Bhagavatam-daily 214 – 11.11.19 – Good without God is no good

Thank you sad sad a body is totally dependent on others that means one is not able to do anything especially when a person is sick or a person becomes old then one is not able to do anything at all children Praja can refer to population Praja also refers to children Praja means when the children are are useless Athirthikrtamangavacham Vittam Athirthikrtam Athirthikrtam means Vittam that is not used properly Angavacham so now Krishna is giving all these examples and what are the examples for he says Vachamhinam Hinammaya Rakshatidukkadukki so Vacham refers here to knowledge of the Vedic scriptures and Hinammaya if that knowledge is bereft of me then Rakshatidukkadukki then trying to take care of that knowledge trying to learn that knowledge trying to preserve that knowledge it’s all a source of misery Dukkadukki so Krishna is very unambiguously and very graphically illustrating over here how God is central even to the good and the good without God is of no good that’s what Krishna said now Vedic is telling over here essentially Vedic knowledge is definitely good when he said the Vedas come from the supreme lord and the Vedas are directives for humanity to act so when these Vedas are so exalted when these Vedas are so important in terms of their role in elevating the human beings then why is Krishna giving just strong critique of the Vedas using so many examples so how many examples does he use this is a cow that stopped giving milk a wife that is a wife who is unchaste a body that is useless a body that is dependent on others the children that are useless children who are not obedient children who are not grateful children who are not responsible whatever way it will be and then further the wealth that is not used properly that is abused just goes waste so all this Krishna has given 5 examples essentially and he is stating that that in this way now if you see these things normally having children having wife is considered to be sources of happiness but if the wife is not faithful if she breaks the heart of her husband if the children disappoint and devastate the person what can be done about that it’s difficult so it’s the same thing which a person did in the hope of getting happiness if that thing causes misery then it’s terrible very miserable so we study the Vedas or people study the Vedas and they hope that this will give them the way to happiness and at one level they do that sattvic living is definitely better than rajasic and tamasic living but at the same time sattva is also binding and rajas and tamas that is also definitely binding no doubt so if a person is intoxicated is an alcoholic and the person thinks that ok if I just change the brand of alcohol I take then I will be better that is an illusion if I just take a better brand of alcohol my problem is not going to be solved then it’s diagnosis so essentially now what the Vedas offer is regulated living but still the living is for materialistic purposes the living is with the hope that one can become happy in life by doing dharma one can get artha and kama and thus one can be happy so because this is the hope so the problem remains that the person cannot rise above the material conception of life yes that person can be a pious materialist a god believing materialist but still at the end of the day that person is still a materialist and you know our values are often more important than our beliefs now at one level we could say values and beliefs are the same but whether our beliefs are our real values that is an important question somebody may say I believe in god but what do you believe in god as? as our protector as our provider or as the ultimate object of our love so at karmakanda there is belief in god but one’s values are not the same as one’s beliefs in the sense that one’s belief in god is there but there is another belief, stronger belief that material comfort material progress material prosperity this is the key to happiness and this is something which is not at all the correct understanding and so it is important that one work to recognize the changing the brand of illusion that one is under is not going to lead to enlightenment, it is not going to lead to illumination, illumination is as they say it is a different ball game so vedas practice understanding the vedas, studying the vedas living according to the vedas that doesn’t change the ball game because still the person remains materialistic and because the person remains materialistic so because the ball game is not being changed so the end result also doesn’t change, the end result remains materialistic that person continues in the cycle of birth and death so it is important for a seeker especially now Krishna is departing from the world and the whole mood of the Uddhava Gita is renunciation of the world and because of that underlying mood and also because the specific context Uddhava has asked the question of how one can become liberated from what are the characteristics of a liberated soul and also the question was there that how can one oneself become liberated from the moods so Krishna is telling here that knowledge of the vedas keeps one under the mood under the gunas and because of staying under the gunas one stays bound in material existence and if one wants to come out of that bondage it’s vital that one recognizes the higher values and the higher purposes of life and those higher values and higher purposes center on Krishna understanding Krishna as the object of our devotion and the object of our love as the ultimate goal of life and making him the center of our life that is what will lead to lasting happiness that is what will lead to liberation that is what will bring the ultimate meaning in life and so Krishna is saying without this one still remains dukkha-dukhi one still stays in the miserable material existence and codes misery