Message from Sri Sathya Sai Baba to Russians. The Four Goals of Family Life Earthly Needs - Kama
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According to Vedic knowledge, there are 4 main goals in the life of every person: dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
To understand oneself, one's internal and external motives, personal birth charts (horoscopes) help to determine which one or several of the main human goals prevail both in general and in a specific period of a person's life.
The first major goal in life is dharma.
Dharma is a term that is used in Hinduism, Buddhism and other Eastern religions. The concept of this word is quite extensive and, depending on the context and religious or philosophical trends, it has many different meanings.
Translated from Sanskrit, "dharma" means - to hold, to hold, to support. In Vedic culture, this term is most often understood as fulfilling one's destiny, duty to oneself, family, society in which we live, and to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just like following religious and socio-moral laws. Dharma is understood as well as righteousness, truth and order. For kshatriya varna, dharma is the main goal. In the natal chart, dharma is shown in the 1st, 5th and 9th houses. These houses are associated with the knowledge of their nature and their physical and psycho-emotional capabilities, Purva-punya (pious karma), intelligence, wisdom, religiosity and righteousness.
The next target is artha.
Artha - prosperity, wealth, financial well-being, success, various material goods. For varna vaisyas and family people, artha is one of the main goals in life. In the horoscope of the house of artha, these are the 2nd, 6th, and 10th houses - family values and traditions, family income, job duties, areas of work, the ability to cooperate and achieve material goals and economic development.
Kama- means desires, passion, enjoyment of material things. Kama is also the satisfaction of one's ambitions, desires and all senses (touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing). Kama is the main goal of life among the varna sudras. The 3rd, 7th, 11th houses in birth charts are responsible for kama. These are the houses of aspirations, relationships, ambitions and desires.
And the last of the four main goals according to purushartha (Vedic concept of human goals) is moksha.
Moksha means liberation, material independence, freedom from samsara (the cycle of birth and death). Moksha is liberation from illusion, attachment to material goods, liberation from suffering. This is spiritual development, freedom from karma, enlightenment and awareness of oneself as an eternal Soul, a part of God. Moksha is the main goal of the brahmanas. In the horoscope, the purpose of moksha is indicated by the 4th, 8th and 12th houses. Indicators of these houses are spiritual effort, spiritual knowledge and practices, yoga, meditation, solitude, transformation and liberation.
All these goals have a connection with each other - in order to satisfy our desires (kama), we need money (artha), and in order to be financially secure, we need to know our nature, our capabilities, and also observe the social and moral norms of society (dharma). And when a person fulfills his dharma, leads a righteous, spiritual way of life, then the understanding comes that true happiness is not in material things and not in the satisfaction of his senses, but in realizing himself with the Soul, in knowing and serving God, which leads to moksha ...
“The meaning of human life is simply to go back to home, back to Godhead, and the meaning of my life is simply to serve the Lord. If I serve the Lord, I am the happiest person, and if I do not serve, then I am the most unhappy. And for me it makes no difference where to live - in a hut or in a palace. The main thing is serving the Lord "(Gopal Krishna Goswami).
In addition to the four basic life goals described above, there is the main, true goal of life for each of us - this is to come to God with our service and love, to return home!
The Vedas speak of four goals that a person can set for himself. These goals are universal and important for any community in any country and any era. They are called in Sanskrit dharma, artha, kama and moksha - 1) the performance of religious duties; 2) economic prosperity; 3) sense gratification; and 4) salvation, or liberation from material bondage.The Vedas speak of four goals that a person can set for himself. These goals are universal and important for any community in any country and any era. They are called in Sanskrit dharma, artha, kama and moksha - 1) the performance of religious duties; 2) economic prosperity; 3) sense gratification; and 4) salvation, or liberation from material bondage. This list is not accidental, the achievement of each subsequent goal depends on whether the previous goal has been achieved. This is how the acaryas, the spiritual master of Vedic knowledge, explain it.
Human society cannot exist without religion. It is human nature to worship someone or something, and even if outwardly the state is proclaimed secular, it is easy to see that people still worship leaders, dictators, Fuhrer, chairmen of the supreme councils or presidents. Also in human society, great poets, musicians and other prominent figures of science and art are worshiped. In the Vedic society, they worshiped exclusively God, but at different times they did it in different ways.
