Bhagavatam-daily 140 – 11.09.15 – Don’t reinvent the wheel – just use it for Krishna

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.9.15 GRIHARAMBHO HIDUKKHAYA VIFALASCHA DHRUVATMANAH SARPAH PARAKRITAM VESHMA PRAVISHYA SUKHAMEDHATE GRIHARAMBHO in the householder life ARAMBHA ENDEAVOR HIDUKKHAYA the endeavor ends in misery what endeavor? VIFALASCHA DHRUVATMANAH VIFALASCHA one tries to in householder life make a permanent house make a happy house VIFALASCHA DHRUVATMANAH but it is futile because ADHRUVATMANAH things in this world are temporary SARPAH PARAKRITAM VESHMA SARPAH just like a snake PARAKRITAM made by someone else VESHMA Home PRAVISHYA SUKHAMEDHATE the snake enters into that house PRAVISHYA SUKHAMEDHATE and becomes happy SUDHESH was just telling what DAUDHUT BRAHMANA learned from the snake and he says the snake does not build its own house it sometimes stays in a hole in the ground that has been burrowed by nature or by some other creature or it stays in a hollow in the tree that has been made by some other bird or something like that so it just enters there and then it lives comfortably there without making any endeavor and similarly materialistic people work very hard to try to enjoy material life and to create very facilities for enjoying material life however ADHRUVADMANAH because material life is ultimately temporary and the pleasures within it are also temporary so therefore it all ends in frustration it all ends in misery DUKKHAM is futile and therefore DUKKHAM it brings misery so essentially this verse states that that the materialistic people whatever facilities they create they go waste at the same time just as a snake uses the residence created by others similarly the wise people can use the facilities created by the materialists for constructive purposes so Bhaktasiddhanta Dhakur explains that in his commentary that materialists may work very hard for creating facilities but devotees can use those facilities for glorifying Krishna and because the devotees are serving Krishna through those facilities devotees experience spiritual happiness whereas materialistic people don’t experience any happiness because they are working for material purposes and the material pleasures are temporary so any happiness means any substantial happiness they will experience some happiness but it is insubstantial so this brings us to an important point that sometimes people criticize devotees that you condemn technology and then you use technology yourself you condemn materialists and then you use the products which are made by materialists here to understand that actually first of all it is not that devotees condemn technology per say what you condemn is that is anything that takes us away from Krishna so if technology infatuates it takes us away from Krishna then technology is to be we have to be cautious about it and it deserves to be warning deserves to be given about its potential misuse so the criticism is for anything that takes us away from Krishna and even materialism itself is not to be criticized because we do have a material side and material welfare is also important but materialism usually is used in a way to imply that the material side is our entire side and we don’t have anything beyond our material side and so when the material side gains monopoly on our desires gains monopoly on our aspirations and even it gains monopoly in our conception of existence then we starve ourselves spiritually and then we suffer so such materialism is condemned so at the material level if materialistic people create some facilities for example say materialistic scientists create some technology and devotees use the technology in Krishna’s service is it double standard that we are condemning what we can use what we are eventually using first of all we are not condemning it per se we are condemning its misuse and its potential for misuse so when we use it properly for sharing spiritual wisdom then it is not misuse it is not double standard at all it is being used properly and secondly as devotees we can look deeper and see that even the materialists who have made the technology that the intelligence for making that has come from Krishna only so we are using for Krishna what has come from Krishna although it may have manifested through a medium that is the materialistic people who are non-devotional and who are intending to use it for non-devotional purposes so by going to the roots we can see that everything is meant for Krishna everything is coming from Krishna and we should use everything for the service of Krishna in this way we can live harmoniously and happily so should devotees just like a snake doesn’t endeavour to create its own home should devotees not endeavour to do material things at all no not like that we see Arjuna laboured tirelessly to become an archer and then use the skill of archery in Krishna’s service but it was not that while learning archery he postponed his devotion he said first archery then devotion no that devotion was a constant in his life even while he was learning archery and even while he was practising archery so we don’t have to endeavour at the material level so much as to have no time or energy left for our devotional life and if some material endeavour can be used for glorifying Krishna then devotees can work tirelessly for that but otherwise there is no need for devotees to reinvent the wheel just because the wheel was first invented by materialists you know whatever is invented, whatever is available, use it especially Prabhupada was pragmatic he did talk about how in the Vedic tradition there was extensive material knowledge even material technology was available but when when technology was to be used for the propagation of Krishna’s mission he did not say that we have to use only the technology that is mentioned in the Vedas no, whatever technology is available, use it so at this one level this is an example of Yukta Vairagya so is it laziness? no it is intelligent engagement it is intelligence, it is intelligent discrimination to know where our endeavour should be put the best so materialists will anyway create material facilities and devotees if they spend their energy in creating material facilities then who will share the message of devotion that’s why devotees are energetic devotees are tireless but they want to use the energy in an optimum way Prabhupada used the example that when a very limited number of doctors are there on the war field and there are Red Cross doctors are there and there are many many many soldiers who are wounded and need attention the doctors will focus on they will just neglect the hopeless cases and they will focus their energy on those cases which are hopeful so like that just as there has to be in material life focus of energy when energy is limited similarly devotees know that our life span is limited the number of devotees are limited and the amount of endeavour that we can do has to be carefully chosen so that we can have maximum effect that’s why devotees just focus on using available things, things made available by materialist in Krishna’s service and in this way we can ourselves practice bhakti without having to over endeavour for making material things and we can also propagate bhakti effectively by using the best of the available material things which otherwise are anyway being used by materialistic people for propagating materialism so both for our practice and for our effective practice for our own growth and for our effective propagation for benefiting others devotees avoid reinventing the wheel but simply they use use whatever use the wheel that is available