Bhakti Shastri (133) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Text 11 to 17

 

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Welcome back to the Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course. We are now in the 16th chapter. We discussed the errors and the disasters of the demoniac worldview and living.

Now we will continue that and the demons are motivated by lust and by greed. They want to enjoy sense gratification, for that they want money. So dharma, artha, kama, moksha.

These four are the, they form a balanced worldview. But the demons want to remove dharma out and they want to cut off moksha also. So artha and kama is also, is all that they want.

And Krishna talks about how bhoga is kama and aishwarya is artha. And both of these abduct the soul away. So let's look at the verses.

So now right now in the overview part if we see, what we are looking at is the activities of the demoniac. So how do they act? We will look at this. चिन्ताम अपरिमेयाम्जः प्रलयांताम पाशृतः कामोपभोगः परमा एतावदिति निष्चितः आख्षापाशिषते इर्बद्धः कामक्रोधः परायणः इहन्ते कामभोगार्थम् अन्यायेन आर्थसंजयान् चिन्ताम अपरिमेयाम्जः चिन्ता is anxiety अपरिमेयाम्जः unlimited anxiety, immeasurable anxiety प्रलयांताम उपाशृतः प्रलयांताम till the moment of प्रलय so प्रलय as we discussed earlier can be referred to cosmic destruction or it can be referred to the destruction at the time of death of within a person प्रलयांताम उपाशृतः उपाशृतः so till the moment of death they are filled with anxiety in fact they have taken shelter of those anxieties now why would somebody take shelter of anxieties actually one doesn't take shelter of anxieties but one takes shelter of something that leads to anxieties what is that काम उपभोग परमा काम उपभोग the enjoyment of sense gratification of of lust, of sensuality परमा, परमा is supreme that Prabhupada they have ascertained it sense gratification is the prime necessity of life परमा, Prabhupada in the word to word is the highest goal of life they think that everything in life is meant to give us काम उपभोग एतावद इति निष्चितः एतावद this they have ascertained this is certainty, इति निष्चितः आशा पाश शताईर बद्धा आशा पाश they are bound by desires and how many desires? शताईर बद्धा hundreds of desires काम क्रोध परायन हा काम क्रोध lust and anger they have sold themselves out to lust and anger इहं ते काम भोग आर्थम and for the sake of काम भोग, इहं ते for the sake of enjoying sense gratification अन्याये नारत संचया संचय is to collect, so अन्या is injustice, immorality illegality, so they immorally collect wealth how they collect wealth immorally will be discussed in the next verse, so let's look at this verse a little bit more so this verse talks about first and foremost चिन्ताम परिमेयां जव so in life we can do either चिन्तन or we do चिन्ता चिन्तन is contemplation, especially contemplation on the supreme law on the higher truths of life and the highest truth is कृष्ण so contemplation on कृष्ण is चिन्तन so चिन्तन, if we don't do चिन्तन, if our mind doesn't have a steady satisfying, stabilizing object of thought then the mind naturally thinks about worldly things and when we think about worldly things the result is because no worldly thing is everlasting, it cannot offer us any lasting shelter, so therefore the result is चिन्ता if we think about sense objects then there is चिन्ता, whether I get it or not if I get it, will it stay with me or not if it stays with me, how long will it stay with me will it go away in future चिन्ता, अपरिमेयामच and actually anxieties are immeasurable immeasurable, why because there are so many desires and each of the desires leads to anxieties so until when do the anxieties last, प्रलयान्ता even till the moment of death, we just stay on in anxiety on and on and on you know Kaliyuga is so perverse that all the troubles have become multiplied, especially in the modern times where people have gone further and further away from God why is that because the important point is to recognize that when people don't have a stabilizing shelter then they are left at the mercy of the mind's vagaries and the mind takes them here, buffets them here and there and wherever the mind goes their thoughts go and because the mind is restless, they remain restless so this is a broad principle which cuts across religious boundaries, St. Augustine said that you know you O God, O Lord, you have made us for seeking rest in you and without you we never find any rest immeasurable anxiety remains and we see that one of the primary defining characteristics of the modern civilization is Chinta that wherever modern civilization has gone there the stress has come about so there is basic trouble in the material world this world is Kunta that means there is anxiety in this world but the mode of anxiety is far far levels more, many levels more that's because it's actually Chinta there is so much pressure so many things to do so many uncertainties and so many complications because of Chinta Maparimeya so and stress itself is one problem but stress according to World Health Organization stress and mental health problems are going to be the biggest problems in the current century biggest health problems health challenge so AIDS, cancer, heart attack these are major killers but stress is also huge threat which not only takes its own toll directly but also contributes to a variety of mental problems, there are anxiety disorders that people have and then there is actually according to some health researchers in many western societies what is called as anxiety epidemic anxiety epidemic means there is so