God is the basis of everything, it was from His energy that Brahma created the universe. The second canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam explains this in detail. It says that Brahma was born on a lotus flower growing from the navel of Lord Vishnu (God). Since the universe was then empty, Brahma had no choice but to use the parts of the universal body of the Lord to create the universe as it was before. Thus, everything that surrounds us is the manifestation of the universal form of the Supreme Lord. To worship the Lord means to use His energy in His service. It is similar to how a son, having received pocket money from his father, buys a present for his father. Money in any case remains the energy of the father, but this behavior of the son gives the father pleasure. God is a person, and He is capable of experiencing pleasure or grief. The soul is eternally connected with God in the relationship of servant and master, which is why Krishna (God) likes it when we try to restore this lost relationship by offering Him what He wants. God does not need any material things, however, so that we can show our love for Him, He says that He will even accept "a flower, fruit, leaf or water, if it is offered with love." Krsna (God) only accepts love. This is the meaning of the word "religion".
Dharma, religious duties, are sometimes performed mechanically, without love for God. However, even such actions have consequences. Human society properly performing its duties within the system varnasrama is also considered to be walking the path of true religion. "The tree is known by its fruits", in the same way, you can find out if people really follow the religious path by the prosperity of the economy. In the Vedic context, economic prosperity did not mean mass production of consumer goods; also nowhere in the Vedas are there any instructions to artificially inflate the needs of a person. Modern industry, which deprived people of fresh air and clean water bodies, was not considered in Vedic culture as a sign of economic prosperity. The cow was the symbol of economic prosperity. The cow was considered a mother because a person drinks her milk. Ghee is prepared from milk, which is so important in fire sacrifices. That is why, in the Vedic sense, economic development is the development of agriculture, especially the raising of cows. The mass murder of cows is a sign of a godless society. Such a society will not know the world. Everyone in such a society will snarl at each other like cats and dogs, and war and poverty will be the lot of such a society. No one in such a society can expect to achieve the third goal - sense gratification. The center of sensory activity is the mind.
The mind is the subtle energy of our psyche, which determines our mood and even plans for the future. Depression, which has risen to the scale of national disasters, is now the second problem after AIDS. Nobody knows what peace and happiness are. People are constantly in anxiety. In pursuit of the mirage of material success, people, without hesitation, commit one sin after another, one stupidity after another. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that such people work hard during the day and either sleep or have sex at night. The laws of material nature are immutable, unlike those enacted in the legislatures of worldly politicians. The more a person forgets about his spiritual nature, the harder the material nature makes him work tirelessly. Sometimes, in order to somehow brighten up their impenetrable existence, people erect such beastly labor on a pedestal of the highest human values. However, practice shows that as soon as a person gets an opportunity, he stops working. Thus, without a genuine development of the economy, the basis of which should be spiritual development (dharma), a person is not able to satisfy his senses and mind.
Dissatisfied people are constantly at enmity with each other, calling their enmity a zeal for national interests or something else, but the real reason for such enmity is in unmet needs. Human life in the Vedic civilization was simple, but the thinking was sublime. Genuine knowledge is contained in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. A person always strives for the knowledge contained in the Vedas, but today's "educated" skeptic out of thought rejects the authoritative knowledge of the Vedas and invents his own ways to happiness. As a result, people get the wrong idea about the fourth goal of life - liberation.
Salvation, or liberation, has always been a favorite topic of discussion among philosophers and theologians. Nowadays, these brave people have been replaced by scientists who have been struggling for many years to create the notorious death pill. But, if we look back, we will see that everything that scientists have created over the past few centuries is only more deadly types of weapons designed not to distance, but to bring death closer. The big lie that has been feeding people for more than a year is the cause of despair among today's youth, who have lost their bearings and are no longer able to perceive reality more adequately. With a few exceptions, almost all young people in modern Russia are going through a severe crisis, which consists in the fact that people have no goal in life except for profit, and if this goal seems unattainable, a person's desire to live disappears altogether. The fourth goal of life, according to the Vedas, is liberation from the shackles of illusion, cognition of one's true self, immortal, eternally blissful and full of knowledge. It is the Vedas that can help a modern person change their outlook on the future, find themselves both materially and spiritually, and make us truly happy.
