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The fingers catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest is give it to the stomach and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interest - to enjoy through Krsna, not directly

Expressions researched:
"The fingers catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest, personal interest, is give it to the stomach. Don't smash it. Give it immediately to the stomach, and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interest" |"to enjoy through Kṛṣṇa, not directly"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Suppose this hand gets one nice sweetmeat, and if the fingers think that, "It is our personal interest to enjoy the sweetmeat," that is mistaken idea. The fingers catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest, personal interest, is give it to the stomach. Don't smash it. Give it immediately to the stomach, and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interest—to enjoy through Kṛṣṇa, not directly. But these rascals, they do not know. They defy Kṛṣṇa.

Mahārāja Parīkṣit was not that kind of government. It is the duty of the government or the king to see that the citizens are properly raised to the spiritual platform, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the duty of the government. Therefore the social division is brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). The brāhmaṇas should be ideal teachers of Vedic understanding. The kṣatriyas should follow, even by force. Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja. As soon as he heard that Kali, these four principles of Kali, has already entered, he immediately took his bows and arrows and . . . "Who is that rascal, he is drinking? Kill him." That was kingdom. "Kill him, that rascal." So if one man is killed because he was drinking, then others will be very careful. That was king's duty. "Anyone who has got illicit sex, kill him. Anyone who is drunkard, kill him. Anyone who is eating meat, kill him." No other consideration. "Directly kill him." Then you see within a few years all these things will stop. Within a few years. But the government must be strong. But the government wants that, "You go to hell by drinking, but we are making profit. One rupee cost, we are getting sixty rupees. Go on with this business." This is Kali-yuga. Everyone is doing his own personal interest.

The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is quite opposite. Only interest of Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. No more personal interest. They are thinking of personal interest, but they do not know what is personal interest, these rascals. Just like the same example I have given many times that the part and parcel of my body . . . suppose this hand gets one nice sweetmeat, and if the fingers think that, "It is our personal interest to enjoy the sweetmeat," that is mistaken idea. The fingers catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest, personal interest, is give it to the stomach. Don't smash it. Give it immediately to the stomach, and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interestto enjoy through Kṛṣṇa, not directly. But these rascals, they do not know. They defy Kṛṣṇa, "Why Kṛṣṇa? I am Kṛṣṇa. I am God. I am everything." Therefore they are suffering. They do not know actually how to fulfill the personal interest.

That we are teaching, "Fulfill your personal interest through Kṛṣṇa."

na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te 'pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ
(SB 7.5.31)

The rascals, they do not know that his personal interest is Kṛṣṇa. That he does not know. Therefore he is rascal. And Kṛṣṇa says. It is not that we have manufactured this word. Kṛṣṇa says, na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ (BG 7.15). Kṛṣṇa is asking everyone, "Please surrender unto Me. Give up all this nonsense engagement." That is his interest, the living entity's interest. You surrender or not surrender to Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa gains or loses? He has got many servants. He can create His servants. He doesn't require your service. But if you surrender to Kṛṣṇa and render service unto Him, that is your interest. That is your interest. They do not know this.

So na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ. And people, the blind leaders, are teaching everyone that, "This is your interest: You eat whatever you like, you drink as much as you like, you go on gambling." If such leader is there, there is no restriction of eating. If such svāmījī comes that, "No, no, you can eat everything," "Oh, a good svāmījī." And "This svāmījī is very conservative." Just like Allen Ginsberg told me, "Swāmījī, you are very conservative." Because I restrict. But he does not know that actual benefit will be derived when you are actually conservative. Otherwise you are going by the waves of māyā. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura therefore said, kanno māyār bośe, jāccho bhese', khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi: "You are being washed away by the waves of māyā, material energy, illusion. Why you are putting yourself in such dangerous condition, sometimes being drowned, sometimes up, trying to . . .?" This is struggle for existence. The only remedy, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, jīva kṛṣṇa-dās, e biśwās, korle to' ār duḥkho nāi: "If you accept this principle, that 'I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa,' then you become immediately saved from this washing away by the waves of māyā."

So already, anyone who is in this material world, he is being carried away by the waves, the three guṇa, the three modes of material nature. Somebody is carried away in goodness, sometimes we see passion, sometimes in ignorance, but everyone is being carried away. Traiguṇya-viṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna (BG 2.45). So everyone is being carried by the material modes of nature. One has to become above this, nistraiguṇya.

Page Title:The fingers catching a sweetmeat cannot enjoy it. The real interest is give it to the stomach and your interest is fulfilled. Immediately your fingers will be fed. This is personal interest - to enjoy through Krsna, not directly
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-12-21, 09:55:15
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1