much anxiety among people that there are people who have varieties of disorders and mental problems which all comprise the anxiety epidemic so there is AIDS epidemic or there can be epidemic of TB or different diseases so anxiety now we may say anxiety cool down man don't worry now don't worry is a very simple statement to say but for people who are afflicted by anxiety giving up anxiety is not easy and especially this anxiety becomes manifold when we may not think about why the anxiety is there and people don't even realize anxiety comes because of desires and attachments so the more are desires and attachments the greater is our anxiety so when we have the desire to enjoy sense gratification and we make that the supreme goal of life then everything becomes centered on that so if I try to enjoy the sense objects will I be able to enjoy or not will I get that object or not so many complications come up because of because of the desire for sense gratification so Chintam Parimaham Chaham so both the Avanti Brahmana and the Avadhut Brahmana these are the two renunciates in the Bhagavatam among the major renunciates who speak out and they give profound realizations so Pashyami Dhaninam Kalesham so the Avanti Brahmana, the Avadhut Brahmana in the 7th Canto says Pashyami I am saying what? Dhaninam Kalesham Kalesham people are simply in misery Vyarthaya Arthe Haya and Avanti Brahmana says Vyarthaya Arthe Haya Vyarthaya in futile Arthe Haya person works extremely hard craves and slaves for gaining wealth but ultimately what one gets is anxiety so the more we are attached to things the more we suffer the anxieties I once wrote a poem about this that you know people in the parties are seen to do cheers and that's seen as a sign of celebration but what is often the reality their hearts are filled with fears their minds are pierced by desires these two things fears minds are pierced by desires so their hearts are filled with fears their minds are pierced by desires every desire is like a sharp stab pierces I want this their minds are filled with fears by desires they are on the verge of tears because of fears and desires they are on the verge of tears and they say cheers they say cheers it's a case of smiling faces and crying hearts people are actually not happy they may put on a facade of happiness so Chintam Aparimeyam Unlimited anxiety and when people think that there is no goal other than sense gratification or the highest goal of life then the object which they are chasing is not in their control and it may go off because somebody else there are hundreds of other people wanting it sense gratification there is so much competition for it and there is savagery in that competition also so what happens is when people make sense gratification their goal then the desires become their masters Asha, Pasha, Shatair Paddhaha and all the desires they are invisible ropes, nooses which are pulling them pulling them, dragging them Asha, Pasha, Shatair, Paddhaha Shatair, hundreds of desires Paddhaha, they are all bound by them and then Kamakrodhaparayanaha so they have become Kamakrodhaparayanaha instead of becoming Narayanparayanaha instead of being devoted to Lord Narayan they have become devoted to Kamakrodh to lust and anger and why Kama and Krodh because we have desires and we don't get desires I want to be the enjoyer, that is the desire and when I don't get enjoyment then nobody should be the enjoyer, destroy everything Krodh that's why whenever there are love affairs and there is frustration the jilted partner wants to attack and deface or even destroy the other partner Kama when unsatisfied leads to Krodh so Kamakrodhaparayanaha and then Ihante Kamabhogartham so for Kamabhog what do they do Anyayanarthasanchayan Anyaya so actually Kama it is said that when Kama is unfulfilled it leads to Krodh when Kama is there say Kama is here when Kama is unfulfilled it leads to Krodh when Kama is fulfilled it leads to Loba in both ways it traps us, how is that when we have desires and they are not fulfilled then the anger comes up and if I can't enjoy then whatever whoever has stopped me from enjoyment I will destroy that person or if I can't destroy then whatever is the object of enjoyment nobody should be able to enjoy it so Kama leads to Krodh when Kama is unfulfilled and if Kama is fulfilled then it leads to Loba, why because I want more and more and more so say when a man is attracted to a woman and then say that relationship somehow works out they decide to develop a relationship then the man wants to please the woman and so therefore he has to get gifts for her and she demands give me this, give me that and then that leads to Loba, we see Ajamel he is a cultured brahmana but then once he fell prey to the prostitute and the result of that was that Anyaya Nartha Sanjayan he started doing violence for a cultured brahmana to even speak a lie is considered to be a great wrong and a brahmana doesn't even do that but Ajamel what was his plight he was not just speaking lies but he was arresting, he was catching people looting people and wounding sometimes so he became a common decoy so from an elevated brahmana who just lives in pursuit of brahman and performs dharmic activities and gets charity the opposite of charity is decoy the extreme opposite of charity charity means others give voluntarily decoy means one takes away forcibly threat of killing others so just say from where to where a person can fall why because for the sake of enjoying sense gratification Anyaya Nartha Sanjayan one can go to the extremes of Anyaya do