except in India, there is no philosophy.
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