Goal of Human life

SLOKA :
ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha,
samanyam etad pashubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho,
dharmena hina pashubhih samanah
The activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending are common in animals and human beings.
The human beings are considered superior only when they inquire about the Absolute Truth,
otherwise they are considered as good as animals.
DISCUSSION :
Human life vs. Animal life
Have you ever wondered how a human being is superior to an animal ? Animals do similar
activities like humans - eating, sleeping, producing children, defending themselves etc., In what
respect are we superior to them ?
Someone may reply Reasoning Power or Rational Thinking. But reasoning power is there even
in lower animals like dogs and cats as well. Suppose a dog comes up to you, and if you say, Hut!
he will understand that you dont want him. So, he has some reasoning power. Similarly if a cat
wants to steal some milk from your kitchen, she has very nice reasoning power; she is always
looking to see when the master is out, so that she can steal and drink the milk.
So the four propensities of animal life eating, sleeping, reproducing and defending indicate that
there is reasoning power even in the beasts. Then, what is the special prerogative of the human
being over animals ? The special reasoning power is the ability to inquire, Why am I suffering?
The animals are suffering, but they do not know how to remedy the suffering.
Generally, people are just like animals. They simply do not know anything beyond the necessities of
the body: how to eat, how to sleep, how to mate and how to defend. An animal eats filth and
garbage in a street; we may eat in a five-star hotel in a rotating room and get to see all scenery
around. An animal may sleep in the corner of a street; we may sleep in a Dunlop pillow bed or in a
water bed. An animal may mate without shame in the middle of the street; we may have sex in a
posh appartment of a skyscraper building. An animal may defend with claws and teeth; we may
defend with bombs, scuds and missiles.
Thus all the above activities of humans are similar to animals. Then what makes human being more
special than animals ?
Can we compete with Animals ?
Let us compare human being and animals in their different capabilities :
Can we compete with an elephant in eating ?
Can we compete with an eagle in seeing objects miles away ?
Can we compete with a dog in smelling and detecting thieves ?
Can we compete with a kangaroo in high jump ?
Can we compete a horse in atheletics?
Animals are better off in the aforementioned activities. In fact, these abilities are in-built in their
system by the arrangement of God. If it is so, what is the special ability awarded in a human body ?
The Special Prerogative of the Human Body

If human beings spend their entire lives only eating, sleeping, producing children and defending like
animals, then such a human civilization is no way superior to animal civilisation. The
Mahabharata says:
ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam cha,
samanyam etad pashubhir naranam
dharmo hi tesham adhiko vishesho,
dharmena hina pashubhih samanah
The activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending are common in animals and human beings.
The human beings are considered superior only when they inquire about the Absolute Truth,
otherwise they are considered as good as animals.
Thus human being differs from animals because human being can perform
Dharma.
Without Dharma, human being is no better than a two-legged
animal. We will see in the next class what is meaning of Dharma.
THE MAIN BODY