all kinds of violence and immorality and illegality to fulfill the desires greed once one has caught up with the desire the desire to enjoy anything and everything can happen people can become terribly violent Anyaya Nartha Sanjayan so actually Prabhupada explains in the paraphrote Prabhupada writes that such a foolish person which people do not know that a physician cannot prolong life even for a moment when they'll notice that there is no consideration for the mind desires as Prabhupada is talking about here about the people wanting to Pralayantam Upashyat that means till the moment of death they think yes I want to enjoy and associated with enjoyment there is anxiety because the desires to enjoy never end and till the last moment they think yes maybe I'll extend myself and I'll enjoy more and more and more now the desire to want to extend one's life is not wrong even in the twice in the 8th Canto and the 10th Canto it is said that it is the duty of a person to protect one's body so Vasudev he tries his best to protect Dharma and so he tries to protect Devaki's body and he protects he has to protect himself also because Kamsa is so mad that he will kill Devaki he will kill even Kamsa, Vasudev also so even Shukracharya tells Bali Maharaj in the 8th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that now a tree can give fruits only when it is alive similarly the human body is meant to give us the fruits of Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha but it can give us those fruits only when one is alive therefore it is the duty of a person to protect one's life and for that to protect one's means of livelihood so protecting one's life is not wrong but but just letting the material aspect of life monopolize all our time and monopolize all our endeavors is disastrously wrong because no matter how much endeavors we do ultimately we all have to die so hoping that by some means or the other we will be able to prolong our life that is just a fantasy so there are people who are different, since ancient times different people have tried different ways to try to prolong to try to either prolong their lives or the hope that we can come back to life again in future but none of this is ever going to happen because at a material level mortality is certain so rather than trying to prolong life we should long for the prolonged life not just prolonged life, for the eternal life so we can't prolong life here but we can long for the eternal life not the prolonged life, that is at the spiritual level which we can attain so that is possible by purification and elevation, purification and elevation of our consciousness, can raise our consciousness from material to spiritual level but the demoniac don't believe in the spiritual level so they are stuck at the material level at the material level they struggle and strain to somehow fulfill their desires and they never can because they are caught up in sense gratification so much now here we talk about chintam parimeyam cha so you know shankar you guys become so much distorted that people have hundreds and thousands and millions of distractions hundreds of desires and actually every advertisement is like a desire producing industry you know the whole idea of advertisements is the evil genius of advertisement is to make people believe that they can't live without the things which they don't need at all so something which we don't need at all created a desire people are having black hair and then there is some advertisement about how blonde hair is so attractive and they may have some blonde haired female icon who just attracts everyone by the blonde hair and then oh you can make this hair blonde and you can attract everyone and then this advertisement is portrayed in such an aggressive way that people start thinking that you know I need to have blonde hair I need to have blonde hair and in that way blonde haired eyes are marketed and sold so there are so many needs that are created by the media so every advertisement is like a desire producing industry every holding every advertisement every promotion every commercial and more the desire the more the pull the more the tug the more the bondage and this rope is such that actually the more we enjoy the stronger the thicker and the tighter the rope becomes thicker means that actually every enjoyment adds a strand to the rope every indulgence because now we have done the activity so the the impression goes deeper and the pattern in the mind becomes more deep rooted and then not only does the rope become thicker but it also becomes tighter you have lesser and lesser freedom when a person becomes addicted say to alcohol maybe a person is drinking once a week then maybe once in three days then once a day then maybe three times a day and then maybe a person cannot live without alcohol every hour a person has to have something so what is happening the rope that is dragging a person is becoming thicker and tighter so indulgence increases the torture increases the bondage now let's move forward now Krishna tells about how people commit violence for the sake of man Chanting Chanting Chanting Chanting so Chanting Chanting Chanting Chanting Chanting Chanting this is a beautiful image the mind is compared to be a chariot in the Vedic times if you wanted to move fast and move comfortably also So then you go on a chariot, if you go on a horse, then one can move fast, but the horse is not very comfortable, one has to manage the horse and the horse can move restlessly and then it's not the most comfortable ride, maybe fast.

