154 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
unhappiness, but it comes by force. That is the law of material nature. No
one wants fire, but wherever we go in a city the fire brigade is always ac-
tive. There is always fire. Similarly, there are many things that no one

. wants. No one wants death—there is death. No one wants disease— there
is disease. No one wants old age—there is old age. They are there, against
our will, against our desire.

Thus we should consider the state of this material existence. This
human form of life is meant for understanding, not for wasting valuable
life like animals by eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. That is not
advancement of civilization. The Bhdgavatam says that this body is not
meant for working hard simply for sense gratification.

nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke

kastan kadman arhate vid-bhujam ye

‘ [Bhag. 5.5.1] -
To work very hard and satisfy oneself by sense gratification is the busi-
ness of hogs, not human beings. The human being should learn tapasya.
Especially in India, so many great sages, so many great kings, and so
many brahmacarisand sannyasis have passed their lives in great tapasyain
order not to go further to sleep. Lord Buddha was a prince who gave up
everything and engaged himself in tapasya. This is life. When King
Bharata, under whose name India was named Bharata-varsa, was twenty-
four years old, he gave up his kingdom, his young wife, and young
children and went away for tapasya. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
was only twenty-four, He gave up His young wife, mother, everything.
There are many, many examples. India is the land of tapasya, but we are
forgetting that. Now we are making it the land of technology. It is surpris-
ing that India is now no longer propagating this tapasya, for India is the

land of dharma: dharma-ksetre kuruksetre.

But it is not only in India; everywhere in this age of iron everything is
degraded, degraded in this sense: prdyendlpdyusah sabhya kaldv asmin
yuge janah |Bhdg. 1.1.10]. In this age of Kali the duration of life is
diminished, and men are not moved to understand self-realization, and if
they are, they are invariably misled by so many deceitful leaders. The age
is very corrupt. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s process of chanting
Hare Krsna is the best and the simplest method.

harer ndma harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
