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You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished

Expressions researched:
"You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished"

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Suppose you are American. You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished.

Prabhupāda: Now ladies. Ladies. (ladies chant) That's all right. Word meaning.

Pradyumna: janma—birth; aiśvarya—opulence; śruta—education; śrībhiḥ—by the possession of beauty; edhamāna—progressively increasing; madaḥ—intoxication; pumān—the human being; na—never; eva—ever; arhati—deserves; abhidhātum—address in feeling; vai—certainly; tvām—You; akiñcana-gocaram—one who is approached easily by the materially exhausted man.

(Audio - 12:31) (Video - 00:58)

Translation: "My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of material progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling."

Prabhupāda: So these are the disqualifications. Material opulence, these things . . . janma, to take birth in very aristocratic family or nation. Just like you American boys and girls, you are born of rich father, mother, nation. So this is, in one sense, it is God's grace. That is also . . . to take birth in nice family or in nice nation, to become opulent, very rich, to become advanced in knowledge, education, all, everything material—and beauty—these are the gifts of pious activities. Otherwise, why a poor man, he does not attract anyone's attention? But a rich man attracts. Educated man attracts the attention. A fool, rascal, does not attract attention. So similarly in beauty, in opulence, these things are materially very beneficial. Janmaiśvarya-śruta.

But when a person is materially opulent in this way, he becomes intoxicated, "Oh, I am rich man. I am educated man. I have got money." Becomes intoxicated. Therefore we advise . . . because they're already intoxicated by these possession. And again intoxication? Then, by nature, these people are already intoxicated. Intoxicated in this sense: Just like if you drink wine, you become intoxicated. You are flying in the sky. You are thinking like that. You have gone to the heaven. Yes. So these are the effects of intoxication. But the intoxicated person does not know that this intoxic . . . intoxication will be finished. It is within the time limit. It is not going to continue. That is called illusion. One is intoxication that, "I am very rich. I am very educated. I am very beautiful. I am very . . . I am born in high family, in high nation." That's all right. But this intoxication, how long it will exist?

Suppose you are American. You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished. All, all intoxication. Just like . . . same thing: You drink something, become intoxicated. But as soon as that intoxication is over, all your intoxicated dreams are over, finished. So this intoxication, if you remain in intoxication, hover in the sky and mental platform . . . these are mental platform, egoistic platform, bodily platform.

But you are not this body, not this gross body and the subtle body. This gross body is made of earth, water, air, fire, sky, and the subtle body is made of mind, intelligence and ego. But you do not belong to these eight elements. Apareyam, in the Bhagavad-gītā. This is inferior energy of God. Even one is very mentally advanced, he does not know that he's under the influence of inferior energy. He does not know. That is intoxication. Just like intoxicated person does not know in what condition he is. So this opulent position is intoxication. And if you increase your intoxication . . . the modern civilization is that we are already intoxicated, and increase the intoxication. We have to become out of the intoxication situation. But the modern civilization is increasing that, "You become more intoxicated, more intoxicated, and go to hell." This is the position of the modern civilization.

So Kuntī says that this intoxication position, madaḥ, edhamāna-madaḥ (SB 1.8.26), increasing, pumān, such person, naivārhati, they cannot feelingly address, "Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava." They cannot feelingly. That is not possible. Their feeling, spiritual feeling, is lost. They cannot feelingly address, because they do not know. "Oh, this God is for poor man. They cannot have sufficient food. Let them go to the church and ask, 'O God, give us our daily bread.' We have got enough bread. Why shall I go to church?" This is their opinion. Therefore nowadays, in the days of economic development, nobody's interested in going to the church or temple, "What this nonsense? Why shall I go to the church for asking bread? We shall develop economic condition, and there will be sufficient supply of bread."

Just like Communist country, they do so. The Communist country, they make propaganda in the villages. They ask the people to go to the church and ask for bread. They, innocent people, they ask as usual, "O God, give us our daily bread." Then when they come out of the church, these Communist people ask, "Have you got bread?" They say: "No, sir." "All right, ask us." And then they ask: "O Communist friend, give me bread." And the Communist friend has taken a truckload of bread: "Take. As much as you like, take. So who is better? We are better or your God is better?" They say: "No, sir, you are better." Because they have no intelligence. They do not inquire that, "You rascal, wherefrom you have brought this bread?" (laughter) "Have you manufactured in your factory? Can you manufacture grains, the ingredients of bread, in your factory?" Because they have no intelligence.

Śūdra. They are called śūdra. Śūdra means those who have no intelligence. They take it as it is. But one who is brāhmaṇa, one who is advanced in intelligence, he'll inquire immediately, "You rascal, wherefrom you brought this bread?" That is the question of the brāhmaṇa. You cannot manufacture bread. You have simply transformed God's grain.The grain, the wheat, is given by God, and you have simply transformed. But transforming something from something, that does not become your property.

Just like I give some carpenter some wood, some implement, and salary, and he makes a very nice, beautiful closet. To whom this closet will begi . . . belong? To the carpenter, or to the man who has supplied the ingredients? To whom it will begin? The carpenter cannot say that "Because I have transformed this wood into such nice closet, it is mine." No. It is not your. Similarly, who is supplying the ingredient, rascal? That is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva . . . prakṛtir me aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4). "This is My property. You have not created this sea, the land, the sky, the fire, the air. It is not your creation." You can transform these material things, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ, by mixing and transforming. You take earth from the land, you take water from the sea and mix it and put it in the fire—it becomes a brick. And then you pile up all this brick and make a skyscraper building. But wherefrom you got this ingredient, rascal, that you are claiming this skyscraper yours? This is intelligent question. You have stolen the property of God, and you are claiming that it is your property. This is knowledge. This is knowledge.

Page Title:You are rich, you are beautiful, you are advanced in knowledge, and you are . . . you can be proud of become American. But how long this intoxication will exist? As soon as this body's finished, everything is finished
Compiler:SharmisthaK
Created:2022-12-07, 10:56:55
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=1, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:1