Although the goal of life is life itself, nevertheless the Vedas describe 4 types of inner values that each person possesses.
Moksha, dharma, artha and kama- these are 4 types of values that are uniquely mixed in each person. Depending on the proportions of each goal, an individual personality nature is formed.
Moksha - liberation from suffering (≈0.1% of people)
Or in other words, the search for an eternal source of happiness and inner peace. Moksha translates as liberation, problem solving, freedom. Each person, consciously or unconsciously, strives for inner freedom and self-acceptance. Freedom from the experience of material adversity and from attachment to external circumstances is the goal of life called moksha.
Looking around, you can understand that a very insignificant part of humanity is clearly aware of their suffering, therefore moksha a rare purpose in life, if you take statistics around the world. Although moksha is the highest of all goals, quite a few people are looking for a fundamental solution to their deepest problems and dissatisfaction. For the most part, humanity prefers temporary "anesthesia" and oblivion of deep layers of consciousness with the help of material pleasures.
Disadvantage moksha is disinterest in material development and, as a consequence, indifference in the social and mercantile life of the world. Although, on the other hand, this deficiency is fully compensated by spiritual taste and subtle development. People with a predominant moksha goal should make an effort to share the light of knowledge with the people around them and the world.
Dharma - following honor (≈1% of people)
Dharma quite a broad concept, if we take Vedic philosophy and psychology. Dharma translates as nature, duty, morality, manners, purpose and law. This purpose in life can be described as, n acceptance of a certain order and code of life and strict adherence to the rules.
In the practical plane of life dharma takes 2 main forms: (1) following the rules of any organization or (2) following one's own principles and laws of life. Dharma not such a rare goal in life as moksha, but far from popular in the modern world.
The main disadvantage dharmas is numbness in a lined order. Therefore, followers of the goal of life dharma are encouraged to revise and update their life paradigm and inner values more often, so as not to get stuck in their archaism.
Artha - desire for wealth (≈9% of people)
"Money is power and opportunity" Is the slogan of the people who follow arthe. And they are somewhat right. If a person thinks a lot about money and prosperity, he / she should definitely develop in this vein.
This goal is widespread in the world, but it also has a certain threshold of entry and adherence to it. Not every person is destined to become rich and manage large amounts of resources.
The negative side arthas is the strong conditioning of money and opportunity. The mind of such people is periodically overshadowed by external successes and takes away the opportunity to focus on inner reality.
Kama - material enjoyment (≈90% of people)
The first place in the world in popularity is occupied by pleasure as the goal of life. Most of the people in the world are in constant pursuit of various material circumstances. Moreover, many of these people do not make appropriate efforts to achieve what they want, which causes a storm of indignation and complaints about life.
Insofar as 90% of people they will always look for buzz everywhere and always, the world will always revolve around the production and consumption of various types of pleasures. And this is absolutely normal for modern times and culture.
Any pleasure becomes boring and needs a change of surroundings and decorations, this is main drawback kama ... The temporality of material circumstances will not give an opportunity to get high forever and sooner or later you will have to look for new pleasures. But most people are not embarrassed a bit, and they embark on more and more searches for material happiness, which they will never find.
Every purpose in life has its own unique charms and flaws. I invite you to reflect on what mixture of goals and values you have and how it manifests itself in life. I hope this article helped you take one more small step towards self-awareness and understanding of your nature. Enjoy your thoughts!
Roman Gavrilov
Bhakti gives 4 goals of life: artha, kama, dharma, moksha. Bhakti contains all kinds of happiness, including the happiness that comes from a relationship formed with the Supreme Lord. Bhakti relieves suffering. Bhakti quickly helps the living entity to manifest pious qualities. Bhakti gives the happiness of devotional service to the Supreme Lord. The accompanying factor in bhakti is knowledge. The majestic nature of bhakti helps to develop attachment for the Supreme Lord.
