KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.3.19
- Modern university education practically prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality with which to accept the service of a greater master.
- As dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, a man serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.
- Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. The human being is not meant for eating everything and anything; Human beings are expected to accept the remnants of food offered to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (Bg. 9.26).
- A human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared to a hog.
- The camel is a kind of animal that takes pleasure in eating thorns. A person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared to the camel.
- The central point of attraction for material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one’s own blood. The camel also sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs.
- Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood.
- The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. It does not know its self-interest, and it works very hard for others only.
- The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.
- Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s categorization of the common man without any spiritual enlightenment into the society of dogs, hogs, camels and asses is not at all an exaggeration.
- Although a person may be a great leader of such dogs and hogs disguised as men, if he has no taste for being enlightened in the science of Kṛṣṇa, such a leader is also an animal (bigger animal) and nothing more.
- A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls.
- The Lord takes charge of fully surrendered souls; thus all problems are solved simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of His directions.
- Such directions are given to the sincere devotee in two ways: one is by way of the saints, scriptures and spiritual master, and the other is by way of the Lord Himself, who resides within the heart of everyone. Thus, the devotee, fully enlightened with Vedic knowledge, is protected in all respects.
- Hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord is itself an act of piety.
- The Lord wants everyone to hear and chant His glories because He is the well-wisher of all living entities.
- By hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, one becomes cleansed of all undesirable things, and then one’s devotion becomes fixed upon the Lord. At this stage the devotee acquires the brahminical qualifications, and the effects of the lower modes of nature (passion and ignorance) completely vanish.
- The devotee becomes fully enlightened by virtue of his devotional service, and thus he comes to know the path of the Lord and the way to attain Him. As all doubts diminish, he becomes a pure devotee.
SB 2.3.19 TRANSLATION
Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.
CLASS NOTES:
The general mass of people, unless they are trained systematically for a higher standard of life in spiritual values, are no better than animals
DOGS ANALOGY
Modern university education practically prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality with which to accept the service of a greater master. After finishing a so-called education, the so-called educated persons move like dogs from door to door with applications for some service, and mostly they are driven away, informed of no vacancy. As dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, a man serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.
The characterization of the human being as a dog is because they are not interested in spiritual education and they are only interested in getting modern education and become the dog of a worthless master.
HOGS ANALOGY
Persons who have no discrimination in the matter of foodstuff and who eat all sorts of rubbish are compared to hogs. Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. So stool is a kind of foodstuff for a particular type of animal. And even stones are eatables for a particular type of animal or bird. But the human being is not meant for eating everything and anything; he is meant to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar, etc. Animal food is not meant for human being. For chewing solid food, the human being has a particular type of teeth meant for cutting fruits and vegetables. The human being is endowed with two canine teeth as a concession for persons who will eat animal food at any cost. It is known to everyone that one man’s food is another man’s poison. Human beings are expected to accept the remnants of food offered to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (Bg. 9.26). As prescribed by Vedic scriptures, no animal food is offered to the Lord. Therefore, a human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared to a hog.
People are all addicted to eating all kinds of meats – cows, dogs, snakes, fish… etc.,
CAMEL ANALOGY
The camel is a kind of animal that takes pleasure in eating thorns. A person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared to the camel. Materialistic life is full of thorns, and so one should live only by the prescribed method of Vedic regulations just to make the best use of a bad bargain. Life in the material world is maintained by sucking one’s own blood. The central point of attraction for material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one’s own blood, and there is not much more to be explained in this connection. The camel also sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs. The thorns the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel’s mouth. The thorns, mixed with fresh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn-eating business with false pleasure. Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood. Therefore the Bhāgavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the camels.
It takes about 2 pounds of food to create one blood cell. It takes 40 blood cells to make one sperm. Human beings create millions of sperms. When man wastes sperm then he is actually sucking his own blood. Therefore the ojas the life force is related to sperm. Vaginal juices and sperm, when these are wasted, it is like eating one’s own blood. It destroys one’s immune system, can’t sleep properly, tired, headaches. Because it takes so much energy to make sperm. By wasting sperm by illicit sex or sex within marriage one becomes vitiated.
ASS ANALOGY
The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself.* The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. When the ass begs for sexual intercourse, he is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, to the ass.The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the Age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving ṭhelā and rickshaws. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.
Henpecked – browbeaten, bullied, or intimidated by one’s wife, girlfriend, etc.: a henpecked husband who never dared to contradict his wife.
FOOTNOTE:
“Human life is meant for earning values. This life is called arthadam, or that which can deliver values. And what is the greatest value of life? It is returning home, back to Godhead, as indicated in the Bhagavad-gītā [Bg. 8.15]. One’s selfishness must be aimed at the point of going back to Godhead. The ass does not know its self-interest, and it works very hard for others only. Similarly, a person who works very hard for others only, forgetting his personal interest available in the human form of life, is compared to the ass. In the Brahmā-vaivarta Purāṇa it is said:
Such godless leaders of dogs and hoglike men are bigger animals with the qualities of animals in greater proportion.
So Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam’s categorization of the common man without any spiritual enlightenment into the society of dogs, hogs, camels and asses is not at all an exaggeration. The leaders of such ignorant masses of people may feel very proud of being adored by such a number of dogs and hogs, but that is not very flattering. The Bhāgavatam openly declares that although a person may be a great leader of such dogs and hogs disguised as men, if he has no taste for being enlightened in the science of Kṛṣṇa, such a leader is also an animal and nothing more. He may be designated as a powerful, strong animal, or a big animal, but in the estimation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he is never given a place in the category of man, on account of his atheistic temperament. Or in other words, such godless leaders of dogs and hoglike men are bigger animals with the qualities of animals in greater proportion.
People get a modern university education, but they develop the mentality of a dog accepting a master for pieces of bread.. This is also explained in ISO Mantra 10.
(ISO MANTRA 10) MODERN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
In the modern society, even a boy thinks himself self-sufficient and pays no respect to elderly men. Due to the wrong type of education being imparted in our universities, boys all over the world are giving their elders headaches. Thus Śrī Īśopaniṣad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries.
Scientists in Wuhan funded by the senate or the congress of United States produced the virus and someohow other got out of the lab… and look at the havoc it created through out the world… Earlier it was bombs, now it is biological weapons..
University students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of brahmacharya (celibate student life), nor do they have any faith in any scriptural injunctions. Religious principles are taught for the sake of name and fame only and not for the sake of practical action. Thus there is animosity not only in social and political fields but in the field of religion as well.
(ISO MANTRA 18) SPIRITUAL EDUCATION
A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert brāhmaṇa authorized to perform sacrifices, even though the devotee may not have taken his birth in a brāhmaṇa family. Such is the omnipotence of the Lord. He can make a man born in a brāhmaṇa family as degraded as a lowborn dog-eater, and He can also make a lowborn dog-eater superior to a qualified brāhmaṇa simply on the strength of devotional service.
Since the omnipotent Lord is situated within the heart of everyone, He can give directions to His sincere devotees by which they can attain the right path. Such directions are especially offered to the devotee, even if he desires something else. As far as others are concerned, God gives sanction to the doer only at the risk of the doer. But in the case of a devotee, the Lord directs him in such a way that he never acts wrongly. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.42) says:
sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ
“The Lord is so kind to the devotee who is fully surrendered to His lotus feet that even though the devotee sometimes falls into the entanglement of vikarma – acts against the Vedic directions – the Lord at once rectifies such mistakes from within his heart. This is because the devotees are very dear to the Lord.”
To err is human.
In this mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad, the devotee prays to the Lord to rectify him from within his heart. To err is human. A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls. The Lord takes charge of fully surrendered souls; thus all problems are solved simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of His directions. Such directions are given to the sincere devotee in two ways: one is by way of the saints, scriptures and spiritual master, and the other is by way of the Lord Himself, who resides within the heart of everyone. Thus the devotee, fully enlightened with Vedic knowledge, is protected in all respects.
Vedic knowledge is transcendental and cannot be understood by mundane educational procedures.
One can understand the Vedic mantras only by the grace of the Lord and the spiritual master (yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau). If one takes shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, it is to be understood that he has obtained the grace of the Lord. The Lord appears as the spiritual master for the devotee. Thus the spiritual master, the Vedic injunctions and the Lord Himself from within – all guide the devotee in full strength. In this way there is no chance for a devotee to fall again into the mire of material illusion. The devotee, thus protected all around, is sure to reach the ultimate destination of perfection. The entire process is hinted at in this mantra, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17–20) explains it further:
- Hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord is itself an act of piety.
- The Lord wants everyone to hear and chant His glories because He is the well-wisher of all living entities.
- By hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, one becomes cleansed of all undesirable things, and then one’s devotion becomes fixed upon the Lord.
- At this stage the devotee acquires the brahminical qualifications, and the effects of the lower modes of nature (passion and ignorance) completely vanish.
- The devotee becomes fully enlightened by virtue of his devotional service, and thus he comes to know the path of the Lord and the way to attain Him. As all doubts diminish, he becomes a pure devotee.
Here we are, this is the clear-cut difference between material and spiritual education. There is no comparison of the two. Material education is junk. It teaches a person to go away from spiritual life and become illusioned by engagement in sense gratification in the material life. Spiritual life makes you go away from the material sense gratification and enamored by Krsna, His name, form, activities and past times.
So you have to make a choice – If you want to eat stool like a hog, if you want to get mundane
Material education and become dogs begging for jobs, money to start a business, always begging for something or the other… or to become like a camel sucking one’s won blood by engaging in sex, or to become like an ass always working hard to get nothing in reward…
The more we read the more painful it is, but it is a good pain to have. It makes us realize how far we can go away from Krsna, Misled by modern education… We cannot say Prabhupada is not warning us..
This whole Vedic knowledge is to go back to Godhead, whereas material knowledge is to make one suffer and stay in this repeated cycle … That is how dangerous it is. In fact the parents do not teach the kids about this. Instead, parents are forcing their kids to pursue material knowledge, thinking that the children can get ahead in life. But actually, instead of getting ahead, it cuts off the head.