Krsna Speaks to Save His Devotee Part 3_002_of_002
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The second chapter of Bhagavad-gita begins with the following sloka:
sanjaya uvaca
tam tatha krpayavistam
asru-purnakuleksanam
visidantam idam vakyam
uvaca madhusudanah
Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion and very sorrowful, his eyes brimming with tears, Madhusudana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words. [Bhagavad-gita 2.1]
Kṛṣṇa is described here as Madhusudana, the killer of the demon Madhu. Why? Arjuna was attacked by a demon of forgetting his duty, being too much afflicted by bodily relationship. So by calling the Lord by His name Madhusudana, the compiler of Bhagavad-gita, Srila Vyasadeva, invokes the aspect of the Lord who kills the demons that harass His devotees.
This is also our position. In this material world, we are so much attached to bodily relationships that it is just like we are attacked by a demon or haunted by a ghost. In a beautiful Bengali poem written by the great, enigmatic Master Teacher Jagadananda Pandit, it is said:
pisaci paile yena mati-cchanna haya
maya-grasta jivera haya se bhava udaya
When a living entity is conditioned by material nature, he is exactly like a person haunted by a ghost. [Prema-vivarta, 1]
Maya-grasta jivera haya. Maya means illusion, hallucination. So we are, in this material world, we are all illusioned. Illusioned means accepting something as fact which is not.
Just like in dream we see sometimes that we are attacked by a tiger or chased by a demon. So many illusory things. Actually there is no tiger, no demon is chasing, but still, we are crying: Help! Help! Ahhhhh!
So our attachment for this material world is like that. It is an illusion. We are thinking that Without me, everything will be spoiled. My presence is required. And so on, and so forth. Just like our esteemed political leaders. Each and every one of them thinks that without him, the whole situation will be spoiled. So they do not retire from political life—even up to the time of death. The attachment is so strong.
But even after passing away of so many big, big leaders, the world is going on. There is a Bengali proverb that When the king dies, it does not mean the kingdom stops. Everyone is replaceable, and life and the kingdom go on. But the leader or the person in charge remains in illusion, thinking that Without me, everything will be spoiled. This is called maya, illusion.
According to Vedic system, therefore, there is forced renunciation. Nobody wants to retire from family life, but the Vedic injunction is that after one has passed fifty years, he must leave his family life. It is stated in the Vedas, pancasordhvam vanam vrajet: After the age of fifty, one must go to the forest.
The Vedic social system is designed to train people in renunciation of material attachment. Without this training, it is very difficult to give up the attachment to material enjoyment, even if one is convinced that it is illusory. In the beginning of life, as a celibate student, brahmacari, from the age of five hes trained in undergoing severe austerities, penances, and taking instruction from the spiritual master about the temporary existence of this material world.
This system trains men in Vedic culture to expect renunciation as a normal condition of life. And even after this training, if he appears to be attached to this material world, hes allowed to go home and marry. The brahmacaris who do not fall down are allowed to remain naisthika-brahmacari, without going home and accepting a wife. But one who must have sex life is allowed to accept a wife, and become a householder for twenty-five years.
Generally, the brahmacaris who fall down go home at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five years. After marriage, he may get children. So living in household life for twenty-five years, the children are grown up. Then the husband and wife take leave of the household, and this is called vanaprastha, traveling in pilgrimages to holy places like Vrndavana, Prayaga, Mayapur. That was the system. After two months on pilgrimage, they come back and remain home for another two months. Then again they go out on pilgrimage. In this way, the whole process of Vedic social life trains people how to give up attachment to family life, attachment to the world.
Duration : 0:10:21
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