Lecture for practitioners from the section "Religion and Spirituality" difficulty of perception: 6
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00:00:00 Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
00:00:19 So, good evening, dear devotees! We examined with you yesterday the 31st text, in which Srila Rupa Goswami gave there a statement that is voiced in the tantras, which said that bhakti yoga gives one amazing mystic powers, material enjoyment, eternal happiness of brahmana realization, and infinite bliss in the service of the Supreme Lord.... We discussed these points a little, and I hope that we came to the understanding that the most important idea that needed to be understood was that if a devotee, he refers in general to the manifestation of mystical forces in his life, or the possibilities of sense gratification. (This includes, say, a prosperous life, I don't know, there is a good wife, good children, good work - all these are forms of sense enjoyment in this material world), if all this comes to a devotee, and the devotee considers it to be a consequence of his devotee service, that is, as a reward from the Supreme Lord, which he can somehow use in order to calmly and happily perform his devotional service in this material world, then everything is fine.
00:01:44 If a devotee, he turns to any kind of processes with the mentality that bhakti did not give him something ... yes, here we can just as well so that an example is clear, yes, for example, a person may be sick, and he can sit and repeat the mantra with all sincerity in order for this disease to pass away. But in fact, this disease cannot go away, for example, such a disease that, in fact, requires surgical intervention, for example, right? Then we understand that the mantra, if we dedicated this mantra, then the mantra, it does this: we meet a good surgeon who performs the operation for us, and we get rid of what we needed. And a devotee, he thinks that it was the chanting of the mantra of this good doctor that brought this good doctor into his life. And a nondevotee, he thinks that chanting the mantra has not worked for him, his disease has not been cured, and he had to go to a doctor. This differs the mentality of a devotee from the mentality of an actual offender, so to speak, let's say a little strictly, but it is much more consistent with the content of the fact that this situation with a devotee is happening. Now, since yesterday's lecture, we had to accept this understanding, this inner attitude, and then, whatever happens in our life, we understand that whatever we receive is the result of our devotional service.
00:03:45 So, texts 1.1.32. (Reads in Saxcrit). Translation: The Hari Bhakti Sutrudari also says, “O Lord of Devas! Once again, I pray you to grant me unwavering devotion to you. Bhakti is a vine, the fruits of which are artha, karma, kama and moksha, as well as the happiness of realizing the Lord.... Commentary by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura: “ I pray for bhakti, the creeper that bears the four fruits of human endeavor, the highest of which is liberation. A creeper that brings the bliss of realizing the Lord, in the light of which even liberation fades».
00:04:50 Thus, we see that Srila Rupa Gosvami, he just now brings the previous text, he was from the tantras, now from "", we get the same idea. We get the same idea that bhakti, in turn, gives in the same way, provides a person with economic development, provides a person with dharma (dharma means the power of fulfilling duties, we will say so), kama - the ability to fulfill one's desires, and in ultimately - moksha, that is, the possibility of liberation.
00:05:32 That is, these are the results that bhakti really gives and which are very desirable for conditioned living entities - we must understand that conditioned living entities, they are on the territory of (inaudible) -bhakti, they really need - they need in improving your economic situation through your practice, to achieve a level of happiness in relationships that is actually possible only when sentient beings each perform their prescribed duties, which are called dharma. To be able to fulfill their desires on the basis of this and at the same time take into account the desires of other living beings. That is, this is kama - it means the territory of the fulfillment of desires and not only ours - this is a very important point. And ultimately - the achievement of liberation from the material world. That is, we constantly see that liberation comes after kama, that is, after the opportunity to fulfill our material desires.
00:06:52 Now. Well, this is exactly the same topic, so we basically have nothing to talk about here, just we should understand that bhakti actually gives results of varnasrama-dharma, because in fact artha, kama, moksha are different, which means levels of varnasrama-dharma, that is, karma yoga. And bhakti gives these results... That is, when it was said that in general there are three types of happiness: happiness coming from ..., sorry, four: happiness from material objects, happiness from the realization of a brahmana and happiness that the Lord brings - three types. And now Srila Rupa Gosvami says that the happiness that can come from material objects, bhakti calmly gives this happiness. When we talk about material happiness, we must understand that there is gross happiness, so to speak, and subtle. Subtle happiness, it is associated with the mystical capabilities of a person, gross happiness is already a gross level of relationships with living beings.