Three students can play the roles of Buddhumal, Lobhimal and Jnanesh and read the
conversation :
(Buddhumal and Lobhimal were travelling in a car in a new city. Jnanesh was sitting in the back
seat hearing their conversation.)
Lobhimal : Hey Buddhumal, you are driving the car so fast. But do you know where you are
going?
Buddhumal : Dont ask me. I have no time to think about it. Let me go fast.
Lobhimal : But where are you taking us ?
Buddhumal : Wherever the road takes us, well go. But dont disturb me now.
Lobhimal : Is it not a waste of time travelling so fast, spoiling the nice car.
Buddhumal : Then what do you think we should do now ?
Lobhimal : Stop the car.
(Buddhumal stops it. They all get down. Lobhimal starts cleaning and washing the car with water,
wiping with a dry cloth, later puts garlands, chandan paste, kumkum powder, paints nice drawing on
the backside window and all these takes more than 3 hours. Buddhumal becomes restless.)
Buddhumal : Hey Lobhimal, what are you doing ? What is the goal of your life ?
Lobhimal : I just want to decorate the car and attend to the needs of the car. Thats all. You should
not spoil it by driving. What do you think is goal of your life ?
Buddhumal : Just take the car and drive as fast as I can, anywhere. I dont care where I am going.
I just like driving the car fastly. Thats all.
Jnenesh : See my friends Lobhimal and Buddhumal, the purpose of a car is not to just keep in one
place and keep decorating it and maintaining it without using it. Similarly, the car should be used to
take us to the desired destination, not just drive it here and there aimlessly.
Buddhumal and Lobhimal : So, what should we do then ?
Jnanesh : First know the purpose of your travel where do you want to go? Then while driving,
whatever maintenance the car needs, like petrol, water, air, cleaning etc you do in order to help the
car take you to the desired destination. Similarly this human body is like a car; but we are not the
body. we are spirit souls sitting inside the body, exactly like the driver sitting inside the car.
Buddhumal : You mean to say this body made of flesh and bones is like a shirt on the soul ?
Jnanesh : Precisely. Just as you petrol to car, we put food in the mouth. Then as car moves, our
body also moves. Car has a horn, you have a mouth to produce sound. Car has four wheels, you
have two hands and two legs. Car has two headlights to see the road, you have two eyes. But when
the driver gets down from the car, the car cannot move one inch also. Similarly when the soul
leaves the body then we call it as dead. When the soul is sitting inside the body, we call it living.
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Lobhimal : What should we do with this body then ?

Jnanesh : Just as in the case of car, our business is not car business; we are meant to use the car to
go to another destination. Similarly the purpose of the body is to help us go back to the Kingdom
God. That is our destination. In the mean time, during this journey, whatever maintenance is
required by the body, in terms of food, water, air, cleaning, dresses etc we provide.
Lobhimal : Just as I was foolishly decorating the car forgetting the goal, similarly people of this
world spend all their time decorating this body. Is it not true ?
Buddhumal : Yes Lobhimal, I agree with you. Just see, how many types of body soaps are sold in
the market. How many types of sports shoes, coats, pants, ties, etc are sold for the body. Nobody
knows about the soul.
Jnanesh : You both have become very intelligent. Although you are not the body, but soul, still
whatever is minimum needed by the body should be supplied to maintain it nicely. We should eat
moderately, sleep sufficiently, exercise regularly, keep healthy and the purpose of all of these is to
use the body in knowing God, our relationship with Him and return back home back to Godhead,
when we leave this body.
WHAT I LEARNT TODAY ?
1. In what way are we NOT superior to animals ? Why ?
2. A modern man may argue that we are superior to animals because we can :
Build houses very beautifully
Socialise together and work wonderfully
Communicate our idea in nice languages amongst ourselves
Advance in science and technology and have mobiles, cars, fridges etc
Build five star hotels, make dunlop pillow beds etc
Invent missiles and bombs to kill millions
How would you prove to such a person that all the above is no advancement? It is all something
that even animals are also doing in their own way?
3.
4.
5.
6.

Write the names of five animals or birds and their special ability.
What was wrong with Buddhumals idea? What was Jnaneshs advice to him?
What was wrong with Lobhimals idea? What was Jnaneshs advice to him?
What was that intelligent thing spoken by Buddhumal and Lobhimal towards the end of their
discussion that made Jnanesh appreciate them?

