Now, nature's disturbance: all of a sudden, there is flood—all of a sudden, there is heavy snowfall; all of a sudden, there is famine; all of a sudden there is so many things which we have no control. We have no control. This is called supernatural disturbances. And disturbances offered by other living entities. We are living in the society with many other living entities, both man and animal, and there is possibility of miseries due to other living entities' behavior upon me. And besides that, due to my this bodily construction, either I have some mental agony or some bodily agony, or so many things.
So a person who is situated on the platform of pure consciousness, he's not disturbed by all these miseries. That is the symptom. He's not disturbed. When . . . or . . . when we are situated in pure consciousness platform, we'll personally understand that "I am not disturbed by all these miseries." People become very much disturbed, agitated, but one who is actually situated in this position of pure consciousness—brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54)—he has no distress.
He has no distress. And sukheṣu, sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥ. This is the, I mean to say, platform of distresses. And there are sometimes happiness also. Happiness also. Sometimes, suppose I get some good foodstuff. Somebody praises me, "Oh, Swāmījī, you are very great soul," and so on, so on, so on . . . so that praising, that praising . . . sometimes we are offered some, I mean to say—decoration, some degrees of praises from institution. These are the signs of our happiness. But one who is situated in pure consciousness, he's neither disturbed by all those distresses, neither he is actually happy by all these designative offerings. You see?