00:08:06 Now. Rupa Goswami, he is discussing this very topic that bhakti contains all kinds of happiness: both happiness coming from various material objects on the gross and subtle plane, and liberation, but she has one kind of happiness that is not in any other process - this is happiness coming from a relationship formed with the Supreme Lord. And we should definitely understand that now, if we are really engaged in bhakti yoga, then these processes should take place here. These processes should take place here, that is, these texts should work when Lord Sri Krishna says: "When I am satisfied with someone, I keep what he has and add to him what he lacks." ... “..I add to him what he lacks” so that he can live his life in peace, fulfill his duties, and at the same time develop spiritually.
00:09:20 Therefore, we must understand that if we are really involved in the processes of bhakti, then bhakti, it gives the strength to perform our duties, it gives an improvement in the economic situation, because we actually burn all those karmic reactions through the practice of bhakti that , thanks to which, if I may say so, we have bad karma: that is, we have poverty there, we have there, I don’t know, such a situation, such a situation. When we chant a mantra, these karmic reactions, they are burned away on the condition that the Supreme Lord is pleased. We say bhakti, which means we have a reserve of activities with which the Supreme Lord is pleased. Now, if He was satisfied, then everything is all right. And if we think that we are performing devotional service, but in fact the Supreme Lord is not at all pleased with us, then we understand that everything remains as it is, and sometimes it can become worse if we also we inflict an insult.
00:10:39 Now. The following text is 1.1.33. (Reads Sanskrit text) Translation: “ Bhakti completely invalidates liberation. When even an insignificant attraction to the Lord appears in the heart, then the 4 goals of human activity artha, dharma, kama and moksha become like straw and do not dare to appear before bhakti". That is, we now see now that Rupa Goswami is raising the bar, he is raising the bar to the highest level. Jiva Goswami's commentary: “This verse uses the word pratha -“ growing, ”but not“ born, ”to show that bhakti does not originate from anything, but manifests itself. The goals for which people usually make efforts, namely artha, dharma, kama and moksha, become like straw - that means they are ashamed to face bhakti. " That is, as we see ... Goswami practically repeats the text, which, well, as one of my disciples once wrote to me that “You cannot explain to me why the acaryas do this, that they just sometimes repeat the text verbatim, what is the meaning of this ? " And to be honest, I do not know what is the meaning of this, but we see that sometimes the acaryas really do this - they just repeat the text verbatim, so we will look at the text itself.
00:12:34 So, we saw from the structure that, as we have already discussed this, Srila Rupa Goswami is discussing the potency of bhakti. Because, in fact, when a living being has to take on a process, he must understand in general what this process solves problems, in what ways he does it, and when a person starts this practice, he must make sure that the ways that given to him, they really solve these problems. And we have discussed with you that in the initial stages of spiritual life for conditioned living entities, the problem of getting rid of suffering is paramount. And so Rupa Goswami first of all discussed this: that bhakti, it is easy - this was the most important characteristic of bhakti - bhakti, it easily relieves suffering. It is enough for a devotee to simply, while repeating the mantra at the end, ask the Supreme Lord, devoting his circles to this, that: “Dear Lord, I ask you, accept this my japa-yajna, forgive me all my sinful reactions, please forgive me all my mistakes, all my sins that I have committed, and let me, give me a calm, prosperous, healthy, peaceful life so that I can calmly engage in spiritual practice. " And he will see how gradually this phenomenon, it simply begins to happen: and the devotee finds himself in a very calm, comfortable environment in which he calmly develops spiritually.