But if one moves reasonably fast, maybe not as fast as on a horseback, but fast and yet comfortable then the chariot is the way. So somebody else is driving the chariot and one simply has to sit behind and one goes along comfortably that way. So manoratham, so like that we sit on the mind's chariot and the sit on the mind's chariot means just dream, oh I'll do this, I'll do that, I'll gain this, I'll gain that.

So like that one sits on the ratha. Manoratham. So this is a different metaphor from the sharir or ratha, there is a body-chariot analogy that is different in that the mind is at the reins and the intelligence is chariot here.

Here the mind itself is compared to the chariot and we are the passenger. So we sit in the chariot of the mind and we just go there thinking I'll do this, do that. So bam prabh se manoratham and with this plan, okay I'll get this, I'll get that, I'll get that.

So Bhakti Sahasrara Purva often tells stories in Upadesha Pakyam and then Acharya has also told stories, you know poor person thinks that, okay that person just got a little bit of money, person thinks that, okay in the future, now I got this, the person gets a little milk, person thinks that, okay I'll sell this milk and then I'll make money and I'll make money, then I'll get more milk and I'll sell more money, get more money and like that I'll go and then I'll have a cow and then I'll get so much milk from that cow that I'll have several cows and then I'll have many cows and I'll have a nice house and then I'll have a nice house and I'll have a wife and that wife I'll make her obey me and dance to my tunes and if she doesn't obey me, then I'll make her obey me and I'll hit her, I'll control her, you know and I'll use his hand and as he moves his hand, the milk pot that is there, it falls and the milk topples over. So what has happened is the person is thinking that I'll have so much and I'll do this manoratha, imagining so many things but what is there in the hand, it's loss. So this much I have right now, in the future, I will have much much more.

Now in this world, the wealth, the resources are limited, the desires are unlimited, so there is wealth and there are people are competing for wealth, you know wars have been fought just for the sake of wealth, people are ready to beg, borrow, steal, kill, not just kill one people but commit slaughter and massacres for the sake of money. So the person thinks if I'm going to pursue wealth, then I'm going to have enemies. So this enemy I have already killed.

So here Krishna is, as he's describing the mentality, this seems to be like the description of some underworld dons, people who are demoniac, who don't hesitate, they hire mercenaries, any enemy is there, I'll pay you money, just go and kill him. So and this enemy I have killed and that person I will kill after that in the future, I'll send him off to hell and then afterward like that when I have killed everyone then what will happen? So this is the God project of the demoniac. Actually the demoniac are out to be God, be number one.

So God is the controller and God is the enjoyer. So of course we can control and enjoy when we are the proprietors. So they want to propriate, so as soon as I get property, once things are mine, then what will I do after that? I will try to, I want to control it and I control it for what sake? To enjoy it.

So that is the idea that I am the controller, I am the enjoyer. And this actually we have seen in the Bhagavad Gita how Krishna says that that he is the enjoyer of all sacrifices, he is the enjoyer of everything actually and he is the supreme Ishwara. So but this is the person is trying to displace God, do a coup and try to become God.

It may not be that person explicitly thinking that I want to become God. There are some people who think like that also. Like King Vena in the Bhagavatam's fourth canto explicitly told the Brahmana that you should worship me.

I no need to worship Narayana. But there are some people who may do like that explicitly. But others may not do that explicitly, but their subconscious that is there.

I am the Ishwara, I am the bhogi. And in Siddho Ambalvan Sukhi, Siddho Am, I am perfect, I am strong, I am happy. The ultimate goal is they want to be happy.

Siddho Ambalvan Sukhi, Siddho Am, I am Siddho, I am perfect. And when one thinks like this Balvan Sukhi, Balvan Sukhi. So when one thinks like this, the whole idea is, you know in the world there is a fascination with champions.

So in the sports that a person wants to be, I want to be the number one. Either it be hockey or cricket or tennis or chess. Now this desire to be number one in and of itself is not always bad.

No, Krishna is the best and being his parts, we have his desires also. So we also should naturally want to do the best that we can. But when a devotee wants to do good, the devotee's idea of doing good is, or even doing the best, is not just to try to… A devotee does the best not to gain appreciation from the world, but to give Krishna, not to gain worldly recognition, but to give Krishna recognition.

What does it mean? Not to gain worldly recognition? A devotee doesn't want to be the best so that I can prove that I am bigger and better than everyone else and everyone is lower than me. That is not the motive of the devotee. The devotee's motive is that I want to do the best that I can do.

So if Krishna's mercy, if he has given me some talents, I want to use them for his service and I want to give Krishna recognition. So how do we give Krishna recognition? If we succeed in doing extraordinary things in Krishna's service, then that will bring attention to Krishna also. This person is also wonderful and this person is a devotee of Krishna.

So it will be glorious to give Krishna recognition. But on the other hand, even if that doesn't happen, you know, if whatever abilities we have, we use them to the best of our capacity in Krishna's service and we give Krishna recognition. Krishna, it is you who has given me these abilities and I'm grateful to you that you have given me these abilities and I'm using them in your service.

So to give Krishna recognition, we give Krishna recognition by this and by that we… So we don't think that I am number one, but we understand that I will do my best for Krishna's service. So like that, Hanuman, you know, he did better than what he thought he could have done. Actually, when he was… Initially, he was forgetful of his abilities.

He had forgotten his abilities because of the earlier course of the sages. When Jambavan reminded… When they were on the coast of the ocean to go over to Lanka, at that time, Jambavan reminded Hanuman of his abilities and Hanuman did stupendous feats in the Lord's service. But Hanuman was not thinking, Hanuman single-handedly devastated, at that time, one of the universe's most formidable armies.

He went into the enemy camp right inside and devastated Lanka. Burning practically half of Lanka and reducing it to ashes and ruins. Single-handedly.

But he did not think he should want to. So the idea is not that a devotee should not excel, but a devotee doesn't think that… A devotee never wants to excel and excel in the sense that I want to supersede Krishna. No, a devotee wants to glorify Krishna.

