Gita 16.16 – See through materialism’s facade to focus on the supreme non-material reality

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you they are describing demoniac nature because of their many desires they are dragged here and there in terms of their consciousness not finding any place for rest or focus they drag Krishna has earlier talked about the transcendentalist they are so their consciousness is fixed on one so here now so they are dragged here and there because of various desires and the associated anxieties or every desire that we want to fulfill generally the desire is a material desire which is what most desires are of most people then fulfilling that desire requires us to control something outside us and controlling that controlling anything outside of us is extremely difficult if not impossible because of that every time we try to attempt to control something outside us we court anxiety so both the desires and anxieties create tremendous distractions and tensions now a person is covered over completely by moha not just by illusion but by the network of illusion so normally a net it traps it doesn’t cover normally we use the word covering to refer to something that obscures sight so a blanket covers my face so I can’t see you so Krishna has used this word avartaha earlier also in the sense of how lust covers the soul avartam jnanam itena in 3.39 he stopped the road back so here he is saying sama avartaha completely covered there are different degrees of covering but people who are totally materialistic godless idiot so they are completely under the clutches of illusion completely covered over so that they don’t even perceive their spiritual nature so one is a covering the other is a net so normally a covering blinds and a net traps so both happens over here they are blind to spiritual reality because they are covered over and they are trapped in material desires and consequently they are trapped in material world, material reality so mohajala that is the net of illusion so why the net of illusion because just like a net it traps and how does it trap by creating illusions, illusions that we will become happy at the material level of consciousness if we just make some adjustments, if we just get this or if we just manage that or if we just purchase that so this is moha prasaktaha kama bhogeshu now why is one put under such a illusion because of one’s attachments prasaktaha and what kind of attachment is it kama bhogeshu for enjoying sense gratification earlier in 16.11 krishna has outlined the mentality of such people by saying how kama bhog parama they consider parama the supreme goal prabhupada translated as the prime necessity of life is kama bhog so here prasaktaha kama bhogeshu not just asakta but prasaktaha enormously attached and then pataniti narakeshu cho so ashu cho ashu cho means very unclean pataniti one is dragged down as your unclean soul is dragged down to the lowest reaches of existence and to the hell so even in this life the person experiences hellish consciousness, hellish misery in the territory of the consciousness so what is the relevance of all this to our mantra meditation we are definitely not demoniac we are trying to be devotees but we live in a demoniac culture and we may also have had demoniac influences in the past so to the extent those influences remain on us to that extent we also will be vulnerable susceptible to these social morals that are glamorized in today’s world but by remembering how Krishna does an exposing of this much glamorized moral of success and points out that behind the glitz and the glamor there is horror there is heartbreak and by such contemplation that doesn’t mean one renounces everything material but one doesn’t embrace anything material that is glamorized just because it is glamorized we understand our values by introspection and by scriptural study and by guidance in devotees and then choose a kind of life and a kind of vocation that is true to our values, that is compatible with our nature, that is satisfying for us and to the extent we meditate properly to the extent we fix the mind on Krishna to that extent we will get the clarity to take decisions that will take us further closer to Krishna and will take us further closer to success in life so by contemplating the misery of living far away from Krishna living far away means psychologically emotionally, intellectually far away from Krishna and realizing how proximity to Krishna even if it is in the form of proximity to some of his devotees, that proximity to Krishna can bring us so much peace and strength and joy and meaning to our struggles and sufferings, so by remembering that every single endeavor that we put in our bhakti that is watched, even if Krishna doesn’t express, that he watches and we don’t fumble but march straight, or even if we fumble, we rise immediately and keep marching straight towards devotion and surrender to that extent we find the abysmal peace within us through our connection with Krishna and thereafter meditation, far from becoming boring or remaining boring