We have already discussed that all the miseries of our life, it is due to this body. Mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ (BG 2.14). Mātrā-sparśās tu. All the distress and happiness that we feel in this material world, that is due to the skin, this body. Otherwise, the things as they are, they are neither miserable nor source of happiness. The example is given: just like water. Water now, in this season, the summer season, you will find very pleasant. The same water, in the winter season, it becomes pinching. So water as it is—neither pinching nor the source of pleasure. But it is due to this body—under certain circumstances, it feels pleasure, and under certain circumstances, it feels distress. So pleasure and distress, these dual forms of our existence, is going on. Now, if we want to transcend above this material plane, then our, we'll have to completely reject the bodily conception of life. We have to stand on the spiritual consciousness of life. That is being taught.
Source of pleasure
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
Similarly, there are different kinds of literature for different types of men of different mentality. Mostly the market literatures which attract men of the crow's categories are literatures containing refused remnants of sensuous topics. They are generally known as mundane talks in relation with the gross body and subtle mind. They are full of subject matter described in decorative language full of mundane similes and metaphorical arrangements. Yet with all that, they do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose, on any subject matter, is considered decoration of a dead body. Spiritually advanced men who are compared to the swans do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead. These literatures in the modes of passion and ignorance are distributed under different labels, but they can hardly help the spiritual urge of the human being, and thus the swanlike spiritually advanced men have nothing to do with them.
SB Canto 3
Therefore, although there may be a great increase in population on the surface of the earth, if the people are exactly in line with God consciousness and are not miscreants, such a burden on the earth is a source of pleasure for her. There are two kinds of burdens. There is the burden of the beast and the burden of love. The burden of the beast is unbearable, but the burden of love is a source of pleasure. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī describes the burden of love very practically. He says that the burden of the husband on the young wife, the burden of the child on the lap of the mother, and the burden of wealth on the businessman, although actually burdens from the viewpoint of heaviness, are sources of pleasure, and in the absence of such burdensome objects, one may feel the burden of separation, which is heavier to bear than the actual burden of love.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa referred to the burden of the Yadu dynasty on the earth, He referred to something different than the burden of the beast. The large numbers of family members born of Lord Kṛṣṇa counted to some millions and were certainly a great increase in the population of the earth, but because all of them were expansions of the Lord Himself by His transcendental plenary expansions, they were a source of great pleasure for the earth. When the Lord referred to them in connection with the burden on the earth, He had in mind their imminent disappearance from the earth. All the members of the family of Lord Kṛṣṇa were incarnations of different demigods, and they were to disappear from the surface of the earth along with the Lord. When He referred to the unbearable heaviness on the earth in connection with the Yadu dynasty, He was referring to the burden of their separation. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī confirms this inference.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
Seeing Your face encircled by curling locks of hair, Your cheeks beautified by earrings, Your lips full of nectar, and Your smiling glance, and also seeing Your two imposing arms, which take away our fear, and Your chest, which is the only source of pleasure for the goddess of fortune, we must become Your maidservants.
The lotus-eyed Lord, smiling as He recalled His bold pastimes, captivated those ladies' minds with His glances. He walked with the gait of a lordly elephant in rut, creating a festival for their eyes with His transcendental body, which is the source of pleasure for the divine goddess of fortune.
The women of Mathurā exclaimed: Oh, what severe austerities the gopīs must have performed to be able to regularly see Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who are the greatest source of pleasure for all mankind!
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Philosophy Discussions
Prabhupāda: Therefore He is sac-cid-ānanda. That is the description of Vedic literature, ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt, by nature is always full of pleasure. He is the source of pleasure. We therefore see Kṛṣṇa's picture when He is dancing with the gopīs, He looks very pleasing, and when He is killing some demon He looks very pleasing. Not that He is morose that His is killing, because you know that He is not killing; He is giving him salvation.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Mostly the market literatures which attract men of the crow's categories are literatures containing refuse remnants of sensuous topics. They are generally known as mundane talks in relation with the gross body and subtle mind. They are full of subject matter described in decorative language full of mundane similies and metaphorical arrangements. Yet with all that, they do not glorify the Lord. Such poetry and prose on any subject matter is considered decoration of a dead body. Spiritually advanced men, who are compared with the swans, do not take pleasure in such dead literatures, which are sources of pleasure for men who are spiritually dead. These literatures in the modes of passion and ignorance are distributed under different labels, but they can hardly help the spiritual urge of the human being, and thus the swanlike spiritually advanced men have nothing to do with them.
Correspondence
1974 Correspondence
It is a source of great pleasure for me to hear that you are seriously undertaking publication of the abridged version of Bhagavad-gita As It Is in India. As you know my Guru Maharaja emphasized book publication above all other preaching activities because it is the big mrdanga which can be heard all over the world. Sometimes people are reluctant to contribute for our temples and for our religious activities but for education everyone will be ready to help. All over the world they are taking our books seriously and that is accepted by educational departments as extra study books at schools and colleges. In that way we will have a good recommendation for introducing our books to all kind of libraries. When I was alone in India I got this sanction and introduced my books in so many libraries and schools.
| Page Title: | Source of pleasure |
| Compiler: | Laksmipriya, Matea |
| Created: | 16 of Dec, 2008 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=6, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=2, Con=1, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 10 |