So Kṛṣṇa is chastising Arjuna because he has accepted, he's becoming His disciple, so the spiritual master has the right to chastise the disciple for right direction like the teacher, like the father. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are friends, but Arjuna has accepted Him as spiritual master. There should not be any compromising words as it is done between friend and friend. The right things must be said that "You are wrong. Don't talk nonsense. Talking like very learned man but you do not know anything." "Why I do not know?" "Because this body, while living, agatāsūn..." Asun means the living force. While the living force is there, and when the living force is gone, two conditions... This body is moving very nicely because the living force is there. And as soon as the living force is gone out, this nice body will no longer move. It will decompose. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." "Again become..." It is called pañca-bhūta. Mix with the earth. Earth, water, fire, air, sky—these five gross elements are the ingredients of this body. So as soon as the soul is out of this body, this body again... Conservation of the energy. The earthly energy goes to the earth, the waterly energy goes to the water. It is a combination of earth. water, air, fire. So they become decomposed. And become distributed to different elements. And that is the scientific law, it is called conservation of energy. The energy is never lost. It comes back again to the original stock.
Dust thou art, dust thou beist
Expressions researched:
"Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return"
|"Dust thou art, dust thou be-est"
|"Dust thou art, dust thou beest"
|"Dust thou art, dust thou beist"
|"Dust thou art, dust thou"
|"Dust thou art; dust thou be-est"
|"Dust thou art; dust thou beist"
|"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"
|"dust thou art"
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 4
When the living entity is arrested, all his followers—namely the life air, the senses and sense objects—immediately leave the lump of matter, the body. When the living entity and his companions leave, the body no longer works but turns into basic material elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether. When a city attacked by enemies is vacated by its inhabitants, the enemy immediately takes advantage of that city and bombards it to smash the whole thing to dust. When we say, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return," we refer to the body. When a city is attacked and bombarded by enemies, the citizens generally leave, and the city ceases to exist.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
Transmigration of the soul is very clearly explained in this verse. One sometimes forgets his present body and thinks of his childhood body, a body of the past, and of how one was playing, jumping, talking and so on. When the material body is no long workable, it becomes dust: "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." But when the body again mixes with the five material elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether—the mind continues to work. The mind is the subtle substance in which the body is created, as we actually experience in our dreams and also when we are awake in contemplation. One must understand that the process of mental speculation develops a new type of body that does not actually exist. If one can understand the nature of the mind (manorathena) and its thinking, feeling and willing, one can very easily understand how from the mind different types of bodies develop.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Devotee: (6.44) "By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attached to the yogic principles—even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist, striving for yoga, stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures. But when the yogi..."
Prabhupāda: No, let me explain this. "By virtue of divine consciousness." We are preparing this consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, divine consciousness. And the consciousness we go. Just like the flavor, the aroma of a rose flower is carried by the air and if the air passes through us we also experience the rose flavor. Similarly, when we die, this material body is finished. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." This is made of five elements: earth, water, air, fire, ether. So the, so far earthy materials are concerned, that is mixed up. Somebody burns this body, somebody buries or somebody throws it for being eaten by the animals. The three system in the human society. Just like in India, Hindus, they burn the body. So the body is transformed into ashes—means earth. Ash means earth. Those who are burying the bodies of their forefathers, the body turns into dust, as the Christian Bible says, "dust thou art." This body is dust and again turns into dust. And those who are throwing for being eaten by the animals and birds, vultures, just like in India you have got the community, Parsee community. They do not burn, neither they bury. They throw and the vultures immediately comes and eat. Then the body turns into stool.
So everything is Kṛṣṇa's. So therefore this body, I am claiming, "It is my body." It is not my body. It is Kṛṣṇa's. Kṛṣṇa is giving you. Just like father gives the dress to the children. Actually the dress belongs to the father. So when we understand this body is also Kṛṣṇa's energy, I am also Kṛṣṇa's energy, my intelligence is Kṛṣṇa's energy, and my identification is also with Kṛṣṇa, in this way when we realize fully, that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And when Kṛṣṇa withdraws, then it is finished. This Kṛṣṇa, when He withdraws the spirit soul from the body, then the body remains, and in due course of times the body becomes... "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." This is mixed up, pañca. Pañca-tattva prāpta. Again the body is mixed up. Just like from the earth you make so many different types of forms. Again, when it is broken, it falls down on the earth, and in due course it becomes earth again.