So we excel for the sake of Krishna's pleasure. But here the demoniac, they want to excel for the glorification of their own ego. Then Adhyo, Abhijanvan, Asmi.

So Adhyo. Adhyo is Adhyo. Adhyo is I am wealthy.

Abhijanvan Asmi. Jaina is people. Abhijanvan Asmi means I am surrounded by aristocratic relatives.

So people want to move around in glamorous social circles. People want to be associated with VIPs. You know, I know that person.

And see, I have got a photo with that person. I move in that same social circle. I know this person.

I know that person. So this is what actually the… It is the pleasure that comes from proximity with those who are famous. You know, I know that person.

So Abhijanvan Asmi. And then who is there like me? One of Krishna's characteristics is that he is Asamurdhva. Asamurdhva means there is no one equal to him.

But this is what the yogi thinks. Who is as good as me? You know, Muhammad Ali was a great… was one of the world's biggest boxers. And you know, as he used to fight and he said, you know, when he would knock people, just knock them out completely.

Such a fierce fighter. But eventually, by the time he came to his retirement, generally what happens is when sports stars are playing, they just want to drag on and on. And they don't want to retire.

Because… Because they have the idea that… They have the idea that they have been ruling on top, at the top of their career and at the center of attention. And then they just don't want to give up. They don't want to lose that.

But then, just the body takes it away from them. They just can't do it. The same player who was the star performer, now that person can't even perform below par.

Leave alone above par. Why? Because the body just takes away. It's helplessly frustrating for a person who has been in the top for so long, to suddenly find that I just can't do anything.

You know, I was so long on top, I was ruling. But now I can't do anything. And no matter how much I try, it just doesn't work.

It's so frustrating. So this boxer… There was another challenger. And earlier, this boxer just defeated him thoroughly.

Muhammad Ali had defeated him thoroughly. But then later on, when there's a match, Muhammad Ali is just a shadow of himself. He was easily defeated by the opposing boxer.

And then, the opposing boxer said, actually, in the match, I had to check myself. Otherwise, in the match, I would have hurt him. I didn't want to hurt him seriously or mortally.

So I checked from playing my best. And even without playing his best, the opposing boxer defeated the champion boxer very easily. The erstwhile champion boxer.

So that actually, we cannot stay on top forever. Somebody may say, oh, I stayed on top for this much time. At least I have that satisfaction.

But that satisfaction doesn't last for long. One may think I was there at the top. But afterwards, the craving is there.

There was an Indian cricketer who had some cricket record of having scored the maximum number of runs long ago. And then an Australian cricketer came and broke his record. And then this Indian cricketer said, you know, what was his reaction? He said, I was like a bird flying in the sky.

And suddenly, somebody has come and clipped my wings. And I can do nothing but see myself plummeting down helplessly. And now because this cricketer has retired, he cannot break the record.

And he cannot make another record now. So just lost. So like that, gone with the wind.

The record just go away. So, ko anyu asti sadrisho maya, thinking that I am, no one greater than me. What is this? Yakshe dasyami modishya.

So this is illusion. You think that there can be no one greater than me. That is the illusion of the godless people.

And yakshe dasyami modishya. Now, these people are completely self-centered. So self-centered that actually they are egomaniac.

Self-centered means to not think about anything else. But mania means it's an irrational obsession. It's a fixation.

It's a fetish. One can't think about anything. It's obsessed with thinking of one thing.

So the mania is like that. And egomania means one just has the ideas that I am so great. I am so great.

Megalomania it can be called. Mania about oneself and about one's own glories. So one wants not only the glory of worldly fame, but also one wants the glory of religious fame.

No, I should think… People should think of me also as a good person. So then what I'll do? Yakshe. I'll do some sacrifices.

And then dasyami. I'll give some charity. And then modishya.

I'll get so much reputation. I am such a charitable person. I am such a religious person.

I am such a noble person. And I will enjoy through that. So many times… Nowadays, for example, people they have their… For them, religion also becomes just a social cosmetic.

That means a cosmetic is there to something to look better. So social cosmetic means that they adopt… Religion is actually meant to be a heart transformer, not a face transformer. Cosmetic is basically… It is a face transformer.

It just makes us look better than we are. But it doesn't change us internally. Religion is meant to be a heart transformer.

But people who use it as a face transformer means that they use it just to look good. So they don't want to surrender to God, but they just want to pretend to be religious or appear to be religious in the world's eyes so that they will get praise from the world for that. Yakshe, dasyami, modishya.

So they think that… I'll give charity and I'll become famous as a religious person. So often people want… People want… They will give donations, but they want their names very prominently displayed wherever they have given donations. So now in some cases, even in temples, this may be done to facilitate people to do service for Krishna.

So the idea of giving donations is what? We are meant to give our heart to Krishna. But if we can't give our heart to Krishna, then we should give what is in our heart to Krishna. What does that mean? That means we are actually meant to give our heart to Krishna.

