Prabhupadanugas do not manufacture something from their tiny brains, by mental speculation! They take the words of the founder acarya of ISKCON As It Is! Because His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Srila Prabhupada currently is the ONLY Guru/spiritual master! And thus the explanation comes from him, we take it As It Is.

We take to the descending process (sabda, transcendental sound from the Veda's spoken and explained by the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya acarya's of which Srila Prabhupada is the latest and currently the only acarya) for knowledge, not the ascending process (pratyaksa, using gross senses or anumana, using the mind).

Taken from Prabhupadavani dot org, visit this website! It is the best website ever! You can play the audio file so that besides reading this lecture, you hear the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, speak so that you can get better understanding.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 20.106

Type: Caitanya-caritamrta

Date: July 12, 1976

Location: New York

Pradyumna: [chants verse] [break]

acirād eva sarvārthaḥ

sidhyaty eṣām abhīpsitaḥ

sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya

yeṣāṁ nirbandhinī matiḥ

[Cc. Madhya 20.106]

[00:24]

Translation = "Those who are anxious to awaken their spiritual consciousness, who have unflinching intelligence and who are not deviated, certainly attain the desired goal."

Prabhupāda:

acirād eva sarvārthaḥ

sidhyaty eṣām abhīpsitaḥ

sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya

yeṣāṁ nirbandhinī matiḥ

[Cc. Madhya 20.106]

So here the most important word is sad-dharma. Dharma... In the English dictionary dharma is described as a kind of faith, but here it is said, sad-dharma. Sad-dharma. Sat means which exists, which never diminishes. In the Vedic knowledge we get information, asato mā sad gama: "Don't remain in the nonexistentional platform." Sad-gama: "Go to the platform of eternal life." That we can understand, what is sat and what is asat. Sat, cit, ānanda. Sac-cid-ānanda. We describe Kṛṣṇa, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs. 5.1]. So that is sat. Sat means eternal. And so according to reference with sat and asat, there are two kinds of dharma. I... Several places in my books I have described, dharma means occupational duty, occupational duty. So if we are on the platform of asad-dharma, just like on the conception of this body... This is asad-dharma. Everyone knows the body will not exist; therefore it is asat. So any dharma or any occupational duty with reference to this nonpermanent body, that is asad-dharma. Asad-dharma. Whatever our occupational duties are now going on in this big city of New York... What is their occupational duty? The duty... Everyone is going to the office early in the morning. They have got... Everyone has got duty, but that duty---asad-dharma. Body will not exist; therefore anything done on account of the body, that is asad-dharma. That is not real dharma. Real dharma is when you come to the platform of sat. That sat we have to understand, what is sat and what is asat. Asat: nonpermanent. Everyone will know that this body is not permanent. And sat? That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. You have to learn it. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. The body is asat, it will be destroyed, but the soul, which will never be destroyed... Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. Nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ na hanyate... Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācit. That soul is never born, never dies, kadācit, at any time. Not that sometimes it dies and sometimes... No. Any time, kadācit.

So this sad-dharma means the occupational duty of the soul. That is sad-dharma. And except that duty, whatever we are doing, that is asad-dharma; it will not stay. Now I have got this body, Indian body or Christian body or American body. But this, everything, this conception of Christianity or Indian nationality or American nationality---everything will be finished with this body. Everything will be finished. Therefore all our engagements in this connection, they are all asad-dharma. It is very difficult. We are all engaged in occupational duties, all asad-dharma. But the Vedic injunction is asato mā sad gama: "Don't remain in this asat platform. Come to the sat platform." And the same thing is described here, sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya.

So the human life begins when we can distinguish between sat and asat. If we remain in darkness, without understanding what is sat and asat, then we are no better than dogs and cats. So the modern civilization, not only... Nowadays very big problem. People are very much attached to asad-dharma. They are not... Because they are so dull-headed, they cannot understand what is sat and what is asat. They cannot understand, dull-headed. Therefore brain requires to be clarified. The two words are used in the śāstra = alpa-medhasaḥ and sumedhasaḥ. Medha means brain substance. So those who have got brain substance, they are called sumedhasaḥ, and those who have no brain substance, filled up with cow dung, they are called alpa-medhasaḥ. So this distinction I made in Chicago. It made a very great agitation because I discriminated that men are found to have more brain substance than the woman. So there was a great agitation. But this is fact psychologically, that brain substance in man is greater than the brain substance in woman. In the Bhagavad-gītā also, striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrāḥ [Bg. 9.32]. But in spiritual understanding there is no such distinction, because sad-dharma, spiritual understanding, has nothing to do with this body. The brain substance, more or less, is in connection with this body, but the sat, the spirit soul, it has nothing to do with the body. So long it has to do something with the body, that is called māyā. He's sat, but he is absorbed in the thought of asat. That is called māyā: what he is not. He is absorbed in thoughts of the bodily comforts of life. That is asad-dharma. The karmīs, jñānīs, yogīs, they are all asad-dharmī because there is reference with the body. Karmī, in gross ignorance he knows that "Everything is this body, so let me enjoy bodily comforts, sense enjoyment, as far as possible." Not only in this life, next life... Even if he believes in the next life, but still, he's after these bodily comforts. "I shall be promoted in the higher planetary system. I shall go to the moon planet, I shall go to the Mars planet," and so on, so on. These are karmīs' plan. Anything within this material world, that is all asat.

