This lecture explains how Lord Kapiladeva's Sankhya philosophy liberates individuals from unnecessary material desires and the suffering caused by identifying with the physical body. While the temporary body is a source of misery, it simultaneously provides a unique opportunity to practice devotional service and achieve spiritual perfection. By transcending bodily identification and absorbing one's consciousness in Krishna, one can overcome physical pain and experience eternal, ever-expanding spiritual happiness.
Today's verse is speaking of Lord Kapiladeva who has now appeared, the reason for his descent into this world in this particular incarnation of the Lord. So the Lord explains himself in this verse, that he comes to award this system or this philosophy of Sāṅkhya, which is to, for those seeking liberation from unnecessary material desires.
This world, everyone has so many unnecessary material desires that are troubling us so much, giving us so much trouble. Once there was a fisherman, a very simple person. He was sitting on a stone just next to the sea or the lake, and one very rich entrepreneur was passing by, and he saw that the fisherman was fishing for some time, collecting a little bit, and then going, retiring, going back to his house.
So, he was asking the fisherman, this entrepreneur, "Why do you just fish for such a short time? If you would fish for longer time, you would collect more fish, and with that you could earn money, you could buy bigger net which would collect even more fish, and you could start a company, and you could have employees, and you could eventually sell the company, and you could retire, and you don't have to fish at all. Or you could become so rich and happy."
So, the fisherman said, "Yes, I could do that. But what will I do when I get all this money?" And then he said, "Yeah, you will buy a house by the sea." "And what would I be doing there?" "Yeah, you will sit and fish." "You will sit and fish."
So, the point is that sometimes there's so much unnecessary trouble that we take just to do the same activity again, right? Once there was also another story, similar moral, that there was a boy sitting under a tree in Himalayas, and there was a wealthy man coming by and he said, "Why are you sitting under tree? Get a job, work hard, earn money, live a happy life." And then he asks, "So what will I do then?" And he said, "Yeah, when you have a job you will have your family, you'll live happily, and you'll enjoy." And he said, "But what will I do then after that?" "You will retire, you will happily..." "And what will I do then?" "Yeah, maybe you'll sit under a tree or something."
So again, the same point. There is so much unnecessary material desires. And this is what this Sāṅkhya system is meant to award, liberation from this desires that we are all haunted by.
So, we have just heard now how Kardama Muni is meeting with Kapiladeva and he is going to renounce his household, he wants to retire. And in the last purport which Madhavapriya Prabhu was giving class on, we heard that Prabhupāda raised a question in the purport that why does Kardama Muni have to renounce even though he has the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his son?
Imagine you would have Kṛṣṇa as your son, or an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa as your son, and you say, "Okay, now I have gotten Kṛṣṇa as my son, let me leave home and retire." It seems a bit contradictory or strange. So, Prabhupāda says of course that that is to show the example that what Kṛṣṇa says in the Vedas, his instructions that we should renounce, is actually even more important than having personal association. Real association with the Lord comes from following his instructions and meditation on his name, his form, qualities, and not just the physical presence. So that is equal. So he wanted to make this point. But there is also, I was looking, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, he explains that there is also another reason for his renunciation.
And that is that Kardama Muni had seen the Lord, he was doing meditation for ten thousand years, and he was in a very reverential mood with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, what we call dāsya-rasa, that his relationship with the Lord was predominantly in the mood of dāsya-rasa, as a servant to the Lord. But here, now he gets the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his son. And what is that rasa called?
Audience: "Vātsalya."
Vātsalya. So, he felt that this will be rasābhāsa, it won't fit together. "I have been serving the Lord as a servant with great awe and reverence, and now I'm supposed to become his father?" So therefore, Viśvanātha Cakravartī also points this reason out, which I just thought was interesting, I wanted to mention.
So, let's zoom out even a little bit further and if we look at the Third Canto as a whole, the Third Canto is speaking about one of the ten topics of the Bhāgavatam, which is sarga or sṛṣṭi, which is creation. So, and two times in this Canto the creation is described. First time between Maitreya and Vidura in the fifth and sixth chapter of the Canto, and now again in the Sāṅkhya philosophy again it will be explained how the creation starts from subtle, the mahat-tattva, which develops into the false ego, and the false ego in the different modes develops into the senses, the objects of the senses, the five elements: earth, water, fire, ether, and air. So all of this from subtle to gross becomes created.