00:14:18 It's another matter if he himself has wrong concepts, wrong ideas, some of his own attachments, and he himself constantly continues to pull this material world - a completely different mentality. When a devotee pulls on this material world, he accordingly can receive completely different reactions, which in fact are no longer symptoms of this, symptoms that this conveys this, that this is the result of bhakti, we must understand that this is already the result of our their own affections. Therefore Srila Rupa Gosvami we saw that he discussed these points in succession: the first is that if we please the Supreme Lord with our practice, our karmic reactions are quickly consumed. The second result is that bhakti very quickly helps a living being to develop pious qualities, that is, not to develop, but to manifest - the pious qualities of a living being are manifested, when he engages in bhakti, this actually happens very quickly. Because in varnasrama-dharma, for example, a living entity, at least in each caste, four lives are born. In each caste - it is at least born in order to fully develop the characteristics of this caste, obtain the qualifications of this caste and acquire the qualifications to make the transition to another caste. We just recently talked with one of my students about the fact that, in fact, in order to develop according to varnasrama-dharma to develop truly blissful qualities of the soul, you need at least 16 lives, this is at least simple arithmetic calculation. When practicing bhakti, these same qualities of the soul, they can manifest quickly enough, this can actually happen within one or two lifetimes, and this is a very quick result.
00:16:32 So, bhakti, it helps, contributes to the soul, it shows all its good qualities, and therefore we discussed with you that if we find ourselves in a society in which we do not develop good qualities, this means directly that we are not in the territory of bhakti. Because the territory of bhakti, the territory of the devotees, is that atmosphere which is conducive, which is conducive, which is favorable for development, for the manifestation of all the auspicious qualities of the soul. We discussed this with Bhaktivinoda Thakur, that for this to happen, the general situation among religious people must be fair, kind and truthful. The standards that are sometimes formed in the society of devotees, according to which a devotee must tolerate all the tyranny of other devotees - this is actually not true, it is not really this religious doctrine, we do not find confirmation of this anywhere. On the contrary, we see that in the commentaries to the Upanishanita, Srila Prabhupada explicitly says that "a devotee, in order to develop properly, must avoid this contact with kanisthaatikari devotees," that is, these are the same devotees who have which do not yet have this internal culture, this development does not exist, these good qualities do not exist, and therefore they are in fact an unfavorable society.
00:18:28 Now. The next question that Srila Rupa Gosvami discusses is this question, that bhakti gives the results of all other processes. That is, while truly doing bhakti yoga, we will repeat this all the time, provided that Lord Sri Krishna remains satisfied, a devotee can receive the development of mystic powers from bhakti, he can get a calm, prosperous, happy life in all respects from bhakti. in order to simply live calmly in this material world - and this is called sensual pleasure, as we discussed with you yesterday. Similarly, bhakti very quickly gives liberation, because the sastras, they say so, bhakti quickly gives sense pleasure and liberation. Lord Sri Krishna gives devotional service very difficult. That is, in order for a devotee to have specific devotional service, in the performance of which the Supreme Lord is satisfied, for this it is necessary that the devotee has a very strong, very high level of devotion, a very high level of devotion, and then Lord Sri Krishna trusts such a living being of himself, and allows himself to serve himself with devotion. And this kind of happiness, it is a big deficit. It is a great deficit - this is precisely the form of happiness that in fact fully corresponds to the nature of a living being, which is always an active principle, and always strives for happiness in this activity. Therefore, we have discussed this moment with you, that the nature of bhakti, it actually gives pleasure. At the same time, we should not be afraid, we should not be afraid to enjoy in the territory of bhakti.
00:20:44 Now, my dear devotees. Now we see here that Srila Rupa Gosvami is putting forward this concept, that even those rare and happy jivas who even managed to perform real devotional service to the Supreme Lord, such that, you know how, such that the Supreme Lord would be pleased. And we discussed this, that when the Supreme Lord is satisfied, first of all He allows the devotee to think of Himself. He allows the devotee to think of Himself, He allows the devotee to take care of Himself, because He allows the devotee to feed Himself, dress Himself - various types of devotional service to perform, and these are symptoms that the Supreme Lord, He is pleased. Did we see that Rupa Gosvami, he, in a special way, as a factor of satisfaction, or as a factor of completed devotional service, noted that he noted? - that the accompanying factor of bhakti is knowledge. Knowledge is the accompanying factor in bhakti, and therefore we should understand that those devotees whose devotional service is pleased with the Supreme Lord are uniquely knowledgeable. By unique knowledge, and it does not matter at all they receive this knowledge, this enlightenment, they receive from the inside or from the outside, but this knowledge necessarily manifests itself in them.