As we have discussed many times, God has got many energies. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). There are unlimited energies, different varieties of energy. Out of that, those who are in the knowledge, they have divided the whole energy into three divisions. What is that? Material energy, spiritual energy and marginal energy. This material energy, you are seeing. And the spiritual energy, now we have no knowledge. But the marginal energy, something spirit, something matter, that we are, we living entities. I am... As I am, I am spirit. But I am mixed up with this matter. Therefore I am marginal energy, between spirit and matter. I am combination of spirit and matter. As soon as I am spirit, I am away from this matter, this bodily matter. "Dust thou art; dust thou beist." Yes. So those who are mahātmā, they have take shelter of the spiritual energy. Of course, for God, every energy is His energy. Therefore He has no distinction what is spirit and what is matter. But for me, because I am in marginal energy, I have to make distinction that "This is spirit; this is matter."
Avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). This is another statement of Bhagavad-gītā, that the Lord, Supreme Lord, he is situated in everyone's heart, hṛd-deśe, particularly pointed out. Hṛd-deśe means "in the heart". Hṛt means heart. So modern medical science, they see that the energy is coming from the heart and as soon as the heart stops to work, it is said that the body is dead. So here also the same thing is confirmed. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). They cannot say, explain, why the heart stops, but here we get the explanation that as soon as the soul, both the soul and the Supersoul, leave this body, then it is only a lump of matter only. "Dust thou art; dust thou beist." It is developed from these material elements, five gross elements and three subtle elements, but so long... It works as long as the soul, the spirit soul and the Supersoul, remains.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
Actually, we spiritual soul, we have no death. It is due to this infection. This infection is called dirty things. Actually it is dirt. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." That's a fact. Because as soon as I, the soul, will leave this body, it will be immediately decomposed, and after a few days it will be earth, dust. So actually it is dirt. So we have to cleanse this dirt from my real identity, spiritual life. This is the process. And this cleansing process is very nicely done simply by hearing the message of Uttama-śloka, or Kṛṣṇa. You haven't got to scratch it with some machine. No. It will be automatically cleansed if you simply give aural reception to the message of the Uttama-śloka, which is, in other word, it is called kṛṣṇa-kathā. Kṛṣṇa-kathā means words of Kṛṣṇa. Kathā means words, and kṛṣṇa, you understand. So kṛṣṇa-kathā, Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa personally giving you words of instruction. So if we simply read Bhagavad-gītā, then the sun cannot take away the, my duration of life.
Paramahaṁsa means they are interested with the essence of this world, not with the adulteration. What is the adulteration? The adulteration is matter and the essence is spirit. Just like this body. What is this body? This body is that I am a spirit soul, living entity. I am encaged in this material body. Everything. Even in the atom there is some active principle. A drug, there is some active principle. So similarly, in this body, my body, your body, or any body, what is the active principle? The active principle is that living soul. As soon as the active principle is gone, then it is useless. "Dust thou art, dust thou be-est." Then this body is made of this earth, and it again becomes earth. Either as stool or as earth or as ashes. These are the our experience. Just like Hindus, they burn this body. So this body become ashes. And there are communities, they throw out the body for being eaten up by birds and beasts. So it becomes stool. Because after eating they will pass stool. So the aftereffects of this beautiful body will be stool or ashes. We are now soaping so nicely, dressing so nicely this body, but the (laughs) aftereffects will be stool or ashes. Or earth. In your country you bury the body. So after few days it will be moth-eaten, and it will be turned into earth.
Guest: Kṛṣṇa means Christ. He's the whole spirit. We are in the body of man. That is the body of God.
Prabhupāda: The body of man is not exactly body of God. There is no difference between the body and soul of God because it is spiritual. The soul is spiritual, the body is spiritual. Just like if you have got your golden body and golden soul, there is no difference between the soul and body. But in our case, we, as we are, we are spirit soul but this body is material, therefore I am different from this body. But when you are liberated, we get spiritual body, similar, at that time, as Kṛṣṇa has no difference between His body and soul, similarly, we also have no difference between body and soul. But at the present moment we have got difference with the body and soul. Therefore as soon as the soul goes away from this body, the body being matter, "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." It mixes with the matter. The soul takes another body. The whole problem is that we have to stop this repetition of migration from one material body to another material body. That is the highest perfection of life.