So, one may question that what is the necessity for it being described twice, this creation? And of course we understand that repetition is important, but I was listening to Bhagavan Keshava Mahārāja and he was giving an explanation about this, that of course the repetition is there, it's important because it's important to understand the creation. And we'll come to why in a minute. But he said that first time it is described in the Canto, in between Maitreya and Vidura, it is there to show us how the conditioned souls become conditioned, baddha-sṛṣṭi. So, it is described there about the five types of moha: tama, tamisra, andhatamisra, moha, and... now I'm mixing it up. Anyway, five types of moha. It becomes illusion about his real identity, he starts feeling a sense of death, and he becomes illusioned by the material energy and so on. So, it describes how the living entity becomes conditioned in this world.
So, and that is very important to understand. And the second time it is described in the Third Canto, now, which comes now in the Sāṅkhya section, in the last chapters of the Third Canto, it comes again, the same knowledge but with a slightly different purpose. But before we investigate that, I wanted to ask you one question. What is, there is actually a purpose for this material creation. What is the purpose for this material creation?
Okay, Janeśvara Prabhu?
Janeśvara: "...opportunity for the conditioned soul to enjoy and also..."
Yes, so that's one. Chance to enjoy. So, the living entity gets the opportunity to exercise his free will and enjoy in this material world, to have the free will to be separate from God, from Kṛṣṇa, and...
Audience: "To realize the futility of being separate from Kṛṣṇa."
Yes, basically realizing that actually, yeah as you said, it's like a school graduating from it and realizing that this is actually not where we belong. In other words, also, the purpose of this creation is to get out of this creation. It's just like a prison. If you think about it, why do we create a prison? Of course, to facilitate for those who cannot exercise their free will in society in a proper way, and therefore they have to be restricted. But also the prison is there for the people who go in there ultimately to get out of there. They are not just there to stay there forever, right? But to get out from there. So, the purpose of a prison is to get out of the prison. So, this world has a dual purpose: to facilitate for our enjoyment, exercise our free will, and also to frustrate us, and ultimately get us out of this world.
So, the second time now when he describes the creation in the Canto, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes and Kapiladeva has appeared, it is for the mukti-sṛṣṭi. It is explaining how we can use this material creation to get free from material bondage. So, I thought that was interesting. And Sāṅkhya is hopefully after we read it we will be free from material desires, let's see, but it's very important, it's quite technical, but it is important to understand and apply ourselves to understanding this process of creation, how we become conditioned and how we can get liberated from this conditioning. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja says in the Ādi-līlā that:
siddhānta boliyā citte nā kara alasa
ihā ha-ite kṛṣṇe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa
That in the matter of understanding siddhānta, in the matter of understanding our philosophy, one should not be lazy, you should not think it's not so important. We should be very eager and apply ourselves to this philosophy and try to understand it. Ihā ha-ite kṛṣṇe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa: by doing this, by understanding siddhānta, in our mind very fixedly, Kṛṣṇa becomes very fixed. Kṛṣṇa becomes present if we understand siddhānta in a proper way. Ihā ha-ite kṛṣṇe lāge sudṛḍha mānasa. So, it's very important to understand the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness thoroughly, which is the Sāṅkhya explained by Kapiladeva, the son of Devahūti, not the atheistic Kapiladeva.
So, what does it mean to understand Sāṅkhya philosophy? And I think Prabhupāda in this purport, he gives a synopsis of Sāṅkhya philosophy or the purpose of it all. And he stresses that in the purport and he says in the purport, "Human society should very seriously understand that the body itself is the source of all miserable life." That is actually a big part of Sāṅkhya philosophy, understanding all the elements that the body is composed of, and also understanding ultimately that it is a source of misery. In the Bhāgavatam, there is a verse, very famous:
nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma
yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti
na sādhu manye yata ātmano 'yam
asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ
And in this verse, the Sanskrit word used for the body or explaining the body is kleśada. And what does that mean? Kleśa means suffering, and da means to give. So, it means that which gives suffering. And that is what this purport explains, Prabhupāda stresses, that the body is the source of misery. Śrī Śrī Pañca-tattva kī jaya!