READ, REFLECT AND SPEAK UP

Read the following section spoken by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami Prabhupada and
reflect upon it :
.In the hundreds and thousands of universities all over the world there is no department of
knowledge where the science of the soul is taught. Actually, we are all spirit soul. From Bhagavadgita we understand that we are transmigrating from one body to another, even in our present lives.
All of us had at one time the body of a small baby. Where is that body? That body is gone. Presently
I am an old man, but I remember that I was once a small baby. I still remember when I was about
six months old; I was lying down on the lap of my elder sister, who was knitting, and I was playing.
I can remember that, so it is possible for everyone to remember that he had a small body. After the
babys body I had a boys body; then I had a youthful body, and now I am in this body. Where are
those bodies? They are gone now. This is a different body. It is explained in Bhagavad-gita that
when I give up this body, I will have to accept another body. It is very simple to understand. I have
changed so many bodies, not only from childhood to boyhood to youth, but according to medical
science we are changing bodies every second, imperceptibly. This Process indicates that the soul is
permanent. Although I have changed many bodies, I remember my baby body and my childhood
bodyI am the same person, soul. Similarly, when ultimately I change this body, I shall have to
accept another. This simple formula is stated in Bhagavad-gita. Everyone can reflect on it, and there
must be scientific research done in this area..
Story of Mahamoorkha
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One should know ones goal of life. For example, you may be driving a car very fast. Somebody may ask,
My dear friend, you are driving so fast. Where are you going? And if you say No No, dont disturb me. I
want to go very fast. I dont want any disturbance. I want to keep on driving very fast. Of course, going
very fast to the destination is good but you should know what is your destination, where do you want to go.
Nowadays, people lead very fast lives - fast food, fighting traffic, instant tea, use of mobile, use of laptop
desktop etc But where is this fast life leading us to ? Are we aware that we have to wind up our business and
die one day leaving behind all that we have accumulated throughout our lives. Where do we go after death?
Without knowing the destination, if someone wanders back and forth, he will be considered a mad man.
Thus one should know why we are born into this world? What is death? And what happens after death? Who
is God? Who is the controller of the world? So all these questions should be answered. How a human being
should know the aim of life is illustrated in the following story.
Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy king. He had a big kingdom, many many queens, lot of wealth
and hundreds and thousands of followers and soldiers. He was living a very happy life and he became so
attached to his property, position, prestige and status that he completely forgot God and his duty towards
God.
One day a sadhu came to his court. Actually, sadhus are saintly people who visit people to enlighten them
about God and their duty towards Him God. So the sadhu wanted to enlighten the king, but the king was not
at all interested. The sadhu was wondering what is to be done. Thus, the sadhu made a plan. He told the
king My dear king, you are so eager to wash my feet and bow down to me and give me so much donation
but you are not interested in hearing about God. So, I have one request for you. If you can kindly fulfill the
request, then you can satisfy me.
The king immediately agreed and asked What can I do for you, Sir? The sadhu told him, My dear king,
you send your men in the country and find out the most mad man (maha murkha) in your country and call
him to your court and hand over a stick to him and ask him to go around the city. Promise him that you will
pay him every month some salary for this service.
The king obeyed the sadhus order and got a madman (murkha) to go around the city carrying a stick in his
hand. Days went by, months passed by. Years passed, this murkha was continuing to do his service and the
king grew old.
One day the king was in his deathbed. He called all his relatives, friends, near and dear ones. He met all of
them one by one. All of them were weeping as the king was very soon going to leave this world. In this way
while the king was meeting all his relatives, one by one, to satisfy himself, in his mind, he had a feeling, I
have not met somebody whom I know very well. Then, the thought of murkha came to his mind. He called
for the murkha and the murkha came to see the king.
The king told the murkha, My dear fool, now I have to go to a very far away place. So I am taking leave of
every one, so I thought I may call you and talk to you. The murkha immediately replied. O king you are
going to a far off place. Please why dont you take me along with you?
The king replied O fool, you cannot come with me. Its not possible.