00:22:26 Sometimes we see that a devotee, for example, based on examples from Caitanya Caritamrta, comes to the conclusion: there was such a devotee who was holding the Bhagavad-Gita upside down and was in ecstasy. And on the basis of this, very many devotees come to such a great understanding that in bhakti yoga there is no need to study at all, there is no need to listen, because you can just hold Bhagavad-Gita upside down and get this mercy from the Supreme Lord, get everything. That is, there is a special example that actually shows exactly this - that the ecstatic state of a devotee does not depend on his literacy. That is, the whole Chaitanya Caritamrita, it is filled with examples that ... this is the line that Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura is fighting for - this is the line that affirms the absolutely independent nature of bhakti. Therefore, we must understand: if we say that bhakti depends on Sanskrit - we humiliate bhakti, if we say that bhakti depends on education - we humiliate bhakti, if we say that bhakti depends on caste - we humiliate bhakti. That is, any material category on which we have made bhakti dependent, we will humiliate it.
00:24:01 We must understand that bhakti has a magnificent nature. And bhakti, if it already manifests, that is, what does bhakti mean ?, it was said here - when even an insignificant attraction to the Lord appears in the heart. Do you understand what this is about? We are not talking about prema, we are talking about an insignificant aspiration in general, but still towards the Supreme Lord, and not towards arranging one's affairs through Him. Now, if a devotee develops this insignificant grain of attachment to the Supreme Lord, then the 4 goals of human life become like straw, and they do not dare to appear before bhakti. That is, then a living entity finds himself in some such state, in some such realities, his life proceeds in some way, you understand this is not just words, we must understand that a devotee gets into such a state that now the fulfillment of duties, and economic development in general, and the ability to fulfill material desires, and the ability to be a liberated person lose their attractiveness. Sometimes devotees try artificially, repeating to themselves these moments, to bring themselves supposedly into such a state of neglect of karma. But as soon as any anxiety enters their life, the devotee immediately becomes anxious. Therefore, we must understand that these levels, they do not exist in order to imitate them. I hope that when we already communicate with serious acaryas, we should come to this mood, that how ridiculous is it at all in the territory of bhakti to pretend there is something, to pretend that you are there something that you are not at all, then there is, this is all bullshit, it actually turns, well, just like children's games. Like children’s games that are not very suitable for adults. Therefore, we should understand that these are not just words, these are the realities in which that jiva lives, who has even an insignificant attraction for Krishna. This is not what we are now trying to use Krishna Consciousness, not motivation, you see, but real attachment, or attraction to Krishna, or His pure devotees, real, not sentimental. Now, when this attachment, it is real, even if it is insignificant, it plays this role, that a devotee, he finds himself in such an emotional state that everything else, which 5 minutes ago seemed so important to him, simply fades in its significance. And we must understand, dear devotees, that these are not just words. So the whole question is that a devotee should spend his efforts on this: he should spend his efforts simply to develop this insignificant attachment to the Supreme Lord to begin with.
00:27:59 Now. As long as the possibility of sense gratification is not devalued for us, the problems of economic development are not devalued, the problems of liberation from the threefold sufferings of the material world are not devalued - this means that we do not yet have real attraction to Lord Sri Krishna. We do not have real attraction yet, and so far we are simply living beings who are engaged in bhakti yoga at the level of ... devotion, trying to develop just this attraction. And those devotees who do everything correctly, achieve this result, and then these 4 goals, which all living beings strive for, they simply fade before the greatness of bhakti. And we must understand that while this is not happening in our life, it means that we do not have this very, even scanty at all, but real attraction to Krishna. Hare Krishna, dear devotees! Goodnight!
Vedic knowledge says that there are 4 goals of human life, which complement each other and lead a person to harmony.
