So human life begins when one is inquisitive to know, “Why I am suffering?” That is human life. And if he keeps himself in darkness— “Oh, this is… Suffering is suffering. Let me enjoy…” Sometimes they want to forget the suffering by another suffering, drinking or LSD, to forget suffering. That is another suffering, another suffering so much so that one becomes crazy and commits suicide. This is going on, a very precarious life. And human life is the only opportunity to rectify these mistakes and come to his original position, constitutional position, means the spiritual platform.
Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param [Bg. 18.54] That is wanted. Brahma-bhutah. As soon as one becomes brahma-bhutah, then immediately he becomes prasannatma, jubilant, just like one is suffering from a disease, and some way or other, when he is relieved from that disease, immediately he becomes jubilant. That is required. That is wanted. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]
And when one becomes jubilant, then, in that attitude, one can enter into devotional service of the Lord, not in the material condition, which is always suffering. Duhkhalayam asasvatam [Bg. 8.15]. But we go on suffering just like animal. Animal is being taken to the slaughterhouse; still, he is eating very jubilantly. Next item, he will be killed. So this kind of consciousness is called animal consciousness. yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma ijya-dhih yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij janesu abhijnesu sa eva go-kharah [SB 10.84.13]
Go-kharah. So this Krsna consciousness movement means to deliver people from this ignorant ignorance platform and bring him to the light platform, or…, and knowledge platform, so that one can understand what is his constitutional position, how he can stop the sufferings of life, and how one can become eternally blissful life of knowledge.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He has given us the Siksastaka. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12] By chanting the Hare Krsna mantra… In the Bhagavata says tapasa. Tapasa means “by undergoing severe austerities, penances.” Tapasa brahmacaryena samena damena va [SB 6.1.13]. This is the instruction in the sastra. One has to become perfect by tapasa, by austerities. Tapasa brahmacaryena [SB 6.1.13]. And becoming brahmacarÄ«, celibate. Life of celibacy, controlling the sex desire. This is tapasya. Tapasa brahmacaryena samena damena va [SB 6.1.13] These things are education. And what is this nonsense education how to become a big mechanics of motorcar parts? This is not education. This is sudra, sudra education. It is not education.
It is called silpa. Silpa-vidya, brahma-vidya. Vidya means brahma- vidya. Therefore, in the Vedic society, education was meant for the brahmanas. Education was not meant for the sudras. Education was meant for the brahmanas, and partially of the ksatriyas, neither of the vaisyas nor of the sudras. What education? Vaisyas livelihood is, or his occupational duty is, how to produce food, how to give protection to the cows, and if there is excess stock, how to trade with it. So anyone can learn by seeing only. It doesn’t require any high education. If the father is tilling the field, the son can learn it by seeing it. If the father… Just like in Vrindavan, Krsna was going to tend the cows and calves of Nanda Maharaja.
There was no education. It can be learned simply by seeing others doing that. So at the present moment education means many Indians are coming to America to learn how to polish motorcar parts or how to create technology. So this is not education. But the Europeans and Americans, they are going to India for learning brahma-vidya. That is education.
The Europeans and Americans, when they go to Vrindavan and Mayapur, they do not go there to see how we have manufacturd cycle and machine for sewing. They have seen enough of this. We may be very proud in India: “Now we are manufacturing cycle and sewing machine or some motor parts, advanced.” This is not advanced. Education means how to make one brahmana, how to teach him how he become sense controlled, sama, dama, mind control, how to become truthful, how to become clean, how to become simple, how to become full of knowledge, how to apply knowledge in practical life, how to know God.
This is education. This is education. So the present situation of the human civilization is very, very dark, tamass. They want to live in the city without working for producing their food. And there are butchers, they kill innocent animals. And in the city they eat the meat, and to digest they drink and work like hogs and dogs whole day and night. This is civilization. This is not civilization.
This is darkness, darkness of life. So we are in the darkness of life at the present moment because it is Kali-yuga. Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.50 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Detroit, August 3, 1975 http://causelessmercy.com/t/t/750803SB.DET.htm
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