Murkha replied, O, now I understand the secret. You want to go with the queen. That is why you dont want
to take me with you.
The king said O Murkha, you are proving to be a fool, I cannot take my queens with me, nor can I take my
parents, nor any of my relatives -- its not possible. Then the murkha said O.K. it is alright. Whatever it is I
will arrange a strong horse and a chariot for you so that you can go comfortably. The king said, O fool, I
cant take chariot and horses with me. Its not possible.
Then the murkha asked, O, that means you will walk all the way? Will your legs not feel pain? How long can
you walk? My dear king, if its your desire to walk, its O.K ; but at least carry some eatables and some
money, which you can use on the way. I will tell the minister to arrange for a big amount of money from the
treasury. The king replied, O fool, you cannot understand. I cannot carry a single gold coin with me.
Although, I have so much of wealth amassed within my treasury, I cant carry anything with me, O fool, why
dont you understand?.
Murkha asked, My dear king, you cant carry your accumulated wealth, you cant carry your wives and your
children with you, nor can you take any property and kingdom. It is a great wonder for me.
Then the king told the murkha, O.K, it is alright. Enough of all your talks. Now, I will tell you something. You
have done the service of being a fool, going around the city for so many years faithfully. Now I feel you
should retire from your job. I would like to reward you pension, without you doing the service. But you should
find out another fool just like you. You should hand over the stick to him. Let him go around the city and he
can also be paid some salary every month. So this is the special reward that I want to give you, before I
leave this world. You can be relieved of your job. Dont worry! Then the Murkha asked O, my dear king, do I
have to find a greater murkha than me to hand over this stick? The king said, Yes. Thats right.
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Immediately, the fool took the stick and handed it over to the king, and said, O maha murkha ! Take this
stick and keep it with you. The king became wild with anger. He shouted, You fool, how dare you give this
stick to me. Do you mean I am a greater fool than you?
The murkha laughed and told the king, My dear king, you are right. You are certainly the maha murkha in
this world. Do you know why? You just told me that throughout your life you amassed so much of wealth in
your treasury by conquering so many kings all around the world , but you told me that you cant carry a single
farthing with you.
You married so many beautiful queens and begot so many children and you just now told me that you cant
carry any of them with you.
My dear king, although you lead such a lavish life full of luxuries and comfort,. did you not know that the day
of death is going to come and at the time of death you have to give up your wife, children, your property and
all that you accumulated ? And did you not know that even a useless needle without a hole will not
accompany you? Didnt you know these things when you were a king?You knew them well; but you were
such a big fool that you never inquired about the goal of your life . You never inquired about where you are
going to go after death. You didnt inquire: who is God? Why has He created me? What is my duty towards
Him? You never thought of these questions. You were completely infatuated in enjoying all the material
comforts and facilities of this world, when you were a king and you were completely blind to the path of selfrealization. This was your greatest mistake and now at the time of death, you are lamenting and mourning
that you have to leave everything behind. So that is why you are considered the greatest fool.
When the king heard of all this, he could quickly realize that this fool is really not a fool; he is a great saintly
person . The king immediately fell down at the feet of the so-called murkha and cried piteously and begged
him to reveal his identity. The king asked him, My dear great soul, please tell me who are you? How are you
so knowledgeable about all these things? We were considering you to be a great fool. That was our
foolishness. Please tell me how can I perfect my life at this last hour of my life.
The murkha told him, Actually I am not a murkha. I am disciple of that great sadhu who met you many
years ago and you didnt show any interest in spiritual life. So, my spiritual master asked me to play this role
to finally be with you and deliver you . Hear attentively from me. In this way the sadhus disciple started
enlightening the king about the knowledge of the soul and the relationship between soul and God. And the
king understood how God loves every living being and how the ultimate goal of life is to purify ones heart
and achieve the kingdom of God and not just get entangled in the worldly affairs. The king became
enlightened with this knowledge and he accepted the advice of the sadhus disciple and started chanting
God's names and in this way , he understood the goal of life and perfected his life.