1. Dharma is a very voluminous concept. More than one book can be written on Dharma questions. Here I will only talk about some of the main facets of the Dharma. Dharma is the concept of duty, following one's destiny, fulfilling one's duties. Life and professional activities for the benefit of society, in accordance with their nature, with their talents and abilities. Spiritual development. Communication with God. Dharma is honor and conscience, adherence to moral and ethical principles. Development of your Higher nature and control of the lower. Dharma observance cultivates a person's capabilities and abilities. The Dharma teaches a person how to live in peace with other people and with the entire universe. Where there is Dharma, a person always feels at peace. Dharma gives respect. God always protects a person who follows the Dharma and gives him many blessings, opportunities and fortunes.
In astrology, houses showing the Dharma of a person are 1, 5 and 9. All-good, the best houses of the horoscope. If the houses of the Dharma are strong, then the person is blessed with wisdom and opportunities. These houses show the store of the person's pious karma - Purva punya. Strong houses of Dharma indicate that the owner of the card is a spiritual, honest and decent person. Much has been given to him. The basis of Dharma is compassion and adherence to the universal laws (commandments of God)!
The first goal of human life is to follow the Dharma and develop spiritually.
The 5 Pillars of Dharma:
a) Knowledge
b) Justice
c) Patience
d) Devotion
e) Love
2. Artha - material well-being. Money, wealth, fame. Energy of Goddess Lakshmi. But, what is interesting .... In order to win the favor of Goddess Lakshmi, a person must follow the Dharma - moral and ethical standards. The main quality of a person who can be rich is an inner detachment from money. Leo Tolstoy once said: "The person who understands that what he has is what he needs becomes truly happy." Academician Likhachev expressed this idea even more accurately - “The poor is not the one who has little, but the one who has little!”. Artha is the principle of sufficiency.
In astrology, the houses of Artha are 2, 6 and 10. The state of these houses will show whether a person will prosper, whether he will have money, how successful he will be and whether he will achieve fame. I want to note that money karma is the easiest to change. How to change money karma? Through charity, donations and the development of an inner detachment from money. We should appreciate everything we have, but we should not be attached to it!
3. Kama - fulfillment of desires, sense gratification, sense gratification. The nature of personality is desire. When we have no desires, this is called depression. On the other hand, we can be grateful to our desires, or vice versa, that we are constantly incarnating here on Earth. It is because of our desires that we cannot break out of the cycle of our "deaths" and rebirths. Desires are what keeps us here. Desires are a powerful driving force. Someone's desires are fulfilled once or twice. Someone has a creak.
In the horoscope, the 3rd, 7th and 11th houses are responsible for the fulfillment of desires. These are the houses of Kama. Strong houses of Kama endow the person with strong desires, but also give them the opportunity to realize them. It is always important for such a person to remember the words of the sage - "Fear your desires - they can come true!" :) Because the fulfillment of our desires does not always bring us good. Although the weak houses of Kama can give a person great ambitions, he will not have special opportunities to realize these ambitions.
Ultimately, after countless incarnations, someone earlier, someone later, we must come to one single desire - to merge with the Highest Source, return home, so to speak, and no longer incarnate on Earth. This is called attaining enlightenment / liberation, the next fourth goal of our life.
4. Moksha - liberation from the circle of birth and death on Earth, spiritual enlightenment. Acquiring Cosmic consciousness, understanding that you are immortal. The ultimate goal of our life. In the map, the houses of Moksha are 4, 8 and 12. The strong houses of Moksha will show a sage, a person of a philosophical mind. The weak can bring a lot of trouble, but through them a person can realize the entire illusory nature of the visible world.
Houses of Dharma (1,5,9) - the element of Fire. The most favorable houses of the horoscope. Any association with them is good.
Houses of Artha (2,6,10) - the element of the Earth. Show our success in the material world.
Houses of Kama (3,7,11) - the element of Air. They will show how our desires will be fulfilled.
Houses of Moksha (4,8,12) - the element of Water. They symbolize deep spiritual development.
Dharma is the fulfillment of one's responsibilities to family, society and God. Spiritual development. Money (Artha) comes to one who follows the Dharma. With money, one can satisfy his senses and ambitions (kama). But the Soul cannot be happy through the satisfaction of human feelings and desires. "I am not this body - I am the Soul!" - this is the main tenet of Vedic philosophy. The soul can be happy only when it is united with God (Moksha).
