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In the laws of nature, if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life

Expressions researched:
"in the laws of nature, if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

If by frustration one commits suicide, oh, that is not the end of his miseries. He creates another misery. He creates another misery by committing suicide. Just like here, in the state law, if somebody attempts suicide and takes some poison, and if by treatment of the physician he's all right, he's again under the law, to be punished. Perhaps you know it. After curing him from that poisonous effect, he is under criminal code of the state: "Why you have attempted suicide?" Similarly, in the laws of nature, if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life.
Lecture on BG 4.13-14 -- New York, August 1, 1966:

Brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. We are, by nature, we are not matter. We are Brahman. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. The propaganda of Śaṅkarācārya was mainly based on this understanding, that "We should not think that we are the products of this material nature." We are not products of material nature. It is by some accident, by freaks of nature, by misfortune or some way or other, we are now in contact with it. But actually I am spirit, Brahman. So that Brahman nature has to be invoked, has to be...

We are... Actually, just like a diseased person, he has to be brought into the healthy condition of life, to cure the disease. So just a man, when he's diseased and when he's healthy, from external feature, the same. Just like I am now healthy. So my external feature—I have got two hands and two legs and face and so many things—the same body, when I am in the diseased condition, you'll find the same hands, the same legs and mouth and everything, but the condition is different. I'll speak something nonsense because the condition has changed in the diseased condition. Similarly, in our diseased condition... This material life is our diseased condition.

So when we are in the healthy condition, that is called Brahman. That is called Brahman condition, healthy. So that Brahman condition can at once be regained as soon as we engaged ourself fully, cent percent, in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is clearly mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, in the Fourteenth Chapter you'll find. Māṁ ca yaḥ avyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate: "Anyone who renders the transcendental loving service unto Me," sa guṇān samatītya etān, "that person immediately transcends the modes of material nature." Samatītya. Sama. Samyag atītya, "perfectly transcending." Samatītya.

Then, transcending the material nature, then he becomes zero? No. That is the real nature. Now, the philosophy which preaches that "After our liberation, after nirvāṇa of this material existence, there is zero," oh, that is very dangerous theory because we are not attracted by zero. That is our nature, living entity. Now, suppose I am suffering from some disease and there are so many ailments, and if some doctor comes: "Oh, let me finish your ailments by killing you," oh, will you agree? You'll say, "No, no, better let me suffer from the disease. I don't want to be killed." Is it not? Will you agree? Suppose you have got too much suffering, miseries of life, and I suggest, "All right, let me cut your throat and kill you, and everything will be finished." "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not agreeable to that." That is the sane man's statement. "Oh, I am not going to be killed for ending my miseries." That is the nature. So the theory that "After making end of all these material miseries, there is nothing, void," oh, that is not attractive. That is not attractive at all.

And that is not the fact. Real fact is that I am sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1), part and parcel of the Supreme. The Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, and I am qualitatively one with Him. I am also, although I am small... Just like a particle of the sea water, that is also salty. That is also salty. The taste of a small drop of sea water is the same as the taste of the big, vast, big ocean of the, Atlantic Ocean. So the quality is the same. Similarly, I may be small. I may be a spiritual atom. My position is that I am spiritual atom, and the Supreme Spirit is all, the greatest, but that does not mean I am different from the quality. I am of the same quality. So I am not void. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20).

If by frustration one commits suicide, oh, that is not the end of his miseries. He creates another misery. He creates another misery by committing suicide. Just like here, in the state law, if somebody attempts suicide and takes some poison, and if by treatment of the physician he's all right, he's again under the law, to be punished. Perhaps you know it. After curing him from that poisonous effect, he is under criminal code of the state: "Why you have attempted suicide?" Similarly, in the laws of nature, if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life.

In the Bhagavad-gītā you have read—already we have discussed—paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate: (BG 2.59) "One has to end this miserable life after finding out a life of bliss and knowledge and eternity." That should be our... We should not be trying only to end these miseries of life, expecting something void. No. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa... This cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭam (BG 4.13), these divisions of human society, is created by the Lord because to elevate ourself from the clutches of this deluding māyā, or illusion. So just like one has to be educated from the lower class to the postgraduate class, similarly, this division of labor is there just to elevate one from the lowest stage of consciousness to the highest stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So that is a cooperation. That is a cooperation.

Just like my body. My body, there are different parts of my body. The head is the most important part of my body. The next important part is my arms. The next important part is my belly. And the next important part is my legs. But although the head is the most important part of my body, there is no question of neglecting the lowest part of my body, the legs. Similarly, although there are divisions in the human society, four divisions, according to the different modes of nature... The highest class is called the brāhmaṇa, or the most intellectual class. And the next class is called the kṣatriya, just the administrative class. And the next is the vaiśya, or the mercantile, productive class. And the next is the śūdras, or the laborer class. So all of them, they are required. But if they cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so there is no strife between these higher and lower classes.