Morals From Mahamoorkha Story :

Through this story of maha murkha, we understand that :

We all are living in this world and all of us are busy doing so many activities right from morning
till night. We want to do our studies, we want to take up a good job, we want to earn money, and
we want to live a very happy and luxurious life. But, in this way if we keep on spending all our
time without giving even a moment for God, then we will also be considered like the foolish
king, a maha murkha . But if one understands, I am born into this world and I am going to die
one day and before I die, I should inquire about the truth, about the soul and about what happens
after death, then one is intelligent .
THE MAIN BODY :
What is Dharma ?
Thus our goal of human life is to perform Dharma. Now, what is Dharma ?
Dharma is our natural tendency to love and serve God. The mother loves and
serves the child. A man serves a company. A lonely old man serves a dog.
Nobody can avoid serving someone or loving someone. But the question is
whom to love and serve in our life that will bring happiness to one and all. If
we do not serve God, we may serve dog.
Wealth is worshiped and is referred to as Mother Lakshmi, or the goddess of fortune. It is her
position to serve Lord Narayana, the source of all the naras, or living beings. The naras are also
meant to serve Narayana under the guidance of the goddess of fortune. The living being cannot
enjoy the goddess of fortune without serving Narayana, and therefore whoever desires to enjoy her
wrongly will be punished by the laws of nature. These laws will make sure that the money itself will
bring about destruction instead of peace and prosperity.
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In Ramayana, we see that all different associates of Rama were working for the pleasure of Rama.
When Lord Rama goes to forest, Mother Sita accompanies Him, Lakshman serves Him throughout
His life, Hanuman remains His humble servant and serves Him according to His instruction,
Bharata persuades Lord Rama to come back home and rule Ayodhya, but after getting instruction
from Lord Rama goes to Nandagram and serves Lord Rama by following His instructions. So, the
Supreme Lord is the true enjoyer and everything belongs to Him and is meant for His service and
His pleasure and all the characters in the Ramayana are working for His pleasure.
The demon Ravana wanted to enjoy the Lords property, Mother Sita and he stole Her and took Her
to Sri Lanka. But Lord Ramas very dear servant, Hanuman went to Sri Lanka met Mother Sita, set
fire to Sri Lanka, and made all facilities for Lord Rama to kill Ravana and bring back Sita. All the
wealth and resources of this world represents Mother Sita and is meant for the service of Lord
Rama. Those who are devotees like Hanuman engage everything in the service of the Supreme Lord
and encourage other people to do the same. Those who are demons like Ravana try to exploit all the
facilities given by God for their own sense gratification and never care for the authority of the
Supreme Lord. Very soon, such demons will be destroyed by the force of time and everything will
be seized from them at death.
Similarly Lord Sri Krishna is the darling of Vrindavana for everyone. Mother
Yashoda makes butter for Him, the gopis always sing His glories, the cowherd
boy friends dance and play with Him for His pleasure, the cows break and make
all the stones of Vrindavana to powder for Him to walk on smooth sand, the
clouds become like umbrella to prevent Him from sunlight, the Yamuna offers
lotus flowers at His feet, the trees offer Him fruits, flowers and honey, the cows,
deers, peacocks, ducks and others totally become absorbed hearing His flute
forgetting the whole world. Thus all living beings love and serve the Lord and
in doing so, derive the greatest happiness. Only demons like Kamsa try to kill
the Lord and ultimately get killed by Him.
Thus Dharma is to make God the center of our lives and wholeheartedly love
and serve Him. As sugar is naturally sweet, all of us souls, naturally like to love
and serve God. This is the ultimate goal of human life.
When God is the center of our lives, then there will be peace in the whole
world. Draw two circles with two different centres as shown below ; they will
clash. Similarly when people have different selfish ambitions they have
quarrel. When you keep one centre (God), then you can draw hundreds of
concentric circles ; they will never clash. Thus if God is the centre of all our
activities, then hundreds of us can work together and we will never have any
clash.
I AM BIGGER
THAN YOU

I AM BIG

`I OR `MY IS THE CENTRE FOR

MATERIALISTIC PEOPLE THAT
LEADS TO CLASH

GOD IS THE CENTER ;

SO NO CLASH

WHAT I LEARNT TODAY ?

1. What is lacking in all the hundreds and thousands of universities worldwide?
2. What is the essence of Srila Prabhupadas letter in two or three sentences?
3. Why is the King considered the greatest fool ?
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4. Some people say that if you have earned enough wealth, a bunglow, a nice car, then you are
successful in life. What would you tell them ?
5. What steps would you take in your life, to avoid becoming a fool like mahamoorkha ?
6. What did you understand by the word Dharma ? What does Mahabharata say about it ?
7. Can you show from scriptures that the Supreme Lord is the object of our love and service?
What happened to those who try to exploit the property of God ?
8. What is need of bringing God into our lives? Illustrate with an example.
*