View source for Our present position is bondage. We are bound up by the laws of nature. We may foolishly declare independence - that is our foolishness - but actually we are bound up by the laws of nature

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{{terms|"Our present position is bondage. We are bound up by the laws of nature. We may foolishly declare independence"|"but actually we are bound up by the laws of nature"|"that is our foolishness"}}
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{{compiler|MadhuGopaldas}}
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{{first|26Mar13}}
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Arrival_Addresses_and_Talks" class="sub_section" sec_index="7" parent="Lectures" text="Arrival Addresses and Talks"><h3>Arrival Addresses and Talks</h3>
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<div id="ArrivalTalkAligarhOctober91976_0" class="quote" parent="Arrival_Addresses_and_Talks" book="Lec" index="42" link="Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976" link_text="Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976">
<div class="heading">This saṅkīrtana is all glorious. That is the blessings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. This is His blessing: simply by saṅkīrtana in this age. It is confirmed in the Vedic literature, in Vedānta-sūtra. Śabdād anāvṛtti. Anāvṛtti, liberation. Our present position is bondage. We are bound up by the laws of nature. We may foolishly declare independence—that is our foolishness—but actually we are bound up by the laws of nature.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976|Arrival Talk -- Aligarh, October 9, 1976]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Prabhupāda: So this saṅkīrtana is all glorious. That is the blessings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. This is His blessing: simply by saṅkīrtana in this age. It is confirmed in the Vedic literature, in Vedānta-sūtra. Śabdād anāvṛtti. Anāvṛtti, liberation. Our present position is bondage. We are bound up by the laws of nature. We may foolishly declare independence—that is our foolishness—but actually we are bound up by the laws of nature.</p>
:prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
:guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
:ahaṅkāra vimudhātmā
:kartāham...
:([[Vanisource:BG 3.27|BG 3.27]])
<p>We are bound up by the laws of nature, but those who are fools, vimudhātmā, under false prestige, such person thinks that he is independent. No. That is not. So this is misunderstanding. So this misunderstanding has to be cleaned. That is the aim of life. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, then the first installment of benefit is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam ([[Vanisource:CC Antya 20.12|CC Antya 20.12]]). Because misunderstanding means within the heart. If the heart is clear, consciousness is clear, then there is no misunderstanding. So this consciousness has to be cleansed. And that is the first installment of the result of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅga paraṁ vrajet ([[Vanisource:SB 12.3.51|SB 12.3.51]]). Simply by chanting Kṛṣṇa's, kṛṣṇasya, holy name of Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma, the same thing. Rāma and Kṛṣṇa there is no difference. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan (Bs. 5.39). So you require. The present position is misunderstanding, that "I am product of this material nature," "I am this body." "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am brāhmaṇa," "I am kṣatriya," and so on, so on... So many designations. But we are none of them. This is the clearing. Ceto-darpaṇa. When you understand clearly that "I am not an Indian, I'm not an American, I'm not brāhmaṇa, I'm not kṣatriya"—means "I am not this body"—then the consciousness will be ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Brahmā-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati ([[Vanisource:BG 18.54|BG 18.54]]). This is wanted. This is success of life. Otherwise, if we remain in darkness of our existence...</p>
<p>Everyone is abodha-jāto. So anyone born in this material world in different platform... One may take birth as demigod in the heavenly planets or one may take birth as a human being in the lower planets. And lower than that, animal, plants. There are 8,400,000 different species of life. So any form of life, we are bound up by the laws of nature, and bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān. The puruṣaḥ... Puruṣaḥ means the living entity. Puruṣaḥ... Actually, nobody is puruṣaḥ. Everyone is prakṛti. Apareyam itas tv viddhi me prakṛtim parām. Parā prakṛtim. The material, matter, is the aparā-prakṛti, and spirit soul is parā-prakṛti. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is clearly explained, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 7.4|BG 7.4]]). This is... Bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā. This is separated. This is also nature, but inferior. Apareyam itas tv viddhi me prakṛtiṁ parām. There is another prakṛti. What is that? Jīva-bhūto. This living entity. So living entity is also prakṛti, but because he has the tendency to enjoy this material world, he is sometimes described as puruṣaḥ. Puruṣaḥ means enjoyer and prakṛti means enjoyed. So the prakṛti forgets her position and artificially he wants to become puruṣaḥ. So this puruṣaḥ, prakṛti 'stho. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti 'stho bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān. So long he's in this material world, he has to associate with the modes of material nature, sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān. And on account of the influence of the prakṛti-jān guṇa, he has to take different types of bodies. Puruṣaḥ prakṛti 'stho bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān kāraṇaṁ guṇa saṅgo 'sya ([[Vanisource:BG 13.22|BG 13.22]]). This is the kāraṇa. He's associating with a particular type of the modes of prakṛti-jān guṇān—sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa—and on account of this he gets different types of body. You have to change your body. Dehāntaram. Tathā dehāntaram-prāptir. But different grades of body is awarded by the laws of nature according to our karma. Karmaṇā daiva netreṇa ([[Vanisource:SB 3.31.1|SB 3.31.1]]). So this is... Our material position is that we are associating with different modes of material nature, and that is infection. If you become infected with some disease, germ, then you have to suffer from that disease. You cannot check it. Similarly, this infection will give us our next body. That we do not know. This is a rascal civilization. They're kept into the darkness, that how things are going on. Their so-called education, university... So whatever they are doing, they are all being defeated. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. Ātma-tattvam. Unless one is inquisitive to understand "What I am?" whatever he is doing, he's being defeated. That's all. Parābhavaḥ.</p>
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