But if our heart is attached to materialistic things, if our heart is attached to money, then what do we do? We give that money, a little bit of the money to Krishna. So when we give our money to Krishna, we give what's in our heart to Krishna. Then what happens by that? Then we are giving a part of our heart to Krishna.

By that, we give Krishna a place in our heart. And once we give Krishna a place in our heart, and Krishna is very intelligent, slowly he will expand that place. He will reveal his attractiveness and sweetness, and then he will expand that place, and he will attract our whole heart to him.

That's how eventually you'll become completely attracted to Krishna. This will happen over a period of time. But the idea is giving donations.

If somebody gives donation to Krishna, whatever be the motive, it is good. But here, Krishna is talking from the point of view of the demoniac who have no intention to surrender to Krishna. And their idea is, they want religion to just become one more ornament, one more feather in their cap, another medal or another badge of honor on their chest.

That is unfortunate. So that's why Krishna gives the final twist in the tale in this world. So he's describing the demoniac mentality very vividly.

But then he says, the twist in the tale comes. He says, In this way, these people are bewildered by ignorance. Why is it agyan? Because all this is illusion.

None of this is going to last. You know, we cannot carry even one penny with us from this life to the next life. And whatever enjoyment we have, when the body loses its capacity to enjoy, it all becomes useless.

So, It's unfortunate that people get so infatuated by things, none of which are going to last. Now, when Krishna talks about these people, so the religious ego can also be very deceptive. Often people build temples.

For example, there was competition. Some people say, I will build a Hanuman deity which is 10 feet. Somebody else says, I will build a Hanuman deity which is 20 feet.

Somebody else says, like people do auction. You know, I bid this much amount. I bid this much amount.

I bid this. So like that, they do competition. I build a temple of Hanuman with 50 feet deity.

Somebody says, 55 feet deity. And then I want the world's highest Hanuman deity. I build that like that.

So like that, people just go on and on. So when the deity is there, when the deity is built, are they taking darshan of Krishna over there or Hanuman over there? Or are they taking darshan of the exhibition of their own ego? So religion should be a sanctuary for a soul. It should not become the gymnasium for the ego.

Gymnasium is a place where people build their muscles and exhibit their muscles. So the ego, see, I am so great. I am so great.

I am so great. It shouldn't be a gymnasium for the ego like that. So then Krishna further describes that what happens to such people? अनेक चित्तविद्भ्रान्ता मोह जान समावृतः रसप्तः कामभोगेशु पतंति नरेखेशु च So अनेक चित्तविद्भ्रान्ता, अनेक चित्त.

So एक is one, अनेक is more than one, many. चित्त is consciousness, विद्भ्रान्ता. So विद्भ्रान्ता is perplexed, perplexed completely.

So their consciousness is pulled in so many directions that what happens to them? This is a drag here, there, here, and here. I have to do that. I have to do that.

I have to go here. I have to go there. So मोह जान समावृतः, they are completely covered, completely covered over.

मोह जान, by the network of illusion. So it's, Krishna has earlier talked about आशा पाश. So he's talking again in the language of traps, desire as noose.

And now he's talking about illusion as a net or as a network, as Prabhupada translates. So जान is a trap or a network. So actually, when people go into illusion, it's not just one strand.

It's a network which completely traps them. मोह जान समावृतः, समावृतः, completely covered over. One can't perceive spiritual reality.

You can go so deep into illusion that they just can't think of anything beyond their own material desires and their own material hopes. Just can't think about anything more. समावृतः, आवृतः is covered.

समावृतः is completely covered. So illusion completely covered. प्रसक्तः कामभोगेशु, so आसक्तः is attached.

प्रसक्तः is very strongly attached. कामभोगेशु, so because of the desire for enjoying sense gratification. पतंति नरेकेशुचव, so पतंति, they fall away to hell, अशुचव.

Their whole lives are, शुची is clean, cleanless. Krishna has talked about cleanliness several times in this Bhagavad Gita. But he says demoniac are unclean.

नचऊचं नापिचः चारो, he had said earlier in 16.7 also. पतंति नरेकेशुचव, नरेकेशुचव, they fall away. They fall away like this, it is disastrous for them.

So अनेक चित्त विब्रान्ता, अनेक चित्त वा अनेक चित्त, there's so many things to do. Shankaracharya has written many verses in his poetic compositions wherein he does exposes of material life. He shows how material life is empty and frustrating.

So he says how there are endless distractions. So he says, बालावस्ता क्रीडा सक्तं, तरुणावस्ता तरुणी रक्तं, रुद्धावस्ता चिल्ता मद्नं, परंब्रम्को पिनसक्तं. So, he says that in childhood, बालावस्ता, when a person is in childhood, क्रीडा सक्तं, I want to play, I want to do this, I want to do that.