We find in the present social, I mean to say, status of our life, we are actually existing in four divisions, but there is no cooperation. Practically, everyone is dissatisfied. Take for example the strife between the capitalist class and the laborer class. They, they are trying in different way. There is no compromise. There is always friction. And especially in a country like India, oh, there is always friction, and other countries also. So they are not satisfied. Recently also, in your country also, there was strike by the bus drivers and the subway drivers and administration. So there is always strike. Why? This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There cannot be any cooperation unless there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is an essential fact for harmonizing even the present material society. That is required. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so important thing, that cooperation...

The same example can be said here also, that the leg, the hands, and the belly and the mouth—what they are? They are cooperating. Cooperating for what? Cooperating for maintaining this body. This is the common interest. And how it is cooperated? To supply everything to the stomach. The brain is working, earning some money, the hand is fetching something and cooking, and the mouth is chewing, and the leg is going, but the whole function is targeted to fulfill the demands of the stomach. If these parts of the body non-cooperate with the stomach, they'll become feeble and weak and there will be no capacity to work.

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness means that in whatever division I may be... I may be the brāhmaṇa, I may be the kṣatriya, I may be the vaiśya, or the śūdra. That doesn't matter. But if we cooperate for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be perfect peace in the world. This is a fact. So this idea of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very important factor, although people are, I mean to say, they are unknown to this fact, although it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

In the world, Bhagavad-gītā is very popular book. They are reading Bhagavad-gītā. And in Dr. Radhakrishnan's book we understand that Bhagavad-gītā has been so important book throughout the whole world that there is a sect in Germany who are called Indo-German religious sect. Perhaps some of you may know. They are acting on the principle of Bhagavad-gītā. So actually, in the Bhagavad-gītā, the most important part is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In every verse, in every chapter, in every conclusion, you'll find Kṛṣṇa, the speaker of Bhagavad-gītā is giving stress on His personal self.

Māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ... (BG 9.32). Mām, this mām. Mām means "Me," "Unto Me." Kṛṣṇa says, "Unto Me." But there are many miscreants who are interpreting this mām as "everyone," as "everyone." Just like when I say, "I want a glass of water," does it mean that you want a glass of water? No. My individuality, "I want a glass of water." But they are making, by jugglery of words, that when I say, "I want a glass of water," that means, "everyone wants a glass of water." Is it a fact? Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa says, "I," they identify with the "I" themselves. That is their interpretation. That is misinterpretation.

Bhagavad-gītā... Therefore, although Bhagavad-gītā is very popular in the world, due to this misinterpretation of so many scholars, they have been not properly understood. That is a fact. The Bhagavad-gītā explains, very nicely explains, that this cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13), that this division of human society into four classes, that is established by Kṛṣṇa. But He is out of it. He's not one of us. He does not belong to this cātur-varṇyam. Suppose when Kṛṣṇa comes in incarnation, in His body, it does not mean that He belongs to either of these classes, either to the brāhmaṇas...

Just like Kṛṣṇa appeared Himself as the son of Devakī or Vasudeva. Vasudeva was belonging to the royal family, kṣatriya. So Kṛṣṇa played the part just like a kṣatriya. Kṣatriya means administrative class. But that does not mean that Kṛṣṇa belongs to the kṣatriya class. It is to be understood. There are daśa-avatāras. There are many incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the first avatāra, incarnation, is called Matsyāvatāra.

pralaya-payodhi-jale dhṛtavān asi vedaṁ
vihita-vahitra-caritram akhedam
keśava dhṛta-mīna-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare **

Keśava, Kṛṣṇa, appeared just like a fish. He appeared Himself in the fish community. Oh, but that does not mean that He was fish. If you say, if you think that, taking a fish, "Oh, it is the generation of Kṛṣṇa..." Of course, everything is Kṛṣṇa, from another point of view.

So similarly, Kṛṣṇa... Because in the previous verse we have discussed. Simply by knowing the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa, one becomes liberated. How you can understand Kṛṣṇa? By His transcendental nature. That is being described in this verse. Tasya kartāram api. Tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhi: "Although I have established these divisions of the human society into four classes, so I am not one of them." This has to be understood. Means as soon as we make it a mistake that "Oh, Kṛṣṇa, He appeared in the royal family of Vasudeva, so He belonged to the kṣatriya community, or the administrative class," no. Then you can understand the transcendental nature of Kṛṣṇa.

Page Title:In the laws of nature, if you commit suicide, that is another criminal act. So suicidal policy, to end this misery of life, is not all. We must have, I mean to say, greater life
Compiler:Narottama
Created:22 of Jun, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1