And how do we know that the body is a source of misery? What is the four things that is the miserable with this life?
Audience: "Birth, death, old age, and disease."
Birth, death, old age, and disease. These are, this is what material life is filled with, and this material creation is filled with. Death all the time. I don't know, I think probably there is, speaking of the death rate of humans, I think every almost second there is someone dying, you know? Dying, people dying, dying, dying, dying, dying, dying, dying. Now someone's dying, now someone's dying, now someone's dying. Death, death, death. And disease, I mean, I have quite personal, good personal experience this week from the body as a source of misery, being hit on the foot, you know? So much trouble, cannot walk properly, pain and worry that there is a fracture in the foot. It's giving so much, just such a small thing as the feet. So there is disease. And there is old age. Maybe some of our seniors can tell us something about it. I have not so much experience. Is it fun to be old?
Audience: "Yeah."
Yes! You get a little bit wise at least, I think. But the body starts aching, and there is always problems.
So, the body, but it's interesting, this was Keshav Maharaj was saying when he was in Stockholm, he was giving a lecture there, and he was making this contrast that although the body is kleśada, the source of misery, which the Bhāgavatam says, the same Bhāgavatam later on in the Seventh Canto says:
kaumāra ācareṭ prājño
dharmān bhāgavatān iha
durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
That although this body is temporary, tad apy adhruvam arthadam, it can award the greatest wealth. Why? Because it awards us an opportunity to practice devotional service. It's the vehicle through which we can practice devotional service. So, the body is the source of misery, but at the same time it's a great opportunity. So Bhāgavatam is, as that class which Keshav Maharaj was speaking about, he said, is spiritual life optimistic or pessimistic? And the answer is both. We are very pessimistic about the body and its source of misery, but at the same time we are very optimistic about its value in attaining the Absolute Truth.
So, Kṛṣṇa also explains in the Gītā that actually the body is giving us pain, but suffering actually comes from the mind really. It comes from our own identification with the body. Like Kṛṣṇa says, mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham, that death comes to take everything away from us. And when we identify with the body, we identify with our beauty, we identify with our intelligence, we identify with our position, we identify with so many things of this world, when death comes or when old age comes, and it takes away our beauty, it takes away our intelligence, our memory, our position... I mean, you can't keep it, right? And when we identify very strongly with this and think, "I am worth something because I have this position, because I'm intelligent, because I'm beautiful," then we will be very disappointed, we will come into an identity crisis because everything that we were valued on the basis of is now taken away from us.
So, therefore also Bhagavad-gītā says, thirteenth chapter:
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve
hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ
bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
That pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We are imposing the real suffering actually on ourselves. That doesn't sound like really, I haven't heard of a Gītā verse you might say that says like "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional", but that is essentially what the verse is saying, that:
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
The cause of all the effects in this world is prakṛti. Everything that is happening in this world, our injuries, our old age, it's the cause of prakṛti. And then it says:
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
The living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments. So the pain is coming from the material nature, but the suffering and enjoyment is because we identify with the body.
So, therefore we should try to understand basic point, we are not this body. And also eventually this Sāṅkhya philosophy as it says in this verse, if you look at the Sanskrit, it says:
prasāṅkhyānāya tattvānāṁ
sammatāyātma-darśane
The word for the goal we are trying to, which we attain by perfecting the philosophy of Sāṅkhya and the practice, is ātma-darśana. Ātma-darśana doesn't just is not just theoretical knowledge. That tattva, that truth, is, darśana means literally, it comes from the Sanskrit word dṛś or the root dṛś, and dṛśyate means to see, and darśana means to... like we say we go to take darśana of Pañca-tattva. So, ātma-darśana, it means that we see the self, we see the spiritual reality, or maybe not see, but we experience. Darśana is often used in the sense that we experience, it becomes realized. So we can experience that we are not this body, that we are spirit soul, and that the spirit soul, it is not kleśada. It is sac-cid-ānanda.