So people are just caught, children are just caught up in playing. They don't want to think about anything else. And then when they go older, what happens? तरुणावस्ता, once youth comes, then the hormones start getting activated.

And lust plays one like a fiddle at that time. तरुणावस्ता तरुणी रक्तं, तरुणी रक्तं. It's completely caught in the, so the man gets attracted to the woman, women get attracted to the man.

And they're constantly searching, you know, with whom can I develop a relationship? Who can be my partner? How can I enjoy more, more, more? So the mind, almost like during the, especially the years of youth, the mind just switches off from everything else. Or it just focuses on sense gratification. And everything else becomes surrounded, even if the thoughts go everywhere else, they all ultimately come back to this only.

How can it be? तरुणावस्ता तरुणी रक्तं. And then after that, वृद्धावस्ता चिन्ता मगनं. In old age, there is चिन्ता.

Why there is, actually there is anxiety at all time. In old age, actually anxiety is very great because in old age, one is having no capacity to do anything. In youth, at least one had health, one had energy.

So one can run around and do things and make things happen. But in old age, one wants things to happen in a particular way. You should act like this, you should do like that, that person should do like that.

But one can't control others. And one can't control one's own body also. And old people are often put aside on the side, neglected.

So then what happens? वृद्धावस्ता चिन्ता मगनं. So the only thing that person can do is just stoop and be lost, brood in worry. Oh, will this happen? Will that happen? Will that happen? चिन्ता मगनं.

And then in this way, at every stage in life, there is distraction. And therefore, परम्ब्रम्को पियसक्तं. So actually neither in childhood, nor in youth, nor in old age, does material life allow us to practice spiritual life.

It doesn't allow us time because something or the other is always going to distract us. So we just have to put aside these distractions forcefully. We can't postpone spiritual life thinking that later on I'll practice it.

Though later on will never come. You have to do it now only. So anyway, the point here is that this is a normal situation in material world.

But in Kaliyuga, things are so bad that, you know, all distractions are at all times. There is बाला, वस्ता, चिन्ता, मगनं. Your children, they are filled with anxiety.

In schools often, in fourth, fifth, sixth standard, the teachers, the school management conducts stress management seminars. Children four, five, they are meant to play around. But what happens? They have stress management seminars for them.

Cause so much workload and this and that. So much expectations. They are crushed by all that.

So they are stressed. So even in childhood, there are anxieties. And then not only that, there is बाला, वस्ता, तरुणी, रक्तम.

So what there is actually, there's a terrible phenomena called as the sexualization of childhood. This doesn't just refer to the one horrific phenomena is that there is child sexual abuse. And often it happens by relatives and acquaintances whom the child and the parents of the child trust.

So that is horrendous. But apart from that, at a commercial level, the children, they are called as twins. Teens are when people come to teenage and at that time, puberty comes along and they become sexually active because of bodily hormones becoming generated.

But the sexualization of childhood is that even when children are in the tweens, they are just between. From the word tween comes from the word between. They are before.

They have not yet come to teens and they're just coming out of childhood. At that time only, the children are shown models on TV and video games of boys who attract girls and girls who attract boys. And the boys are all sexualized.

And the girls are all sexualized. And they wear dresses and they try to attract each other. So children are neither emotionally nor physically in a position to be meant to be sexually active at that time.

And still that is thrust on them. And it's terrible. So bala, avastha, tarui, saktam is also there.

And then similarly, not only in childhood, all distractions are the same. And similarly, taruna avastha also. So now taruna avastha, krida, saktam.

So we have video games and games like that. So even young people, they can be active. They can do so much in life.

Often they are so lazy that they can't get out of their bed. And they're in their bed and there's some digital screen. They're shooting down images and they're thinking, I'm a great hero.

So this is, people are so caught up in playing. Actually, playing sports is one thing. There's actually some exercise, some activities there.

But people spend so much energy just watching sports. Energy, money, passion, emotion. So we get caught and lost in that spectator sport.

This is just a way people want to forget the boredom and emptiness of their life. And that applies to old age also. Even in old age, people are caught up in sports.

And they just get infatuated by the sports. So similarly, actually, vriddha, avastha, krida, saktam is there. Vriddha, avastha, tarvi, rakta is also there.

People do all sorts of things by which they can try to prolong their sex drives and their sex capacity. People do different kinds of surgeries and take different medicines. And somehow or the other, they try to be sexually potent and try to enjoy.

So Prabhupada writes in one place that sometimes monkeys are caught and the monkey glands are extracted and another gland is put in human beings so that humans can be sexually active. So Prabhupada says that one monkey loses enjoyment so that another monkey can enjoy. So that is unfortunate.

That's how it works. So people have old age, people have drugs, get young drugs. That means develop as much sexual potency as you had when you were young.

So take this medicine. So there was a medicine called Viagra, which was called a magical get young drug. And people started taking it and enjoying, enjoying, enjoying.

