Text 10] Divinity and Divine Service 97
kdmasya—of desires; na—not; indriya—senses; pritih—satisfaction; labhah
—gain; jiveta—self preservation; yavata—so much s0; jivasya—of the living
being; tattva—Absolute Truth; jijriasa—inquiries; na—not; arthah—end; yah
ca tha—whatsoever else; karmabhih—by occupational activities.
TRANSLATION
Life’s desires should never be aimed at gratifying the senses. One should
desire to live only because human life enables one to inquire about the
Absolute Truth. This should be the goal of all works.
PURPORT
The completely bewildered material civilization is wrongly directed
towards the fulfillment of desires in sense gratification. In such civilization,
in all spheres of life, the ultimate end is sense gratification. In politics,
social service, altruism, philanthropy and ultimately in religion or even in
salvation, the very same tint of sense gratification is ever increasingly pre-
dominent. In the political field the leaders of men fight with one another
to fulfill their personal sense gratification. The voters adore the so-called
leaders only when they promise sense gratification. As soon as the voters
are dissatisfied in their own sense satisfaction, they dethrone the leaders.
The leaders almost always disappoint the voters by not satisfying their
senses. The same is applicable in all other fields; no one is serious about
the problems of life. Even those who are on the path of salvation desire to
become one with the Absolute Truth and desire to commit spiritual
suicide for sense gratification. But the Bhagavatam says that one should
not live for sense gratification. One should satisfy the senses only inso-
much as is required for self-preservation, and not for sense gratification.
Because the body is made of senses, which also require a certain amount of
satisfaction, there are regulative directions for satisfaction of such senses.
But the senses are not meant for unrestricted enjoyment. For example,
marriage or the combination of a man with a woman is necessary for
progeny, but it is not meant for sense enjoyment. In the absence of such
voluntary restraint, there is propaganda for family planning, but foolish
men do not know that family planning is automatically executed as soon
as there is search after the Absolute Truth. Seekers of the Absolute Truth
are never allured by unnecessary engagements in sense gratification because
the serious students seeking the Absolute Truth are always overwhelmed
with the work of researching the Truth. In every sphere of life, therefore,