So, but still, many people in this world, they would think that actually we were in book distribution, we were just on a trip for two weeks, we visited Gothenburg, we visited what did we visit more? Karlstad, Uddevalla, Ulricehamn, many cities, Linköping, Gränna, Nässjö, Borås, yeah Borås, Västervik, Visby. So, it was very fun. But when we were in Linköping, I met one boy and I was saying, you know, that the body is a source of misery, we are spirit soul, you know, and that you can attain, the soul is eternal, and he was saying eternal, actually eternal life would be kind of boring. And I was a little bit struck, okay, that's first time I heard that, but actually it's kind of common, people think that eternal life is boring, because imagine right now if you would be given immortality, you would live forever right now. And he said, this was he told me, "Imagine that. Wouldn't you go crazy? Everyone would go crazy if they would live forever."
And I was saying, "Yeah, that's kind of true, because in this, in this material existence, we are always frustrated, right?" But there is a spiritual reality. But he wasn't really convinced. Anyway, we had a nice discussion and he took three books, and he was, I mean, it sounds like he was very, but he was a very sensible young boy, I think my age. He took three books and he wanted to read them. But after that, I went on the internet because I thought that's an interesting concept, I would like to learn more about that. So I was researching and I found out that there is one philosopher called Bernard Williams. Anyone heard of him? He is a philosopher from England, is a British philosopher, and he lived in the twentieth century. He died 2003. And he wrote many books, but one essay he wrote is called, see here, I wrote it down, "The Makropulos Case". And in that essay or kind of philosophical point he's making, he's discussing the boredom of immortality. That, and he like a fictional story, he explains that one lady who receives an elixir which makes her eternal or immortal. And she takes this elixir and she lives until she is over three hundred years, until she realizes that she is exhausted, all her exhausted all her desires and she's just frustrated, and she decides to actually, I don't remember exactly if she quits her life or not taking the elixir and you know, die, she wants to die basically. So he's arguing that what brings happiness and some juice to life is actually that it is mortal, that we can die.
And then it was very funny to read that what he then says, which kind of fits perfectly for us, he says the only thing which would make immortality or eternal life reasonable and logical, is that we would find something which is unendingly absorbing. So, can you think of anything that could be unendingly absorbing? Kṛṣṇa! So, and I was reading that, I was just smiling to myself. Because this actually proves our point even more. That material life is miserable. Both living an eternal life in this material world is miserable, and also losing our material life, you know, becoming old and dying, that's also miserable. But it has to be there to make it, you know, somewhat limited to give it meaning or some other. So it just proves our point. Like the famous saying, "To be or not to be, that is the question" from... So we don't know whether dying is or living is better. It proves that this this existence is is one of of misery ultimately. Of course, there is some happiness there, and we enjoy a little bit, but it is very limited.
And actually what I wanted to end with is that this body is not just the source of some small happiness, but actually it is the what covers the real happiness which we can really experience. Just like Prabhupāda gives the, and Jñāneśvara often says that in his classes, that if you wrap a cloth around your tongue and you try to eat with a cloth around your tongue, the taste that you you won't receive, it won't be so palatable eating that food, there won't be any juice. Or licking a honey bottle from the outside on the glass, there is no juice. So this body is not just it gives us some happiness, but it's actually blocking us from so much more happiness that we can receive and experience on the spiritual platform. There's so much to experience. We were just some weeks back having this seminar on Mādhurya-kādambinī, and we are speaking about we are how we are stuck on the platform of bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛtti, trying to get rid of all the bad habits, purify ourselves. But there are so many higher stages where we can experience so much connection with Kṛṣṇa, and through the different rasas, relate to him, and we can't even understand that at this point, how what an experience it is to, we might have some glimpses, but there is so much more to explore.
So, so therefore Sāṅkhya teaches us, the philosophy, which why Kapila came here to give us this Sāṅkhya, teaches us how we can get free from the unnecessary material desires that trouble us in this world, but also how to become unendingly absorbed in the spiritual reality, and afterwards, as Prabhupāda says in the purport here: "The real truth is knowledge of how to get out of the material body, which is the source of all trouble. Lord Kapila's incarnation or descent is especially meant for this purpose." This is the real truth: how we can get out of this world.
So, I think that was what I had to say. I think now we have ten minutes if someone wants to say something or comment or yeah, yeah, something. Haristat Prabhu?
Aristaha: "Yes. Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author, once wrote that everybody, everybody wants to die, but they thought an exception would be made for them."
