SB 01.05.18 – Using dharma to get that which one can get otherwise underutilizes dharma

Transcript

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shreemad bhagavatam 1.5.18 tasyaiva heto prayatet govido nalabhyate brahmatam uparyada talabhyata brahm dukha vadanyata sukham kaalena sarvatra gabhira ramasam here Arjuna is telling Vyasadeva that an intelligent person should aspire for that purpose full end tasyaiva heto that purpose prayatet, one should endeavor for it wise person, govida what is that end? nalabhyate brahmatam uparyada that end which will not be got by anything else by wandering over material existence by trying various other things talabhyate dukha vadanyata sukham at the material level we will get happiness and distress and generally we all try to change our situation so that we will have more happiness and less distress and we hope dream that one day we will have only happiness and no distress this is however a hope that is never fulfilled because this world brings distress upon us of its own accord even when we don’t want it and here when we understand the nature of the world to be a place of duality, we can understand that just as misery will come of its own accord, so happiness will also come of its own accord now we wonder how can it happen like that, if I don’t study in my exams then it is not that automatically I will get marks automatically if I don’t do anything, I will get misery but how will I get happiness automatically so the point here is that this verse is not recommending neglect of any all material duties it is recommending not neglecting our spiritual duties because of over obsession with the material side of life so kaali nesarvatra by the power of time we will get the results which are ordained for us those cannot be evaded nor can they be avoided so they will come to us and those will come sometimes in the form of good and sometimes in the form of bad and that means while we are doing our duty, if we get obsessed only with this, we are not going to increase the good and decrease the bad but if we focus on raising our consciousness towards transcendence then that will give us a supremely fruitful result that will enable us to rise towards Krishna and to attain life’s supreme perfection thereof and that is something which cannot be attained by endeavouring at the material level so the purpose of dharma or scripture is not just to provide us what we can anyway get without scripture also that means the arrangements for eating, sleeping, mating, defending even people who don’t follow scripture are getting that of course those who follow scripture get it in a better way in the sense that they don’t get into karmic complications while getting those things but still, for those who don’t believe in karma the things will come anyway so doing following scripture and doing dharma just to get what one can get without that makes dharma seem unnecessary so dharma has some higher purpose and that higher purpose is the higher purpose of life itself that is attainment of eternity when we develop love for Krishna then by that we will attain Krishna’s eternal abode and that is the goal that one should aspire for so this verse keeps that goal enigmatic of course from the context it is clear but aim for that goal from the previous and subsequent verses it’s clear what that goal is so aspire for that, that alone don’t look for anything else because by aspiring for this you will attain supreme perfection and this is an excellent verse to meditate on while chanting we may do other endeavors at other times because they are part of our duty but at the time of chanting by chanting what I will get I will not get by anything else the love for Krishna I will not get by material endeavors so of course I may do many devotional activities apart from chanting also and that is that they can also help in our devotional life but often those activities we also do with a material motive in chanting we have to focus primarily on Krishna and that contact with Krishna is very healthy in bringing about the blossoming of our spiritual life in helping us to taste transcendence and by fixing this verse and its thought in the mind that this is the time only for that transcendental endeavor we can push aside distractions and absorb ourselves in Krishna