And then it was found that this drug was contraindicative for heart patients. That means it could lead to severe problems when a person had heart disease. So then the government said that we will not allow this drug.

That was the proposal that came up. And then the people said, no, we don't have any heart problems. Why should we be deprived? So huge opposition to that.

Then the government said, OK, we will allow this drug to be sent only on government, when a doctor gives us a green signal that this patient doesn't have any heart problems. So give him this drug. And people are so desperate to enjoy that when the regular physician knows that they have got a heart problem, they will not get it.

So what was happening was if people with heart symptoms take this drug, then they take the drug and they're about to enjoy. And then the whole actual sexual enjoyment is quite draining to the body. The heart starts beating and the breath starts becoming fast.

It's quite a draining experience. So then people get excited and they're just about to enjoy. And suddenly they get a heart attack and they die over there.

So because of that, they said that you have to not take this drug by yourself. It has to be with a prescription. So people are so desperate.

Other than going to the regular physician, they would go to some other physician, give him some extra money, tell him that give us this drug. And without telling them about the heart problem, get that drug, take that drug and try to enjoy and get a heart attack and die. So this is even in the old age.

Even in old age, people are attached. Attached to enjoyment. Attached to enjoyment.

Some are desperately trying to go on. Especially nowadays, the media is targeting old people. Old people, especially there are ads and gadgets and devices and things like that, which are meant for old people.

And then they try to come on, do this, get this, eat this. And then you will be able to enjoy even now. So in this way, there is just no end to the distractions that people have to go through.

Just abound endlessly in material existence. So Prabhupada writes in the purport that the demoniac think that all these are accidental and it is the strength of one's personal ability. What do they think? That whatever they have got, I have got this, I have got that.

All this is because of Prabhupada. Now this purport is not just relating with this verse. In this purport, Prabhupada is talking for the previous verses also where he is talking about earning money.

So they think that I have got all these things. It's just by my own ability. And every demoniac person can think that he can live at the sacrifice of all others.

That means he doesn't care for others. He just thinks that I want to enjoy. And nobody else needs to be considered.

If others are only factors in my enjoyment, otherwise they have no significance of themselves. Prabhupada gives the example of Ravana also and he talks that how such people are entangled in material existence. Atmasambhavitaha means self-complacent and sabda, impudent.

They don't care for any authority. They think I am my own authority. I don't need anyone else.

They are absorbed in the delusion of dhanamana, of wealth and prestige. So earlier in the 10th verse Krishna had said dambhamana madanvitaha. So here it is dhanamana madanvitaha.

So there is wealth and there is the prestige. They are just caught with the external. There is no inner substance.

All bluff, no stuff. That is their predicament. All bluff, just show to others.

I have this, I have that. But internally they have no understanding of what is the reality of life. Nor do they have any intention to harmonize themselves with the realities of life.

So yajante nama yagyaiste dambhenavidipurvakam yajante. They may do some yajna also. But they may do some worship.

But nama yagyaiste, it is just for the sake of name. For the sake of name, mean name and fame. They want to be known in the world for having done this.

Yajante nama yagyaiste dambhenavidipurvakam dambhena. It's filled with arrogance. And you see dambha means what? One wants to, one doesn't have the inner substance.

But by putting the outer appearance, one wants respect from others. And then when they want to do this sort of thing, they will also do it avidhipurvakam. They don't want to follow, they are not interested in spiritual advancement.

And they don't even believe that scriptures are the word of God. So that's why they don't care for midhis. They just want to do religious rituals so that they will be respected in society.

So avidhipurvakam. So what they do is, the scriptures tell us to do nama yagya. But they do yagya for name.

They don't do nama yagya. Nama yagya is chanting of the holy name. But yagya for name is, they want people to know my name.

You know, I did this, I did this, I did this, I did that. So they completely lose their sense of purpose in life. This is how mohanjal samavrata.

They are just caught up in trying to get more and more, enjoy more and more, parade it more and more. So religion becomes just a facelift, not a faith lift for them. It doesn't lift their faith.

It doesn't lift their heart. Just a facelift. Temporarily try to look better.

That is a monstrous underutilization of spiritual life. And Prabhupada here talks about, even people who become renunciates, they take the dress of the renounced order of life and engage in all nonsense in that dress. Why? Now they take the dress of the renounced order because they want prestige.

And they think, okay, in a pious society, renounced order will give me prestige. So they get the prestige. For the sake of prestige, they get it.

But then they have no intention of following the rules and regulations of the renounced order. So they just do all sorts of avidhi purvakam. They do nonsense in the name of religion.

And they not only ruin themselves, but they ruin religion at large. They ruin the reputation of the renounced order. And they just live hypocritically.

So in this way, Krishna describes the wide gamut of the psychologies, of the typical psychologies of the demoniac people. And in the next section, we will discuss about their destinations. What happens to them? That we will discuss in the next class.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.