[Prev][Next][Index]
Religion Without God? - no_god.txt [2/2]
spiritual master's place and act like a menial servant. If the spiritual
master says "go and pick up some wood from the forest," one may be a
king's son, but he cannot refuse the spiritual master's order. He must go.
Even Krsna was ordered by His spiritual master to go and pick up some
dry wood from the forest. So He had to go. Although His father was Nanda
Maharaja, a village vaisya king, and although Krsna was the Personality of
Godhead Himself, still He could not refuse. He had to go. Nicavat-just like
a menial servant. This is brahmacarya, spiritual student life. This is
tapasya. Tapasya is so essential that one has to do it. There is no question
of an alternative.
After brahmacari life, one may marry. This means he enters grhastha life,
household life. That is also tapasya. He cannot have sex whenever he likes.
No. The sastra says, "You must have sex like this: once in a month and only
for begetting children." So that is also tapasya.
People do not follow any tapasya at athe present moment, but human life
is meant for tapasya-regulative principles. Even in ordinary affairs-let us
say you are driving your car on some urgent business, and you see a red
light. You have to stop. Yo cannot say, "I have to be there in a few minutes.
I must go." No. You must stop. That is tapasya. So tapasya means following
the regulative principles strictly, according to the higher order. And that is
human life.
Animal life, however, means you can do whatever you like. On the road,
animals may keep to the right or keep to the left; it doesn't matter. Their
irregularity is not taken as an offense, because they are animals. But if a
human being does not follow the regulative principles, he is sinful. He'll be
punished. Consider the same example: When there is a red light, if you do
not stop you'll be punished. But if a cat or dog transgresses-"Never mind
the red light; I shall go"-he's not punished. So tapasya is meant for the
human being. He must do it if he at all wants to make progress in life. It is
essential.
Pusta Krsna: And so, Srila Prabhupada, tapasya includes dietary
regulations?
Srila Prabhupada: That is also tapasya. For example, we prohibit
meat-eating. So in your country this is a little troublesome. From the very
beginning of life, a child is habituated to eating meat. The mother
purchases powdered meat and mixes it with liquid and feeds it to the
infant. I have seen it. So practially everyone has been brought up eating
meat. Yet I say, "Don't eat meat." Therefore that is troublesome. But if one
is serious about becoming self-realized, one must accept the order. That is
tapasya.
Tapasya applies to diet, to personal behavior, to dealings with others, and
so on and so forth. In every aspect of life, there is tapasya. That is all
described in the Bhagavad-gita. Mental tapasya. Bodily tapasya. Verbal
tapasya-controlling vaco-vegam, the urge to talk loosely or whimsically.
You cannot talk nonsense. If you talk, you must talk about Krsna. That is
tapasya. There is also tapasya in connection with krodha-vegam, the urge
to express one's anger. If one becomes angry and wants to express it by
beating someone or doing something very violent, tapasya will restrict
him-"No, dont' do it." There is also tapasya with regards to the tongue,
belly, and genitals. One cannot eat anything and everything, or at any time
he pleases. Nor can one have sex freely, but only according to the
scriptural injuctions. "I am sexually inclined, but I cannot do it. This is not
the time." That is tapasya.
So one should practice tapasya in every way- in body, mind, words,
personal behavior, and dealings with others. That is human life. Tapo
divyam: if you want to simply be a human being, and especially if you want
to make progress in spiritual life, you must act according to the sastric
injunctions. That means tapasya. Before Brahma could take part in
creation, he had to underyo tapasya. Is it not stated in the sastra? Yes. So
tapasya is essential. You cannot avoid it.
And what is the aim of performing tapasya? The aim is to please the
Supreme Lord through the spiritual master. Yasya prasadad
bhagavat-prasado: "One can attain the mercy of the Lord only by attaining
the mercy of the spiritual master." This is the idea.
Now, in today's educational institutions, who is teaching this tapasya?
Where is the school or college? The students are even smoking in front of
their teachers and it is tolerated. No offense. What can you expect from
such students? This is an animal civilization. This is not human
civilization. No tapasya, no brahmacari life. Real civilization means tapo
divyam, godly austerity. And this tapasya begins with brahmacari life,
learning to control the senses-that is the beginning of life. Not "A-B-C-D"
learning, and maybe your character is less than animals, though you have
a degree from the university. "Never mind. You have become a learned
man." No-that is not acepted.
Even from the standpoint of basic moral instruction, we must ask: Who
today is educated? The educated person is described by Canakya Pandita:
matr-vat para-daresu
para-dravyesu lostra-vat
atma-vat sarva-bhutesu
yah pasyati sa panditah
"The educated man sees another's wife as his mother and another's
property as untouchable garbage, and he sees all others as equal to
himself." That is the pandita, the learned man. In Bhagavad-gita [5.18]
Krsna also describes the pandita:
vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
suni caiva sva-pake ca
panditah sama-darsinah
"The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a
learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater."
That is a learned man. Not this degree-holder. A degree-holder who has
no tapasya and no character-Krsna says he is mayayapahrta-Jnana, "his
knowledge is stolen by illusion." Although he has learned so many things,
nonetheless, maya has taken away his knowledge. He's a rascal. He's an
animal. This is the perspective of Vedic civilization.
This article and others like it can be found on the Bhakti Yoga home page,
at http://webcom.com/~ara
--*-*-*- Next Section -*-*-*--