So the karmīs are too much attached with the asad-dharma, total, cent percent. And the jñānīs, they are little intelligent, that... Jñānī means "I have tried so much to be happy with the bodily comforts, but it has not become possible." Then he tries to understand, "Whether I am this body or something else?" That is Vedic injunction, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. When he is actually liberated he understands that "I am not this body." So he tries to get rid of this bodily conception of life, but because he has no information of the ultimate goal of life, he thinks that "If I merge with the Supreme, then my life is successful." But that is also asad-dharma, because this impersonal understanding will not help him, because he is person. Every one of us, we are person. We cannot stay on the impersonal platform. That is not possible. Artificially if we try to stay on the impersonal platform, it will not stay. Then we shall fall down again. Just like this moon excursion or the Mars. They do not get actually shelter there; therefore they fall down again, come here. With some stone and sand, they are satisfied. Because they did not get any shelter, they fall down.

So śāstra therefore forbids or gives warning, āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adhaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. The same example. With great endeavor, with much expenditure you may go eighty thousand miles per hour, but unless you get shelter, you have again come back to this, either in America or Russia. They tried, but they could not get shelter. Similarly, the one may understand that he is spirit soul, and he may try his best to merge into the spiritual effulgence, Brahman---ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I shall remain in Brahman"---but because he is person, the impersonalism condition will not be helpful to him, and because he has no personal view of the Supreme Spirit---he cannot surrender to Kṛṣṇa---naturally he again comes back to this material world and surrenders to the material subject matter. Sometimes he is engaged in philanthropic work or altruistic work. He thought, "This is the best service. Instead of serving myself, let me serve the whole humanity, whole community, whole nation," so on, so on, so on. But they are all asad-dharma. They are not sad-dharma.

So when one is actually in sad-dharma or he is hankering after sad-dharma, then Kṛṣṇa helps him. Kṛṣṇa helps him. That we get information from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Because Kṛṣṇa is situated in everyone's heart, so Kṛṣṇa gives him opportunity. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi [Bg. 10.10].

teṣām evānukampārtham

aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ

nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho

jñāna-dipena bhāsvatā

[Bg. 10.11]

Kṛṣṇa gives him real knowledge. Therefore guru-kṛṣṇa kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. So he becomes more and more inquisitive to understand what is sad-dharma. So sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya. If one is actually serious, nirbandhinī matiḥ... Nirbandhinī matiḥ means with firm conviction that "In this life I shall be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, I shall understand fully Kṛṣṇa." In this way if we have got firm determination, then Kṛṣṇa will help. That is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, sidhyaty eṣām abhīpsitaḥ. If one is actually eager to understand his position and his goal of life, then Kṛṣṇa will help. We require determination. That is wanted. Laulyam ekaṁ mūlyam. Laulyam, to advance in spiritual consciousness, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the value is only strong eagerness, laulyam, that "I must finish this business in this life to understand Kṛṣṇa." There are many śāstric references. Buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi taṁ yena mām upayānti te. Simply we should be very seriously eager. Then very soon, acirād eva sidhyaty abhīpsitaḥ, immediately... If not immediately... We should patiently. Simply we should be very, very eager. Tatra laulyam ekaṁ mūlyam. Laulyam means very greediness or... We can say, "How I shall approach Kṛṣṇa?" This greediness required, not greediness for sense gratification. Then we shall be implicated more and more.

The greediness... Greediness is very good. Kāmaṁ kṛṣṇa-karmārpaṇe. Strong desire, that is called lust. So, but this strong desire... Just like gopīs. The gopīs, they were village girls. They had no understanding of what is God, what is Kṛṣṇa. But they became very much lusty for Kṛṣṇa, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended that ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhūbir yā kalpitā [Caitanya-matta-mañjuṣā] = "There is no better type of worship than what was conceived by the gopīs." Their strong desire, "How we shall get Kṛṣṇa?" that was their day and night thought. That's all. Somebody is thinking in some way... The central point was Kṛṣṇa. I have already explained that, that Kṛṣṇa was going to the pasturing ground, and the gopīs at home, they were thinking that "Kṛṣṇa's foot is so soft and so delicate," and that "We dare not to take His feet on our breast, but He is now walking in the fields, pasturing ground, naked, without any..., and the stones pricking. How much He is feeling pain." Thinking this, they became fainted. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended ramyā kācid upāsanā. These gopīs, they were not supposed to be educated. Village girls---who is giving them education? They are not Ph.D.'s. But still, strong desire for Kṛṣṇa. And that is called yeṣāṁ nirbandhinī matiḥ. Nirbandhinī, strong desire. It doesn't require any other price to become advanced in..., simply to become very strongly eager, laulyam. Then life is successful.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupāda. [end]