Bh Shyamasundara: Yeah. Like, I think that's also corroborated in Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, he says:
ahany ahani bhūtāni
gacchanti yama-mandiram
śeṣāḥ sthāvaram icchanti
kim āścaryam ataḥ param
What is the most wonderful thing in this world? That although every day, ahany ahani bhūtāni, every day so many living entities, gacchanti yama-mandiram, they go to the abode of Yamarāja, still śeṣāḥ sthāvaram icchanti, still all people are planning as if they would live here eternally.
So, yeah, thank you. What was his name? Leo Tolstoy, Russian, okay, yeah.
Audience: "All right. This about feeling pain but not suffering, like of course these they may feel pain but they don't suffer. But the body is still, if it's pain, it is disturbance, even for advanced devotee. So how, how can one understand that they don't suffer?"
Yeah. As we said that it's the identification with the body that creates the suffering. And it's difficult for us to understand how actually even physical pain because if you are really self-realized and on the completely in trance and absorbed in the spiritual reality, you won't even feel physical pain, or you won't even suffer from the physical pain, because you are absorbed. So, it is our identification with the body. But the advanced souls, because they are so in tune with Kṛṣṇa, and because they, not just theoretically, but has realized that they are not the body, that they are the soul within, they don't suffer in the same way that we do. It might appear like that, but they there is pain, but they don't suffer from it.
Like Prabhupāda, look at his, you know, when he's laying on his deathbed and he's translating Bhāgavatam. There is also a famous poet, in Muslim, like mystic, his name is Rumi, I think you have heard of him, Rumi. And he, when actually I think they killed him, and but he was saying that, you know, they were like, I think they were ripping out his arms or something, and he was just laughing and, you know, and just completely joyful. And, you know, "You can you can you can destroy my body but you can't destroy my soul." So it's very difficult to understand, and there are so many examples in the Bhāgavatam of people who when they get absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, they forgot about the pain, the suffering, they don't suffer really from the pain. When we become absorbed in something, we don't really realize the pain, right? Even Hiraṇyakaśipu, you know, he was doing such an austerity, was so focused. And also when we when you get really absorbed in something, you can do it, and then only afterwards you realize that it was paining so much. But because you were so absorbed in that thing, you didn't realize it was paining. Has that happened to you?
At least to me it has happened, that you're is something and because you become absorbed in something, you just forget about that pain. So when we become really absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, I think that's... Maybe someone else wants to comment to that?
Audience: "This about feeling pain but not suffering, advanced devotees they may feel pain, but they don't suffer. But the body is still, if it is pain, it is disturbance even for advanced devotee. So, how, how can one understand that they don't suffer?"
Yeah. As we said that, um, it's the identification with the body that creates the suffering. And it's difficult for us to understand how actually even physical pain, because if you're really self-realized and on the completely in trance and absorbed in the spiritual reality, you won't even feel physical pain, or you won't even suffer from the physical pain, because you are absorbed. So, it's our identification with the body. But the advanced souls, because they're so in tune with Kṛṣṇa, and because they not just theoretically, but has realized that they are not the body, that they're the soul within, they don't suffer in the same way that we do. It might appear like that, but they there is pain, but they don't suffer from it. Like Prabhupāda, look at his, you know, when he's laying on his deathbed and he's translating Bhāgavatam. There is also a famous poet, in Muslim, like mystic, his name is Rumi, I think you have heard of him, Rumi. And he when actually I think they killed him, and but he was saying that, you know, they were like, I think they were ripping out his arms or something, and he was just laughing and, you know, and just completely joyful. And, you know, "You can you can you can destroy my body but you can't destroy my soul." So it's very difficult to understand, and there are so many examples in the Bhāgavatam of people who when they get absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, they forgot about the pain, the suffering, they don't suffer really from the pain. When we become absorbed in something, we don't really realize the pain, right? Even Hiraṇyakaśipu, you know, he was doing such an austerity, was so focused. And also when we when you get really absorbed in something, you can do it, and then only afterwards you realize that it was paining so much. But because you were so absorbed in that thing, you didn't realize it was paining. Has that happened to you? At least to me it has happened, that you're is something and because you become absorbed in something, you just forget about that pain. So when we become really absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, I think that's... Maybe someone else wants to comment to that?
