When matter is indestructible what’s wrong with attraction to material forms?

From Hari Hara Iyer Prabhu

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna question from Hariharayaprahu what does form refer to in the material and spiritual world does form refer to the body now is the body really destroyed because the body can be preserved and the body can also body will change into something else which will be preserved by the law of conservation of energy so what do we actually mean by form and by that forms are destructible answer yes form in the material world refers to the external shape and appearance of the objects that we see around us so these forms are perishable na asato vidyate bhavo na bhavo vidyate sathah Krishna says in 2.15 in the Bhagavad Gita 2.16 that of the material there is no endurance and of the spiritual there is no cessation adibhutam sharobhavah so in 8.3 and 4 when Krishna answers about various things he says the characteristic of this material nature is constant change so when we say that forms can be preserved it requires an extraordinary amount of unnatural intervention to try to preserve forms now in the past say the mummies were preserved the bodies of the Egyptian pharaohs were preserved as mummies but when they are mummified even then in the best possible way still they don’t preserve the beauty and attractiveness of the form of that king even if the king had been very handsome in his youth today we may use refrigeration and other means for preserving the body but certainly the body is body is beauty and body strength does get deteriorated and there is no way to stop that so yes by the conservation of energy matter is not destroyed and Krishna does say that prakritin purushin chaiva vidyanadi ubhavopi in 13.20 in the Bhagavad Gita he states that prakriti and purushin the soul and matter both are eternal but vikaram shivunam chaiva viddhi prakriti sambhavan but the the vikara the changes that occur they are attributable to prakriti so the eternality of matter cannot satisfy our longing for beauty because that longing is directed towards material forms if a person after a great labor builds a beautiful house and then say some earthquake destroys the house now all the ingredients of the house are still there as the rubble but a person will be grief struck not just because now there is no house from the utility point of view I don’t have a house to stay in suppose that person is very wealthy and has other houses also so it’s not a risk of shelter but still the beautiful house that was built the artistry and the aesthetics all that are gone and that will cause stress so the the reason why scripture cautions us against getting attracted to material forms and tells us that these material forms are temporary is because our attraction to temporary forms leads to frustration when those forms because of their temporariness are eventually destroyed and the knowledge that the components the matter which made those forms eternal offers little solace little if any solace to the disappointed even devastated heart and now in the spiritual realm yes the forms are eternal they are not made of material elements and that’s why they are not perishable they are made of spiritual substance and spiritual substance is eternal and that’s why attraction to spiritual form brings brings satisfaction that is everlasting and that’s why scripture recommend us urge us to redirect our attraction from material forms towards spiritual form thank you