View source for We have got so many books, so many newspapers, so many magazines, we hear and read. But we are not interested in hearing Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, where atma-tattvam, the science of soul, is described

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{{terms|"We have got so many books, so many newspapers, so many magazines, we hear and read. But we are not interested in hearing Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where ātma-tattvam, the science of soul, is described"}}
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{{compiler|Nabakumar}}
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[[Category:Atma-tattva]]
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[[Category:Pages Needing Audio - NABAKUMAR]]
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<h2>Lectures</h2>
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<h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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Apaśyatām: one who has no interest to see what he is. Everyone is under this contemplation that he is this body and his bodily interest is the prime interest. But nobody sees the ātma-tattvam. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ. We have got so many books, so many newspapers, so many magazines, we hear and read. But we are not interested in hearing Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where ātma-tattvam, the science of soul, is described.
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[[Vanisource:740810 - Lecture BG 07.04 - Vrndavana|740810 - Lecture BG 07.04 - Vrndavana]]
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These five elements, gross elements, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ kham . . . kham. And finer than, manaḥ, buddhiḥ, ahaṅkāraḥ, mind, intelligence and false ego. False ego means I am identifying with this matter, which I am not. Therefore ahaṅkāra. This ahaṅkāra is false ahaṅkāra, which I am not. I am accepting that I am this body, but actually I am not. Therefore I am saying it is false ego. Real ahaṅkāra is ahaṁ brahmāsmi. There is also ahaṅkāra. Ahaṅkāra cannot be abolished. Ahaṅkāra will be there, but ahaṅkāra has to be cleansed. Therefore bhakti-mārga, the path of bhakti-yoga, is the cleansing process, clearing process. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam ([[Vanisource:CC Antya 20.12|CC Antya 20.12]]). Everything is there, but it has to be cleansed. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, you'll be able to cleanse your misconception of life. Misconception of life is that, "I am this matter." This is ahaṅkāra, false ahaṅkāra. But I am actually not this matter; I am spirit soul. Therefore pure ahaṅkāra is ahaṁ brahmāsmi, a spirit soul. That is the beginning of understanding. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati ([[Vanisource:BG 18.54 (1972)|BG 18.54]]). If one understands this fact that, "I am not this material body, I am a spirit soul," that is called brahma-bhūta.

So gradually, by understanding the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā and practicing it in life, we shall very easily understand the ātma-tattvam. That is the real business of human life. Unfortunately, we are not interested in the matter of understanding ātma-tattvam. Śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ ([[Vanisource:SB 2.1.2|SB 2.1.2]]). Śukadeva Gosvāmī says: "My dear King . . ." He was speaking to Mahārāja Parīkṣit that "For ordinary men there are many subject matter of hearing." Śrotavyādīni. Śrotavya means the subject matter for hearing. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī says: "For the ordinary man . . ." Who is that ordinary man? Apaśyatām ātma-tattvam ([[Vanisource:SB 2.1.2|SB 2.1.2]]). Apaśyatām: one who has no interest to see what he is. Everyone is under this contemplation that he is this body and his bodily interest is the prime interest. But nobody sees the ātma-tattvam. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, śrotavyādīni rājendra nṛṇāṁ santi sahasraśaḥ. We have got so many books, so many newspapers, so many magazines, we hear and read. But we are not interested in hearing Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where ātma-tattvam, the science of soul, is described.

So why they are not interested? Now, apaśyatām ātma-tattvaṁ gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām. Gṛheṣu, the household life, they are thinking, "This is life." Tātala saikate vāri-bindu-sama, suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje. Vidyāpati, a great poet, Vaiṣṇava poet, he has sung that . . . we are happy within this material world. How? Suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje. Suta. Suta means children, and mita means friends and ramaṇī means woman. So actually, our material life, existing, is society, friendship and love. If there are nice, beautiful woman at home, children and friends, we are taking, "This is our life." But that is not life. Real life is to understand what I am, ātma-tattvam. Ātma-tattvam. Without understanding ātma-tattvam, the life is failure. Therefore Vidyāpati sings, tātala saikate vāri-bindu-sama, suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje. We have created this society, friendship and love in this material world for becoming happy. Everyone wants to be happy, because that is his natural inclination. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). As Kṛṣṇa is happy always . . . you will see, Kṛṣṇa is enjoying His life with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs or the cowherds boys or His father, mother. That is spiritual, everything. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). That is ānanda-cinmaya. A similar imitation here in this material world, the same thing, suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje. But it is false. Just like you see water in the desert. You'll see there is vast mass of water in the desert, and the animal falsely go to drink the water and dies. Similarly, in this material world, this suta-mita-ramaṇī-samāje, what we are trying to become happy, that is like will-o'-the wisp, false thing.
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