Gita 16.11 We make our beliefs and our beliefs make us
Transcript
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16.11, chintam parimeyam cha pralayantam upashyatah kamo pabhog parama etavaditichitah This is 16.11 in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is describing the mindset of the demoniac. He has described their worldview in 16.89 and how that mindset, how that worldview leads to their mindset and how that mindset leads to their actions that will be described in this series of verses.
So chintam parimeyam cha He describes chinta, anxiety, worry. Parimeyam cha, immeasurable. Krishna has used similar word anash, you know, aprameyam cha while describing the soul.
He says that it is immeasurable. There he has used that the soul is so tiny, it has to be immeasurable. And here it is described as so large, it has to be immeasurable.
So many, so, as we say, countless. That means there are so many that we can’t count them. So immeasurability can be at both thresholds.
At the lower threshold where something is too small to be measured. It is in that sense that the word aprameyam is used for the atma. And aparimeyam cha, for the upper threshold that there are so many anxieties that the number can’t be counted.
That is used here. And pralaya refers to destruction. It can refer to any severe destruction.
It can refer to the cosmic destruction. And it can also refer to bodily destruction. Bodily destruction can appear as catastrophic for those who are extremely attached to the body and to the pleasures that one may get through the body.
And thus they end up getting captivated and consumed. Chintam aparimeyam cha pralayantam upashritah They are consumed by anxiety. And these anxieties, there is no limit to them in their quantity or in their duration.
If you can compare this with worldly pleasures, in quantity it’s not much. In duration also it’s not much. So material existence is a really bad bargain.
So for one who is attached to the body, the destruction of the body can appear as the destruction of one’s very self. And thus it’s totally devastating for them. That’s pralayantam upashritah.
So kamo upabhog parama Why are they facing this fate? Because kamo upabhog parama, they have decided that life’s ultimate source of pleasure is kamo upabhog, is sensual gratification. And this notion is what subjects them to enormous misery. Etavad iti nishchitah No one lives without conviction.
We all have some faith or the other. Even the faithless have conviction in the absence of God. So that’s for example, they, here also Krishna makes the point, nishchitah.
Etavad iti nishchitah They are certain for sure that sense gratification is a source of pleasure. And that there is no pleasure, that this is indeed life’s greatest pleasure. A European thinker has said that the problem with the world is that the foolish, that the wise are doubtful and the foolish are cocksure.
So this cocksure nature of fools is seen over here in the attitude of idealistic people, of the ungodly, of the demoniac who are fully convinced that sense pleasure is, is really what it is. There’s nothing more to life than that. Etavad iti nishchitah With this conviction, they work like crazy seeking pleasure in anything and everything that promises sensual titillation.
When we talk about materialists and spiritualists, we can see that in terms of their worldview, we can see that in terms of their actions. So materialists as the world’s words indicates, they believe in matter. They believe that material world is all that exists or at least all that matters.
Here, of course, Krishna is talking about these fanatical materialists who very strongly believe that matter is all that matters. And for them, there is no option except to look for material pleasures because that’s all that there is in life. That’s what they believe.
With this idea that matter is all that matters, they chase after worldly pleasures with a fervency, with a maddening frenzy. And just as a vehicle that is moving with great speed for a long time acquires a great momentum and it can bulldoze its way through any obstacles. A big truck moving at a high speed can just ram through a protective gate and charge into the secure premises.
Nowadays, some terrorists use trucks as weapons for destruction. So similarly, for the materialistic, for the demoniac especially, their conviction that sense pleasure is where pleasure is, that there is nothing to life apart from sensual pleasure, that is so certain for them that they just can’t think of anything else. They have to crave for that pleasure.
And craving for that pleasure, they bulldoze through their own morality, even their humanity, not to speak of their spirituality. That will be described in 16.13-15 where how materialism turns megalomaniac and murderous is described. Here however, let’s go back to the word Upashyataha.
Chintam parimayaam cha pralayantam upashyataha. So, upashyataha means that they have taken shelter of this idea that Kamo pabhog paramaam. That there is no, that this is the supreme pleasure.
Srila Prabhupada translates that this is the prime necessity of life. Now, we are all governed by our beliefs. We make our beliefs and then our beliefs make us.
So, for example, materialistic people or a person who is just beginning to drink alcohol. That person has some belief that okay, maybe alcohol will lead to pleasure. And then after that, that as that person drinks alcohol and keeps drinking alcohol again and again, then the result is alcoholism becomes maddening and the person becomes an alcoholic.
So, he or she, they made their belief. That means when some friends, when some advertisements, when something which they saw or heard kindled within them the idea that oh, maybe you can drink and enjoy. They accepted that.
And the result of that was they started drinking and eventually that belief with each indulgence becomes stronger and stronger. Even when there are consequences of that indulgence, still the belief remains so strong that it overpowers whatever conviction they may have had and it makes them go mad in their pursuit of pleasure. So, similarly here the ungodly, they choose to reject God, they choose to be materialistic and then their materialism makes them as you will see, they think there is no one like me, I am the numero uno, I am the best.
I have destroyed this enemy and I will destroy that enemy also. It makes them murderous also. And unfortunately, although they cast aside morality in their pursuit of pleasure, still what they get is not pleasure but trouble, anxiety.
Because they are choosing things which are outside of themselves and that which is outside of them is not in their control and therefore in trying to acquire that, in trying to maintain that they sentence themselves to immeasurable and interminable anxiety. Thus, the ungodly cause misery to others in their pursuit of pleasure and even that pursuit of pleasure causes them only trouble. Such is the tragedy of the godly, the ungodly and the demoniac.