Lokanath das: "I think it's very, because Prabhupāda's speaking on this point, you know, in regard to what consciousness are. And he took the example of a famous Stalin. Stalin, you know. But Stalin he was he was cruel ruler, you know. He was terrorizing and and murder so many people. He was very paranoid, you know. And then he was supposed to make an stomach operation, you know, they had to open up his stomach. So the doctor wanted to give him the anesthetic, cool him down, you know. But he said, 'No, no, no, no, no.' Prabhupāda said, 'No, he didn't take anything,' you know. He said, 'Just cut me up.' So Prabhupāda said, 'How is this possible?' 'Yeah, because his consciousness was completely absorbed in communism.'"
In communism, the ideas of communism. He was completely there. So Prabhupāda took that example also, you know, he said that where where your consciousness is also, that will... So, and, of course, we know examples, very famous example of Haridāsa Ṭhākura was beaten on twenty-two marketplaces, you know. Anybody would die just after few marketplaces, you know, of of that severe beating, you know. But what happened? He was completely absorbed, his consciousness was completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. That's why Kṛṣṇa also came in and protected him. He took all the beating. So this is, this is, you know, the secret, you know, that the pure devotees, their consciousness is completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. That's why they don't feel.
Is it okay if I glorify Smita Krishna Mahārāja, a little bit, Mahārāja? I was, can I still tell a small story about you and me, once which was very meaningful to me? We were once in your room and I was, in my illusion, I was, you were like really weak, I think you had collapsed or something, and we were sitting there and I thought, "Okay, I'll speak a little bit with Mahārāja to give him some company." I thought you needed company.
And and I was asking, "What is your best memories from Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" And you were saying, "Yeah, saṅkīrtana," you spoke about that. And you were saying, so this was best time, you know, of, or maybe I was asking, "What's your best time in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" And you were speaking about saṅkīrtana and then you said, "Actually, the best time in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is right now."
And I was like, "Wow." That was very powerful, very concise but very powerful. Actually sometimes we think that, "Okay, we are just looking back at the history in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it was nice back then and now I'm old." And Mahārāja was saying, "Actually best time in my Kṛṣṇa consciousness is right now."
And I was really really moved by that. So, thank you for that lesson, Mahārāja. Even though, you know, Parkinson, it appears externally like, but Mahārāja was teaching me a valuable lesson, that Kṛṣṇa can be experienced right now. Okay, there are many hands. Maybe Mādhava Puri and then Labangalatika.
Mādhava Puri das: "This confirms why eternal life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not boring because it's ever-expanding and Kṛṣṇa is not limited. And wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, there is ever-expanding youth and beauty and joy. But what I wanted to comment on is you mentioned the kleśada, it's quite obvious even to many materialists as they grow old that the body is a constant source of pain and discomfort. But what is not so obvious is that it also offers an unique opportunity in this world, which you pointed out. So, I just want to bring a little focus to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī who as a little kid, he must have been somewhere between five or seven, he found the verse in the Eleventh Canto spoken by the Avadhūta brāhmaṇa, which became his, one can say, the secret formula for the rest of his life. He put that note on the wall. I'm going to read it to you."
It says:
labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahusambhavānte
mānuṣyam arthadam anityam apiha dhīraḥ
tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anyatam svamṛtyor
viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt
Translation: 'After many, many births and deaths, one achieves the rare human form of life which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus, a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Kṛṣṇa consciousness is possible only for a human being.' And then Hrdayananda Maharaja has written this brilliant short purport to that verse, so it's highly recommended.
Bh Shyamasundara das: Thank you. What is the number there, if we would...
Mādhava Puri das: "It's Canto Eleven, Chapter Nine, called 'Detachment from All that is Material', text number 29."
29. Thank you for that. Yeah, as you said, it's ever-expanding. Also in the Śikṣāṣṭaka, it is said: ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, that the holy name, the saṅkīrtana, is ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, ever-expanding ocean of bliss. So, yeah, thank you. That is very similar to that verse, the translation, to that kaumāra ācareṭ prājño in the Seventh Canto. And it's the same, arthadam is used there. Thank you for that.