Sri Isopanisad Lectures
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama... OM (Chanting of verses) This verse is little difficult, (chuckle) so chant and it will come, yes, abhyāsa-yogena, abhyāsa-yogena, Arjuna said that it is impossible for me, so Kṛṣṇa said, abhyāsa-yogena. Abhyāsa-yogena means practising repeated, abhyāsa-yogena so everything is possible by abhyāsa-yoga. Yoga, you have heard the name of yoga, practicing is also yoga. abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā (BG 8.8), one who practice. One who practices continually and does not allow the mind to go anywhere he becomes successful. Abhyāsa-yoga-yuktena cetasā nānya-gāminā... (continues chanting verse, etc).
- sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇam
- asnāviraṁ śuddham apāpa-viddham
- kavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūr
- yāthātathyato 'rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ
- (ISO 8)
So this verse, you'll read what is important. "Such person must know in fact the greatest of all, who is unembodied, omniscient..." That is the distinction between God and ourself. We are embodied. This body is different from me; therefore when I leave this body, this body becomes "Dust thou art, dust thou..." That thou means this body. I am not dust. I am spirit soul. So Kṛṣṇa is not embodied. He has no difference between His body and His soul. His soul and body, the same. He does not change His body, because He hasn't got material body. And because He does not change body, He remembers everything. We change body; therefore we do not remember what had happened in our last birth. We have forgotten who was... Just like even in sleep, when we forget our body, we forget our all, I mean to say, environments. While sleeping or dreaming, you are in a dreamland. You don't remember even that you have got this body. Every day, every night, this is being experienced. Because this body, I'm not body. The body becomes tired. It sleeps or it is inactive. But as I am, I work, I dream, I go somewhere, I fly, or I go, I create another kingdom, another body, another environment. This we experience every day, every night. It is not difficult to understand.
Festival Lectures
So there are different kinds of philosophies in the world, but Lord Caitanya's philosophy is the superphilosophy. Superphilosophy means... Why superphilosophy? Just like Lord Buddha's philosophy is... There is no acknowledgement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or any God. His philosophy is this, the body, this present condition, is a combination of matter. So you dismantle the matter by meditation. You disperse the matter. Let the earth go to the earth. Let the water go to the water. Let the fire go to the fire. Let the ether go to the ether, the air... Because this is combination of earth, water, fire, so disperse it. When go to the total water, total earth, total air, then... Just like you prepare a doll. You take little earth. You take little water. You dry it in the air. Then you, I mean to say, burn it in the fire, and it becomes a doll. You see? That means you take all the help of all these ingredients, and it appears. Similarly, this body has appeared in that way, by combination. So you, if the doll is broken, then, in due course of time, it mixes again. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." Again mixes with the water, earth, air. There is no... So as soon as it is dismantled and dispersed, there is no more consciousness, or the feeling of happiness or distress. Because we are all concerned with the feelings of consciousness, of happiness and distress. Everyone is embarrassed. Everyone is trying that "I shall become happy in this way." So that means he is feeling distress. So according to Lord Buddha's philosophy, these feelings of happiness, distress, is due to this combination of matter. So you dismantle this matter, material, there will be no more distress, and nirvāṇa-finish. Nirvāṇa means finish.
So I shall not take much of your time, you are tired. But some of the important things I may inform you, that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not a religious type; it is a great culture. It is a great culture for spiritual emancipation. Try to understand that we are in this world—not only we are; everything is combination of matter and spirit. Just like your body, this body is matter; but within this body, you, the spirit soul, is encaged or embodied. So anywhere you see, the tree... There are so many species of life, every species, every individual living entity is combination of spirit and matter. When the spirit is out of this body, then the body is matter only. Just like in your Bible also it is said, "Dust thou art, dust thou be-est." That dust is this body but not this spirit soul. So in this material world we are part and parcel of God, Jagannātha, and we are under the auspicious protection of Subhadrā, and we have got, I mean to say, implicitly the spiritual strength. In the Vedic literature you will find, nāyam ātmā bala-hīnena labhyo. Bala, bala means this Balarāma, the spiritual strength. The spiritual realization can be achieved by the grace of Lord Balarāma.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: Well that..., well then maybe this is saying the same thing. "By its nature the form of the soul is the form of the body. It is that form incorruptible."
Prabhupāda: No. The form..., material body is imitation, is false. Real body is the spiritual body. Because the spiritual body has form, the coating of the spiritual body by matter takes a form, as I have already explained, that the shirt and coat originally has no form, but when the shirt and coat is cut by the tailor according the form of the man, it takes a form. So actually this material form is illusion. It is not form. It, it takes the form, and when it is old enough, no more use, it again comes to the original position, earth. "Dust thou art, dust thou beist." This form is made by the material nature. It is just like a machine. Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā (BG 18.61). The soul has its own form, but he is given a machine, a particular machine, which is this body, and therefore he enjoys by wandering throughout the whole universe in different conditions of life.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Satsvarūpa: Just like we say God is svarāṭ, they say that the matter is svarāṭ.
