View source for First know what you are, your business, your destination & aim of life. Then begin work, religiosity, economic development. But if you do not understand yourself, what is the meaning of accumulation of wealth or so-called religion or economic devel... No

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{{terms|"First of all you must know what you are and what is your business, what is your destination, what is your aim of life. Then begin work, begin religious, become economic developer and so on, so on, so many things. But if you are in darkness to understand yourself, then what is the meaning of this accumulation of wealth or so-called religion, and so-called economic? No"}}
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{{compiler|Surabhi}}
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[[Category:First]]
[[Category:Know]]
[[Category:What]]
[[Category:We Are (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Our (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Our Business]]
[[Category:Destination]]
[[Category:Aim of Life]]
[[Category:Beginning]]
[[Category:Our Work (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Religiosity]]
[[Category:Economic Development]]
[[Category:If We Do Not (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Cannot Understand]]
[[Category:Our Understanding (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Ourself (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:What Is The Meaning Of...]]
[[Category:Accumulating Wealth]]
[[Category:So-called Religion]]
[[Category:Prabhupada Speaks - Lectures, 1966 - 1977]]
[[Category:Prabhupada Speaks - Lectures, 1969]]
[[Category:Prabhupada Speaks - Lectures, Srimad-Bhagavatam]]
[[Category:Prabhupada Speaks - in USA, New Vrndavana‎]]
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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="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="1" parent="Lectures" text="Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures"><h3>Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonSB15911NewVrindabanJune61969_0" class="quote" parent="Srimad-Bhagavatam_Lectures" book="Lec" index="134" link="Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969" link_text="Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969">
<div class="heading">First of all you must know what you are and what is your business, what is your destination, what is your aim of life. Then begin work, begin religious, become economic developer and so on, so on, so many things. But if you are in darkness to understand yourself, then what is the meaning of this accumulation of wealth or so-called religion, and so-called economic devel... No.
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<mp3player>https://vanipedia.s3.amazonaws.com/clip/690606SB-NEW_VRINDAVAN_clip01.mp3</mp3player>
<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969|Lecture on SB 1.5.9-11 -- New Vrindaban, June 6, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">
Just like Kṛṣṇa said. In the beginning of ''Bhagavad-gītā'' He says, ''dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya''. Just to reestablish religion. ''Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya''. People forget. Nature's, material nature's function is that, to put you into illusion always. So our forgetfulness is also another illusion. We forget our relationship with God, or Kṛṣṇa. 

Then ''adharma''. That is . . . instead of becoming servant of Kṛṣṇa, I become servant of so many things. I become servant of my family, servant of my country, society, humanity, cats, dogs, so many things. Servant I remain, but I become servant of so many things.

So I have to convert from this servitorship to Kṛṣṇa's servitorship. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, ''dharma-saṁsthāpana''. This is ''dharma''. ''Saṁsthāpana''. What ''dharma'', what kind of religion Kṛṣṇa established? He said that "I incarnate to establish religion." He never came to establish Hindu religion or Christian religion or Muhammadan religion or Buddha religion. He established real religion. What is that real religion? ''Sarva-dharmān parityajya'' ([[Vanisource:BG 18.66 (1972)|BG 18.66]]), "You give up all these nonsense, so-called religion and faith. You simply surrender unto Me." That is religion. That is real religion. All other, any other religion which does not teach how to surrender unto God, that is pretension. That is not religion. According to Vedic understanding, this is religion. This is natural function.

So, ''ātmānaṁ sarvato rakṣet tato dharmaṁ tato dhanam''. First of all you try to protect yourself, then take to real religion, natural function of the ''ātmā''. Then try to . . . because we are in this material condition, we require economic development also. So that is very easy also. Kṛṣṇa has given you enough land—you just little work. The animals are there. The cows will give you milk. If you till a little land, you get some grains. 

That is sufficient economic development. You don't require big factories, big workshop, and whole day and night with motorcar going this way and that way. No. There is no necessity for economic development. This is ''māyā''. Simply at the end he will eat some grains or some this or that, little. And by whole day . . .

Therefore they are called ''mūḍha''. According to ''Bhagavad-gītā'', they are rascals, ''mūḍha'', ass. Just like ass, the beast of burden. He takes washerman's load, three tons, four tons. Whole day working, but eating a morsel of grass, that's all. He has no knowledge that "I take a morsel of grass only, I live. And why whole day I bear these so much tons of clothing of the washerman?" 

You have no experience of the ass, ass's business. In India the washerman loads the ass three tons and he goes to the waterside, and the washerman washes all these clothings in some bank of river or reservoir of water. Again evening, the ass brings back the clothing.

So the ''karmīs'', they have been described in the ''Bhagavad-gītā'': ''mūḍha'', ass, simply unnecessarily working day and night, whole day and night, you see, without taking care of the ''ātmā'', without taking care of the religion. Economic development. What is this nonsense? You are losing yourself. You do not know what life you are going to get next life. You don't care for this. "Never mind whatever life I get. This life I have got. Let me work hard and accumulate money." And where the money will be? "Oh, in the bank. My sons and my daughters will enjoy." This is conception. ''Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke'' ([[Vanisource:SB 10.84.13|SB 10.84.13]]). Bodily, all bodily conception. 

''Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho 'yam'' ([[Vanisource:SB 5.5.8|SB 5.5.8]]). This is illusion. This is illusion. Simply working like ass without knowing what is the end of life, what is the destination of life—all asses, all these ''karmīs''. (chuckles) Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very nice. You can understand what is what. Yes. That is knowledge.

So, ''tato dharmaṁ tato dhanam ātmany vikṛte sati kuto dharmaḥ kuto dhanam''. But if you do not understand your self, what you are, then what is the meaning of your religion and your economic development? You do not know what you are. First of all you must know what you are and what is your business, what is your destination, what is your aim of life. Then begin work, begin religious, become economic developer and so on, so on, so many things. But if you are in darkness to understand yourself, then what is the meaning of this accumulation of wealth or so-called religion, and so-called economic? No.</p>
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