Prabhupāda: Yes, in... Not svarāṭ. We never find a gas is svarāṭ, matter is svarāṭ. They... Just this body. Has this body come out itself? Because the soul is there, the body has developed. Therefore the cause of this body is the soul. The body is not independent. And the soul goes away. Then body's no more independent. It cannot move. It becomes just like dust. "Dust thou art; dust thou be-est." (break) ...like this body is moving now, but it is not independent. It is dependent on the soul. The soul goes away; it does not move. So how it is independent? And everyone knows that because the soul takes shelter within the womb of the mother, the body develops. If the child comes out dead, it does not develop. Therefore matter is dependent on the soul, living being.
Prabhupāda: So that we have to tolerate. Therefore it is called titikṣā. Śamaḥ damaḥ titikṣā ārjavam. Ārjavam means simple life, simplicity, that "If I can live in this way, why shall I acquire so many things for artificial life?" That is called ārjavam. Śamaḥ damaḥ titikṣā ārjavam, then jñānam. Jñānam means knowledge that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul. My..." Actually that is the fact. This body is not important. The living force within the body is important. As soon as the living force goes out of the body, what is this value? You may be a great geographer or scientist or Professor Einstein or whatever. As soon as the living force is gone, you are useless, this body is useless. You have to throw it. That is jñānam, that "I am taking so much care of this material body, which will not exist, which I shall, become... 'Dust thou art; dust thou beist.' Again it will mix up with these dirty things. I am taking so much care of this body. What about that living force, which is important?"
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Sarva-yoniṣu. All kinds of forms of life, 8,400,000 different forms of life. So "The material nature is the mother and I am the seed-giving father." Why they do not accept this philosophy? And everything is going on. Just like in the family the mother is there and the father is there. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is the father, and material nature is mother, and we are all sons. If we accept this simple philosophy, everything will be all right. Why they do not accept this philosophy, so many rascal philosophers? This simple philosophy. And this is a fact. What is this body? This body is this earth. "Dust thou art, dust thou beest." So the mother is this material nature. I've got this body. And the father, He is Kṛṣṇa, or God. What is wrong in accepting this philosophy? If this simple philosophy is accepted, the whole world will be happy. But they'll not accept it. These rascals will come, and speculate rascal philosophy. (laughing) With this simple philosophy... United Nations is there. Why do they not accept this simple philosophy? If God is the supreme father and in every religion they accept that, at least the Christian religion accept that supreme father, God, and the material nature is mother. And we are all sons. Not only human beings, every living being, even the dogs. This is philosophy, real philosophy. Is it all right?
Devotee (1): The philosophy now is that God is dead.
Prabhupāda: Ha? Father may be dead, but that does not mean the sons are also dead. Father is dead. This father is not dead. That is another rascaldom.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Ādi-keśava: That disturbs them the most, that we are condemning everything they believe.
Prabhupāda: It is condemned. My position is different. Why shall I die? The rascals, they agree to die. We do not agree to die. We want to come to our original position, no more death. This is our motto, because we get information from the Bhagavad-gītā, na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). I do not die on account of my material body mixed up... "Dust thou art; dust thou beist." This body is made of five elements: earth, water, air, fire, ether. And this is my gross body. The gross body is finished, but my mental, subtle body—mind, intelligence—that is not yet finished. That is carrying me to another body. Just like we have got practical experience. I am sitting here, you are sitting here. Mind carries me to New York, and I am now dreaming or thinking I am sitting in that room and talking with somebody. I have forgotten this, but... It is practical. Although I am sitting here, I have forgotten it, and I am working, thinking myself that I am in New York. Similarly, in dream my body is on the bed. I am thinking I am on the Himalayan top. So as it is possible even in this body, similarly, I get another body, gross body. Then I forget this body. This is transmigration. I have explained it. This is the factual. Everyone can experience. I have got a period of remaining in this body. So as soon as this period is finished I get..., I create another body and enter it. And because the period is not finished, although in dream I am getting another body and going to the Himalaya, top, or I'm going to my New York apartment, still, I have to come back because period is not finished. Simple thing. This is transmigration.
| Page Title: | Dust thou art, dust thou beist |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti |
| Created: | 07 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=2, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=12, Con=4, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |